A lot of the past few entries have had interesting back-stories, but this one can take the cake for now. There are two versions of it though. The first that Paul tells is that the song is just about the Maharishi who was called a fool by his naysayers for his foolish laugh. The idea of a silly man lording over others on top of hill sparked something in Paul as he struck a high D6 chord on his father’s grand piano while writing the song. That’s not the interesting one though. That one is a bit out there and isn’t told much by Paul possibly because of the legitimacy of the story. The account is told in detail in the book Yesterday by Alistair Taylor, a high-ranking assistant to the group at the time, but I’ll sum it up briefly here. Supposedly, Paul and Alistair were walking Paul’s dog Martha (from “Martha My Dear”) early one morning on Primrose Hill. They talked about existentialism, theology, the presence of God, and other overly deep subjects for an early morning walk. As they watched the sun-rise, Paul noticed Martha had strayed away and when he turned around, he saw a man standing on the hill behind him; a man whom by both accounts had not been there only seconds earlier. He appeared on the hill behind the duo without making a single sound almost out of thin air. The two approached the man and conversed with him about the wonderful view of London from that hill. Distracted again, the two briefly looked away and when they looked back, the man had evaporated with the morning mist with no sound. It’s not as if the man had somewhere to hide either: the closest cover was described by the two as being too far for any man to reach in merely seconds. Little freaky, huh? Alistair & Paul would later spend the rest of the morning talking about the incident, even so much as agreeing that it appeared to be an acid trip even though the both of them swear they weren’t on LSD at the time. Who knows what happened, but it’s funny to even see Paul himself be incredulous of the story as he shies away from it so much when talking about. Maybe the LSD was starting to catch up to him by this point or maybe it was just an inexplicable moment in time. Again, who knows?

Paul first brought the song to the attention of the band while they were recording “With A Little Help From My Friends.” In a break between takes, Paul picked up the guitar and played the not-yet-completed song to John Lennon. Filling the blanks with la’s and woo’s, Paul played the song a few times for John who was just staring out of a window and showing no interest at all. However, after Paul was done playing the song, John commented on the quality and told Paul to write it down so as not to forget such a good song. Paul still says to this day that he never would have forgotten a song like that and he began to finalize the song over the next few weeks. In the studio, Paul originally recorded the song with just a piano, adding the now instantly recognizable flute part a few days later on a whim. Kind of hard to imagine the song without the flute, but there is a version without it on Anthology released in the 90s. With the flute part though, the band wrapped up the song just in time for their upcoming release Magical Mystery Tour. It was an original track for the album that was originally deemed too short for an LP and too long for an EP which is why recent Beatles singles like “Penny Lane” & “Strawberry Fields Forever” ended up on the album. It remained one of the highlights of the first side of the album though and was deemed the strongest of the new songs for the album next to “I Am The Walrus.” John would later recall before his death how the song showed Paul at his finest, writing “complete songs” with “good lyrics” to round it off. The song was featured in the band’s third feature film Magical Mystery Tour as well as having its own iconic promotional video shot featuring just Paul McCartney acting just like a fool on a hill in Paris. You can see the video below and when you do, remember this cool fact: Paul and the film crew winged the whole thing from start to finish.

