The Vinyl Countdown: Best Beatles Love Songs

Author:
Alex Rose
Updated date:
Feb 5, 2018

Click the link below to watch the video!

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

the-vinyl-countdown-best-beatles-love-songs

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

Scroll to Continue

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.