About “Now And Then” Over the course of five decades, the realization of “Now and Then” was a journey filled with events, shaped by ongoing discussions and collaborations among the four Beatles that continue to this day. The legendary John Lennon demo, steeped in myth, saw its initial efforts in […]
The Beatles’ Songs
216 posts
JOHN 1980: “Completely me. We recorded the song twice. The Beatles were getting real tense with each other. I did the slow version (Revolution 1) and I wanted to put it out as a single: as a statement of the Beatles’ position on Vietnam and the Beatles’ position on revolution. […]
JOHN 1980: “That was my song. When there was no Beatles and no group, I just had it around. It was my effort as a kind of blues originally, and then I wrote the middle-eight just to stick it in the album when it came out years later. The first […]
About “Words of Love” The Beatles recorded a cover version of the song on October 18, 1964 for the UK album Beatles for Sale. It first appeared in the U.S. on the album Beatles VI. It was also on a 7-inch extended play, Beatles for Sale No. 2, released by […]
GEORGE 1980: “‘Taxman’ was when I first realized that even though we had started earning money, we were actually giving most of it away in taxes. It was and still is typical.” JOHN 1980: “I remember the day he (George) called to ask for help on ‘Taxman,’ one of his […]
JOHN 1972: “This was a great one of his.” JOHN 1980: “That’s Paul’s song completely, I believe. And one of my favorite songs of the Beatles.” PAUL 1984: “I wrote that by John’s pool one day. When we were working together, sometimes he came in to see me. But mainly, […]
About “Mr. Moonlight” The first known recording of the song was by blues pianist Piano Red, recording as “Dr. Feelgood and the Interns”. It was released as a b-side of a minor rhythm & blues hit single (titled “Dr. Feelgood”) in 1962. The record became something of a cult favorite […]
JOHN 1980: “I’d read somewhere in the newspaper about this mean guy who hid his five-pound notes, not up his nose but ‘somewhere else.’ No, it had nothing to do with cocaine.” PAUL circa-1994: “‘Mean Mr Mustard’ was very John. I liked that. A nice quirky song.” About “Mean Mr. […]
JOHN 1972: “John and Paul, but mainly Paul.” JOHN 1980: “That’s Paul completely. Maybe I had something to do with the chorus, but I don’t know. I always considered it his song.” PAUL 1984: “We recorded it in France, as I recall. Went over to the Odeon in Paris. Recorded […]
JOHN 1966: “After we’d done the session on that particular song– it ended at about four or five in the morning– I went home with a tape to see what else you could do with it. And I was sort of very tired, you know, not knowing what I was […]
GEORGE 1980: “…written at a time when Apple was getting like school, where we had to go and be businessmen– all this signing accounts, and ‘sign this’ and ‘sign that.’ Anyway, it seems as if winter in England goes on forever; by the time spring comes you really deserve it. […]
About “Wait” The songwriting credit is Lennon/McCartney, and is one of the real joint efforts between the two (Lennon wrote the verses and refrain in F# minor, and McCartney wrote the bridge in A major). The lyrics, describing the singer’s anxieties about his relationship with his girl while he is […]