Song: The Fool On The Hill
Album: Magical Mystery Tour
Year: 1967

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Just like Peter Fonda with the last entry in our countdown, this song’s genesis can be traced to an acquaintance of the band or, in this case, Paul McCartney: a Nigerian conga player named Jimmy Scott. Meeting him at the Soho club in London, Jimmy quickly taught Paul his favorite phrase in life: “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da; life goes on, bra.” Said to be Yoruba for “life goes on,” Paul took a quick interest in the carefree phrase. While in India before the band’s next recording effort, he attempted to mold the phrase into a lighthearted song with an even lighter style. Of course, the Caribbean nature of the phrase as well as the rising popularity of Ska, Highlife, and Reggae in Britain played a big part in deciding the song’s style. The band cut demos for this song and others soon after his return from India before the recording started for the landmark White Album. In the studio, Paul would even invite Jimmy Scott to play bongos on the overdubs in the song. You would think that’d be enough for ol’ Jimmy Scott, but he would later attempt to sue Paul McCartney for songwriting rights to the song. Paul would make his case that it was just an expression with Scott arguing back that it was only used in his family. Whatever the case, the lawsuit was quickly dropped allowing Paul full credit. The most supported story (or rumor) is that Jimmy Scott found himself jailed for missing alimony payments and phoned McCartney from jail. Scott offered to drop the lawsuit and give Paul full credit if he would help bail him out. Not being an idiot, McCartney sent his assistant over (who had to wrangle up the cash since The Beatles didn’t have enough on hand) and the song still remains in his credit. Kind of a dark back-story for this type of song, huh?

It doesn’t stop there. Remember when we were talking about “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer?” In that song, John Lennon described it as Paul’s typical “granny music” and the band lamented about being subjected to numerous and numerous takes on a song no one was thrilled about. Well, this song was actually the first song Paul tormented the band over. From the get-go, Paul was overly excited about the song and wanted to try a bunch of different arrangements & versions each with multiple takes. I’m sure after the tenth or twentieth take though, anybody would start to get annoyed. Add in that the sessions for The White Album were already tension-filled to the point of people walking out of the studios and you’ll see that Paul was just playing with fire at this point. All in all, the song took over forty hours to create in the studio which accounts for multiple takes, versions, re-dos, overdubs, trial & error, et cetera. Forty hours! At one point during the recording of the song, John Lennon came in obviously stoned and frustrated over the song’s development and demanded they try it a new way. He began hitting the piano keys at double the speed and volume of any take they had done up to that point and spurred the band to join them by screaming that this was how to do it. The band followed though and that was the one version (of God knows how many) that the band finally decided on. The penultimate take of that version wasn’t perfect though: Paul messed up the placing of the names Desmond & Molly before the phrase “lets the children lend a hand” in the second time the line repeats. The band liked the confusion it created and it was left in like so many other studio gaffes. Also, if you turn up the volume real loud on the song, after each time the phrase “Desmond/Molly lets the children lend a hand” is sung, you can hear George & John in the background saying “arm, leg,” and “foot.” That type of thing would show up a lot more, especially a hilariously in “Hey Jude.” While that may seem like lighthearted fun from the band, nobody in Abbey Road was happy following the song’s finish. Engineer Geoff Emerick quit the recording sessions following the completion of the song and George Harrison would lampoon the song’s long process on “Savoy Truffle” released on the same album. After forty hours on the song, I’m surprised that’s all anyone did. With the song completed, Paul pushed for it to be released as a single, but everyone had had enough. After being subjected to multiple versions, takes, and arrangements at over forty hours of studio time, they had their fill of the song and said no. But Paul would get his wish – 8 years later after the band was dissolved, the song would be released in the US. Perhaps the other three was right though – it peaked at only #49. I love this song actually, but in reading that, only one word comes to mind: burn…

Song: Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Album: The Beatles
Year: 1968

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Paul McCartney has claimed it’s his favorite song of all that he wrote. John Lennon claimed it was the best song on the highly acclaimed record as well as one of his favorites of all The Beatles songs. Even George Martin chimed in saying it was the best Paul McCartney song. A simple love song written about all the new attention he was getting with his relationship with Jane Asher, McCartney wrote the song himself by John Lennon’s pool waiting for the bandmate to wake up. By the time John joined him, Paul had hammered down almost all of the song and the two went inside to wrap it up. Now, why can’t I spend my mornings like that? Most of the time I can’t get out of bed before noon anyway! The song did appear on ’66′s heavily acclaimed record Revolver and was a nice breath of calmness following two more psychedlic-twinged songs in “I’m Only Sleeping” & “Yellow Submarine,” the latter of which we just covered. It’s an amazingly simple ballad with dazzling musical textures & bittersweet harmonies. As the band started to go into the world of deep production techniques, the simplest of their efforts would still prove their most poignant. Sure, “Tomorrow Never Knows” is still held as a landmark from the album, but it’s this song that countless couples are dancing to across the world a half-century later.

