Curated category
Songs published by Northern Songs
- Here, There and EverywherePaul McCartney sat by the pool at John Lennon's house in Weybridge during early June 1966. He waited for his friend to wake up while strumming a guitar on…
- What Goes On (Beatles song)"What Goes On" carries one of the most unusual writing credits in the Beatles catalogue: Lennon-McCartney-Starkey. It is the only song the band ever…
- Dig a Pony"Dig a Pony" begins with a shout. On the 30th of January 1969, at the top of the Apple Corps building on Savile Row in central London, Ringo Starr yelled…
- I Am the Walrus"I Am the Walrus" arrived in 1967 with a specific and mischievous mission: to break the minds of people who were trying too hard to understand the Beatles.
- Love You To"Love You To" arrived on the Beatles' 1966 album Revolver as something rock audiences had simply never heard before. Tabla drums, a droning tambura, a sitar…
- She Loves YouJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney began composing She Loves You on the 26th of June 1963 after a concert at the Majestic Ballroom in Newcastle upon Tyne.
- In My Life"In My Life" arrived on Rubber Soul in 1965, and it arrived unlike anything the Beatles had released before. John Lennon called it his "first real major…
- Help! (song)"Help!" is a song that John Lennon would later call one of the most honest things he ever wrote. It arrived in the summer of 1965 dressed as a pop single…
- Let It Be (song)Paul McCartney dreamed of his mother Mary Patricia McCartney in 1956 after she had died of cancer. He was fourteen years old at the time.
- Ticket to Ride (song)"Ticket to Ride" arrived in April 1965 and sounded like nothing the Beatles had released before. Recorded at EMI Studios in London on the 15th of February…
- I'm Only Sleeping"I'm Only Sleeping" began as words scrawled on the back of a letter in 1966, John Lennon drafting the first lyrics on a scrap of paper that suggests a simple…
- She's Leaving Home"She's Leaving Home" begins with a door closing quietly in the early morning. A teenager slips out of the house, leaving a note behind.
- A Day in the Life"A Day in the Life" opens with a line John Lennon pulled from a newspaper: "I read the news today, oh boy." That blunt, ordinary beginning leads to one of…
- All You Need Is Love"All You Need Is Love" reached over 400 million people in 25 countries on the 25th of June 1967, making it one of the most witnessed moments in television…
- Eleanor RigbyEleanor Rigby is a 1966 song by the Beatles, and it arrived on the charts with none of the guitars, drums, or amplified roar the band had built its name on.
- Paperback Writer"Paperback Writer" arrived in May 1966 as the A-side of the Beatles' eleventh single, and it came loaded with an unusual distinction: it was the first…
- The Long and Winding RoadPaul McCartney sat at a piano inside High Park Farm, his property near Campbeltown in Scotland. The year was 1968 when he began writing the melody that would…
- Two of Us (Beatles song)"Two of Us" begins with a joke. On the Let It Be album, before a single note plays, John Lennon's voice cuts in: "'I Dig A Pygmy' by Charles Hawtrey and the…
- Get Back"Get Back" began not as a song but as an offhand riff played on a Höfner bass at Twickenham Studios on the 7th of January 1969.
- Helter Skelter (song)Paul McCartney wrote the song to create a sound as loud and dirty as possible after reading an interview with Pete Townshend.
- Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is a song the Beatles nearly tore themselves apart making. Paul McCartney wrote it in Rishikesh, India, in early 1968, while he and his…
- Revolution (Beatles song)"Revolution" arrived in the summer of 1968 as one of the most argued-over pop songs ever released. John Lennon wrote it while the Beatles were studying…
- Strawberry Fields Forever"Strawberry Fields Forever" arrived on the 13th of February 1967, and almost nobody knew what to make of it. Derek Johnson of the NME confessed in print that…
- I Want to Hold Your Hand"I Want to Hold Your Hand" was recorded by the Beatles on the 17th of October 1963, and within weeks it had upended the American music industry in ways no…
- I've Got a Feeling"I've Got a Feeling" is a Beatles song that exists because two unfinished songs collided. Paul McCartney had one fragment; John Lennon had another.
- Hey Jude"Hey Jude" began as a car journey and a father's absence. In June 1968, Paul McCartney drove out to Weybridge to visit a five-year-old boy named Julian…
- Back in the U.S.S.R.Paul McCartney began writing the song as "I'm Backing the UK" in January 1968. This title came from a national campaign that had gained wide support just…
- Flying (Beatles instrumental)"Flying" holds a quiet distinction in the Beatles catalogue: recorded on the 8th of September 1967, it is the only track officially credited to all four…
- From Me to YouJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney began writing From Me to You while on a coach heading to Shrewsbury as part of the Beatles' tour with Helen Shapiro.
- I Want You (She's So Heavy)"I Want You (She's So Heavy)" by the Beatles ends with an act of pure will. On the 20th of August 1969, John Lennon stood in a studio with recording engineer…
- Maggie May (folk song)The Liverpool Sailors' Home in Canning Place stood as a central meeting point for sailors returning from long voyages. A sailor paid off at the home would…
- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (song)"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" begins with the sound of an audience chattering and an orchestra tuning up, and within seconds the listener is…
- Tomorrow Never Knows"Tomorrow Never Knows" arrived on the 5th of August 1966 as the final track on Revolver, closing a Beatles album like nothing the band had ever recorded…
- Within You Without You"Within You Without You" was written by George Harrison in early 1967 on a harmonium at the north London home of musician Klaus Voormann.
- Baby, You're a Rich Man"Baby, You're a Rich Man" was born at midnight in May 1967, when the Beatles spent six hours at an independent studio in Barnes, south-west London, stitching…
- Dear Prudence"Dear Prudence" was written in early 1968 in the foothills of the Himalayas, far from any recording studio. John Lennon was sitting beneath a jacaranda tree…
- Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) opens with one of rock music's most carefully evasive lines: "I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me." John…
- Penny LanePenny Lane is a road in a south Liverpool suburb, and it is also one of the most celebrated songs the Beatles ever made.
- Rain (Beatles song)"Rain" by the Beatles arrived on the 30th of May 1966 as the B-side to "Paperback Writer", and it carried something listeners had never quite encountered…
- Sexy Sadie"Sexy Sadie" began as something far more blunt: a song called "Maharishi." John Lennon wrote it in India in 1968, bags already packed, ready to leave the…
- TaxmanIn April 1966, a report from the London accountancy firm Bryce, Hammer, Isherwood & Co. delivered a stark warning to the Beatles.
- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" began not with a guitar or a studio, but with a drawing made by a three-year-old boy. Julian Lennon came home from nursery…
- Revolution 9"Revolution 9" begins with a voice repeating the words "number nine" as it pans slowly across the stereo field. That voice belonged to an EMI engineer who…
- The Inner Light (song)"The Inner Light" arrived in record shops on the 15th of March 1968, tucked away as the B-side to "Lady Madonna", and most listeners probably flipped the…