The Vinyl Countdown: Best Beatles Love Songs
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All you need is love, right? Well that's all we need this week from The Beatles - with over forty love songs in their discography, there are so many to choose from. Here's the countdown from this week, featuring the best Beatles love songs as voted by you guys!
40. Why Don't We Do It In the Road?
A song inspired by monkeys getting it on, Paul and Ringo recorded this on their own. John was hurt that he wasn't included.
39. This Boy
While this song is referred to as "Ringo's Theme," Lennon wrote it. It was played during Ringo's big scene in A Hard Day's Night, as an instrumental song.
38. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
37. Here Comes the Sun
36. The End
This song, comprised of the lyric, "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make," is basically the closing statement of The Beatles. It's featured on the last track of the last album they ever recorded.
35. Any Time At All
34. Things We Said Today
31. Oh! Darling
McCartney wrote this song, and although Lennon usually sang the shredded-voice songs, McCartney was determined to sing lead. He came to the studio early every day for a week so that his voice would sound strained on the record.
33. Her Majesty
This song is regarded as the first hidden track to be on a rock record. It's the shortest Beatles song, at :23 seconds, and was initially meant to be between "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam" on Abbey Road.
32. Tell Me What You See
30. Sexy Sadie
This song was written about the Maharishi, after he tried to rape Mia Farrow on a retreat. Lennon wrote the song after The Beatles decided to leave. When the Maharishi asked why, Lennon came back with, "If you're so cosmic, you'll know why." This song also confirmed Charles Manson's belief that The Beatles were talking to him, as one of his followers was nicknamed Sadie.
29. Every Little Thing
28. Till There Was You
This song was written for The Music Man, a 1957 Broadway musical. McCartney was a fan of showtunes, and decided to do a cover. The Beatles played it on their first Ed Sullivan appearance.
27. From Me To You
26. Got To Get You Into My Life
25. Eight Days a Week
This song was the first pop song to fade up from silence. McCartney and Lennon worked on it together, and went through lots of trouble creating and recording it. The title came after McCartney's chauffeur asked him if he was busy - he responded, 'Busy? I've been working eight days a week."
24. Girl
23. Please Please Me
Elton John and John Lennon performed "I Saw Her Standing There" at Madison Square Garden in November, 1974.
22. Do You Want to Know a Secret
Lennon has said this song was inspired by "I'm Wishing," from Snow White, which his mother used to sing to him. The lyrics go, "Wanna know a secret? Promise not to tell? We are standing by a wishing well."
21. You Really Got a Hold On Me
20. I Saw Her Standing There
McCartney and Lennon wrote this song in Paul's living room one day, after skipping school. They frequently played it at the Cave in their early days, and performed it on their first two Ed Sullivan appearances.
19. I Will
18. Words of Love
17. Here, There, and Everywhere
Paul wrote this song for Revolver, and Mojo magazine voted it the #4 song of all time. Both George Martin and McCartney revealed it to be one of their favorite Beatle tunes.
16. It's Only Love
15. I Need You
One of the few George Harrison songs, this song was written about the song-inspiring Pattie Boyd, his wife at the time. Boyd was also the inspiration behind Eric Clapton's "Layla" and "Wonderful Tonight." This song was the only Harrison song featured on the movie Help!, so he made a point of saying "I Need You by George Harrison" twice during the end credits.
14. She Loves You
13. I've Just Seen a Face
12. In My Life
Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison all considered this to be one of the best Beatles songs. In fact, it was voted the best song of all time in 2000 by a panel of songwriters from the magazine Mojo.
11. Yesterday
The tune for this song came to McCartney in his sleep, and he went around for months humming it and asking the others if they knew it. "No, it's yours," they'd tell him, and he finally recorded it.
10. Love Me Do
John and Paul wrote this song in '58, when they were 17 and 16 years old. It was recorded in mono and was the first official Beatles single.
9. Something
The only Harrison composition released as a single, this song was considered to be the best love song ever by Frank Sinatra. Paul McCartney often performs this song as a tribute using a ukulele that George gave to him.
8. If I Fell
Reflective of his first marriage, "If I Fell" was John Lennon's first attempt at writing a ballad. He sang lead, into the same microphone as McCartney - for an Everly Brothers sort of sound.
7. When I'm 64
Another McCartney favorite, Paul wrote the bones of this song when he was only 14. It was a song that the band played when they were still under the name of The Quarrymen, and it's still a Beatles staple song today.
6. P.S. I Love You
Paul McCartney wrote "P.S. I Love You" while The Beatles were the house band at The Star Club in Hamburg, Germany. It was released in the early Beatle days, as the B-side of "Love Me Do" in 1962.
5. Michelle
Back when John was in art school, Paul would visit and pretend to be French - sitting in the corner with his guitar singing a little bit over and over. John suggested Paul turn it into a real song, and "Michelle" was created.
4. And I Love Her
Right behind "Yesterday," this song is one of The Beatles' most covered songs - with nearly 400 covers by 1972. It was one of the few songs with only one Beatle singing (Paul), and the first using only acoustic instruments.
3. All My Loving
This song, about Paul McCartney's then girlfriend Jane Asher, was the first of McCartney's songs where he wrote the lyrics before the music. It wasn't released as a single, but the group played it on the Ed Sullivan Show.
2. All You Need is Love
Being a Lennon composition, this song is very unusual for sure. It is recorded at a 7/4 tempo, starting with the French national anthem and rounding out with snippets from orchestral pieces "Greensleeves" and "In the Mood." You can also hear Paul singing the chorus of "She Loves You" at the end.
1. I Want To Hold Your Hand
The Beatles' first and best selling single in the US, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" shot The Beatles to #1 in America. They performed the song on their first two Ed Sullivan appearances.
Comments
mts1098 on February 27, 2014:
I saved your best music hub for the last...I can listen to the Beatles all day...thanks and cheers
oldiesmusic from United States on February 20, 2014:
Also a fan of them.. Frank Sinatra initially mistook "Something" as a Lennon-McCartney song (I like his cover too). Awesome hub. :D
Kevina Oyatedor on February 19, 2014:
love the beatles! great hub.