The song is a good amalgamation of plenty of styles as well. The introduction drew heavily on influences from The Beach Boys, especially “God Only Knows.” Paul would later say how preambles & introductions to the songs were something John and himself both loved about older music and the only way they saw fit to include it in the song would be with rich harmonies that were by-now a Beach Boy trademark. The rest of the song was McCartney’s attempt at singing like Marianne Faithful, a popular singer from the ’60s who was also dating Mick Jagger at the time. In just two references, the band drew in two of their heavy competitors at the time to create something again so simple & so memorable. John & Paul would always point to the song as the band’s most underrated with Paul often citing how well the song flows, just like an older song he adored: “Cheek To Cheek” by Fred Astaire. Despite it not being ranked up against Beatle juggernauts like “Hey Jude” & “A Day In The Life,” the song would be ranked as the 4th best of all time by Mojo, would become one of their most covered songs of all time, and Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick would even title his own memoir after it. Underrated? Sure, but still remembered fondly as one of their finer works.

Song: Here, There, And Everywhere
Album: Revolver
Year: 1966

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The song is not about prostitution. I just wanted to clear the air right now. Paul himself has been trying for decades to clear up that as well. As much as their later songs had deeper meanings & the like, up until Beatles For Sale or Help!, the songs really just were about what they were about. No hidden messages, no tongue-in-cheek reference to a drug, or any of that. The song was just about not being able to buy someone love, although Paul would later joke that money had given him many perks in life so maybe they should re-title the song. The song was not only all written by Paul, but also one of the few songs in their early career to feature just one singer. No back-up vocals or anything which was out of character for the band at this stage of their career. Original back-up vocals were planned in the call-and-response style, but they were quickly dropped leaving Paul in the spotlight all by himself. This possibly could have bothered John too: the rest of the A Hard Day’s Night is primarily written by him in another out-of-character trait for the band. The song was also unique in fitting into the twelve bar blues structure. They had dabbled in it before (and definitely were strong on it from their Hamburg days), but not many songs, especially single releases, featured the style. Of course, the Fab Four gave the blues their own shuffle & style to really make it into one of those unforgettable songs from their early days.

The song was written in the Hotel George V in Paris where the band had received a grand piano to fit into their suite. They had an upcoming release looming over their heads (as well as their first movie) so it seemed to be buckle down time for them. They recorded the song in Paris as well being the first of two songs to be recorded outside of the United Kingdom. The second would be “The Inner Light” in India which we have already discussed in this countdown. Parts of the song would come from London though as George Harrison would over-dub his guitar solo back home. In a funny fact for the song, you can actually hear the original guitar solo faintly in the background at times. With the volume turned all the way up, it creates a cool trippy effect which can’t be said about their earlier works. Also funny was that pop songs back then rarely started with the chorus, but George Martin suggested it to give the song a little kick in the opening. Under pressure to follow up “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” the song delivered and even hit number one in America again. In fact, on April 4, 1964, The Beatles occupied all top 5 slots on the Hot 100 being the only band in history to ever claim that feat. The song would later be used twice in the upcoming film A Hard Day’s Night and almost fifty years later, the song is still fondly remembered as one of their finer moments. Rolling Stone even ranked it at #289 of their 500 greatest songs ever. Not too shabby at all…

Song: Can’t Buy Me Love
Album: A Hard Day’s Night
Year: 1964

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Man, where to start with this song? Well, let’s start with just how did the song come about? Honestly, depends on who you ask! Paul McCartney mostly wrote the song at the age of 16 in 1958 about his then-girlfriend, Iris Caldwell. Paul takes credit for most of the song, but insists that John actually wrote the middle eight…when John himself denied writing any part of it. Literally the only song in The Beatles’ catalogue where Paul tried to give credit to John who wouldn’t take it! Songwriting credit aside, it would be a good four years before the band decided to re-visit what Paul would later call “their most philosophical song.” By this point in ’62, they were playing the clubs in Hamburg, Germany doing mostly rock covers of Little Richard, Ray Charles, and whatever other popular act the audience wanted to hear. “Love Me Do” was the first song the band decided to play as an original and despite some much shaken confidence prior to playing, the audience reacted overly positive to it leading to the band starting to write & perform more of their own hits. Later, the band would ultimately choose this song as their audition for EMI’s Paralophone label in front of then-producer & future-fifth Beatle George Martin. Martin took a hands-on approach from the get-go (earning the fifth-Beatle moniker) with the band suggesting the harmonica part that would ultimately go to John Lennon. Only problem was that John was the lead vocalist on the song, but with the harmonica handed to him, the part was passed off to Paul McCartney who swears you can still hear the fear in his voice from singing it. John didn’t get off much better. John actually stole the harmonica in the song from a little Dutch town on the way to Hamburg. Karma would get him back though as he tried to sound so much like Delbert McClinton that his lips eventually became numb. Lennon’s in-studio injuries would continue on, but we’ll cover those later…

While it was their first single, hit, and a defining moment of their early career; the song is very memorable for its share of controversy even almost fifty years later. For starter’s, the drummer saga. The band actually tried out for EMI with this song featuring original drummer Pete Best on drums. Pete Best would soon after get fired for the more charismatic Ringo Starr that fit in more with the band’s projected image. Despite the band being on the same page about Ringo’s placement in the band though, George Martin had his skepticism. When it came time to cut the record for their first single, Martin actually hired a session drummer named Andy White to pick up the drum part leaving Ringo only to play tambourine. Let that sink in. On The Beatles’ first single release, the drummer is not Ringo Starr or anyone really part of The Beatles’ early history. It’s a random dude banging the drums while Ringo does the job a 15-year old groupie could do. Seriously! This of course devastated Ringo and he actually kept somewhat of a grudge (some say serious, whereas Ringo says jokingly) over Martin for years. Ringo’s drumming on the song would eventually show up on future rare compilations and the like, but when the song first came out, the man drumming had no affiliation with the band anymore leaving Ringo as a footnote to the band’s first single. Bad enough for the new kid to the show huh? And it ends there for the drummer, but not for the rest of the song: it wasn’t even planned to be the band’s first single!

“How Do You Do It?,” a song written by Mitch Murray (and later the debut single for Gerry & The Pacemakers that did hit number one in the UK), was originally pegged by George Martin as their first release. The band wasn’t too thrilled and after too many lackluster recordings, Martin caved in and “Love Me Do” stepped up to the plate to deliver. Did it deliver? Well, that’s subjective I guess. Execs at Parolphone were reportedly not too impressed over the song, actually thinking it was a comedy effort from Spike Mulligan. After getting it released, it was not the sudden monumental hit you would think. In fact, rumors persisted that manager Brian Epstein purchased 10,000 copies of the single for his store in order to get it up the charts in the first place, though they remain unconfirmed even fifty years later. The song would peak at number seventeen in the UK which doesn’t seem impressive for The Fab Four (especially since The Pacemakers nabbed number one), but it got the band the respect from the label they needed as well as a sense of fame & confidence for the young quartet. The United States was another story though. The band tried to get Capitol in America to pick it up who refused saying it would fail. Two years later at the height of Beatlemania, the band would get the smaller label Tollie to release it with it hitting number one allowing Capitol to finally pay attention to the song leading the way to Capitol releasing all the Beatles American releases. A lot of weird controversy and back history for the Beatles first hit, right? Sorry the recording and writing of this one can’t be as pleasant as “Yellow Submarine,” but the song definitely does still send millions to that special happy place as soon as the harmonica hits followed shortly by Paul’s voice chiming in. Join them, won’t you?

Song: Love Me Do
Album: “Love Me Do” Single
Year: 1962

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“I’ve Just Seen A Face” is an interesting song in Beatles canon. They had taken subtle stabs at country-western music with “I’ll Cry Instead” from A Hard Day’s Night and several from Beatles For Sale, but this would be the closest The Beatles would get to pure country up until this point (the country-folk Rocky Raccoon would be the perfect hit for them three years later). The fast tempo, the guitar twang, the up-beat shuffle; it easily became a quick hit for country & bluegrass groups to cover. Hell, if a banjo and fiddle (perchance a washboard & water jug also) had been added to this song, it would have been an unmistakable song played at the local square dances in the South. Besides that, the song was also unique for not having a bass part, opting instead for multiple guitar parts hosting a hootenanny over the quick melody. The style for the song definitely gave the record labels something to think about too. It was released as part of 1965′s Help! in the UK, but when it came time for the American release, the execs over at Capitol decided to leave it off Help! and have it open up the American release of the already impactful folk album Rubber Soul to help it stay in step with the now-burgeoning Folk Rock movement. As part of Help! though, the song provided a breath of levity at the end of Help! coming right before the legendary melancholy ballad “Yesterday” song. Either preceding that iconic song or opening up that iconic album, the song definitely had a lot going for it.

Just like so many songs already in our countdown, Paul McCartney imagined this song up at his then fiancée-Jane Asher’s parents’ house in London. Early in the making of the song, Paul’s Aunt Gin expressed pure adoration for the song’s upbeat rhythm & shuffle so before lyrics were added, the song had the working title of “Aunty Gin’s Theme.” When we talk some more about Red Hot Chili Peppers, remind me to share some of their funny working titles for you guys. In the studio with The Beatles though, Paul showed some incredible versatility by recording both “Yesterday” and “I’m Down” within hours of each other, jumping between three very distinct & separate styles to both sing & play in. Sandwiching it between some of his best songs & having a relative adore it so much must have given the song a soft spot in Paul’s heart too since he would keep it with him for most of his career. In fact, it was one of the only Beatles songs to be performed live by Paul’s second group Wings. Even more, he carried it with him into his solo career and it’s popped up on a two or three of his live albums as well as definitely becoming a staple of his live sets. The public loves it too. Not only being voted into this list or the countless lists its popped up on, the song was one of those included in Across The Universe where it adds to the country-twang more. It even becomes one of the more memorable scenes of the movie as the cast dances all around a bowling alley while heart-throb Jim Sturgess professes his love for Evan Rachel Wood. It will always hold a soft spot in my heart too since my fiancée adores it too. It’s actually our song together & has been for pretty much the whole time we’ve been together. Not too shabby for a country song by a British act, huh? Eat your hearts out, Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women!”

Song: I’ve Just Seen A Face
Album: Help!
Year: 1965

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A now signature Ringo Starr song, it was initially conceived by Paul McCartney in the dead of the night at his then-fiancée Jane Asher’s parents house. That was an interesting phrase. Anyway, he would later say he wrote the children’s song with Ringo in mind specifically making it not too rangy for the drummer’s limited vocal skills. He then began to craft a story out of it stating, “…sort of an ancient mariner, telling the young kids where he’d lived.” Perhaps being inspired by Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 And #35,” Paul was enthusiastic with the song for both the idea of a children’s song and the idea of Ringo singing it. The song aligned itself well with the carefree & childlike attitudes that made up much of the rising psychedelic era. Paul would later describe Ringo as good with children in an uncle way. Coincidentally, Ringo would also later lend his voice to Thomas The Tank a few decades later making Paul’s description correct. After finishing the song with minor lyrical help from John as well as Paul’s neighbor & folk artist Donovan (who is credited with the “Sky of blue, sea of green” line), they presented it to Ringo who was thrilled. Being constrained to mostly covers throughout up to that point, Ringo would relish the opportunity to sing the unique song which would also become Ringo’s first lead vocal credit on an official Beatle single. Single aside, I don’t think any of them could have seen it becoming one of their most adored songs as well as one of the most iconic children’s songs of the modern era.

In the studio, the recording seemed to be as fun and carefree as the song itself portrayed. A spoken word poem inspired by a 1960 charity walk by Dr. Barbara Moore was originally attempted to start the story. Recorded over marching feet, the poem read: “And we will march to free the day, to see them gathered there, from Land O’Groats to John O’Green; from Stepney to Utrecht, to see a Yellow Submarine.” The poem was only recorded in one version which was quickly scrapped for unknown reasons, but that “lost” version later popped up as part of the single release for 1996′s “Real Love.” Perhaps the band was having too much fun with other stuff to worry about perfecting the poem intro though and it’s not hard to see why. At one point, the studio cupboard was hijacked for any & all special effects which included chains, a ship’s bell, tap dancing mats, a tin bath filled with water, whistles, wind & thunderstorm machines, and a cash register. That cash register would later become royalty in pop music when it was later used for the recording of Pink Floyd’s “Money.” They used all of it to create some of the more memorable moments of the iconic song. Lennon would blow through a straw in the tin bath of water to create a bubbling effect. Both McCartney & Lennon talked through tin cans to create the captain’s uniquely voiced orders. Ringo stepped outside the doors of the studio and yelled “Cut the cable! Drop the cable!” to emulate the sailor. Random Abbey Road employees twirled chains in the tin bath to create water sounds. Geoff Emerick even used a slightly modified brass band recording (rumored to be a 1906 composition titled “Le Reve Passe) to follow the “and the band begins to play” lyric. They were just doing anything to have fun by this point. And to cap it off all the insanity, Mal Evans grabbed a bass drum, began banging on it, and led everyone in the room (including George Martin, Neil Aspinall, Marianne Faithfull, & Pattie Harrison) in a conga line while they sang & recorded the final boisterous chorus. Forget the recording of any top 10 song in history, I want to go back in time and visit them recording this gem in their childlike-rave! Who’s with me?

Some might see the song coming in at #76 on the countdown as a let-down, but “Yellow Submarine” has actually become a very divisive song to fans. While some appreciate the whimsical sing-along, others hold it as a weak point in The Beatles’ creative stride especially coming on the otherwise flawless record Revolver. Don’t be too surprised either; the song had some more troubles besides that. Released in the middle of Lennon’s “Bigger Than Jesus” controversy as well as the backlash from their infamous “Butcher” cover, the song actually did not perform nearly as well as people today would think and never reached number one on any American chart. It would hit number one in Britain and also won the highly coveted Ivor Novello Award, but even in Britain, the controversy around the band shrouded the matchless single. We’re not done yet either. Despite the childlike nature of the song, people still felt the song had a deeper meaning about drugs, just like most of their releases at the time. About a month after Revolver was released too, a barbiturate known as a yellow submarine started to become popular. McCartney denied the allegations and the frustrations from the so-called “hidden meanings” from this & other songs would fuel The White Album‘s “Glass Onion.” To give the song some peace though, it was used a few years later as the title song and basis to the 1968 animated film about The Beatles fighting the Blue Meanies in Pepperland. The soundtrack, released as an official Beatles’ album, was a let-down but included some great hidden gems such as “Hey Bulldog!” Instead of telling you how much I love this song too, I’ll just share a memorable moment with you. When The Beatles: Rock Band was released, my old roommates & I played it incessantly and at most of the parties we had. Showing just how great the song was, people always wanted to play it. And no matter who was in the room, everyone always began to sing along to the famous children’s tale. I’m sure you guys will too when you check it out below:

Song: Yellow Submarine
Album: Revolver
Year: 1966

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