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Paul McCartney has given fans insight into how he wrote many of his most famous songs. He said he wrote The Beatles’ “Yesterday” because of magic and a dream. The cute Beatle felt the tune could not be explained in purely natural terms.

Paul McCartney had no idea how he came up with the tune for The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’

The Beatles wrote many songs that were innovative and inspired new genres of music. “Yesterday,” on the other hand, was pretty old-fashioned. It could have been a hit for Frank Sinatra in the 1940s or Elvis Presley in the 1950s — or for Michael Steven Bublé or Meghan Trainor today. It’s beloved not because it was novel but because it was such a well-written example of a traditional pop ballad.

During a 2011 interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, Paul discussed the origin of “Yesterday.” “‘Yesterday’ came to me in a dream,...

Updated with full trailer: “As a child, I yearned for the mines,” Jack Black’s Steve reminisces at the opening of Warner Bros., Mojang Studios’ and Legendary’s A Minecraft Movie trailer.

Set to Mgmt’s “Time to Pretend,” Black’s character narrates how he could not be kept away from the mines, which prompted the origin of the world of Minecraft, a wonderland in which anything can be created, as long as it’s made out of blocks.

Enter through the glowing blue portal, Jason Momoa’s Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, Gamer of the Year, 1989, Danielle Brooks’ Dawn, Sebastian Eugene Hansen’s Henry and Emma Myers’ skeptical Natalie. No sign of the characters played by Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon and Jemaine Clement yet.

“Welcome to the Overworld,” Steve tells the visitors as a poor live chicken is turned into a cooked meal when lava is poured on it.

Backed by The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour,” Warner Bros Pictures’ A Minecraft Movie teaser trailer provides a first look at what’s coming with the first live-action feature film based on the biggest-selling video game in history.

The April 4, 2025 release stars Jason Momoa (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom), Jack Black (the Kung Fu Panda films), Emma Myers (Wednesday), Oscar nominee Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple), Sebastian Eugene Hansen (Just Mercy), and Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus). Nacho Libre‘s Jared Hess directs.

Poster for Warner Bros Pictures’ ‘A Minecraft Poster’

“Welcome to the world of Minecraft, where creativity doesn’t just help you craft, it’s essential to one’s survival! Four misfits—Garrett ‘The Garbage Man’ Garrison (Momoa), Henry (Hansen), Natalie (Myers), and Dawn (Brooks)—find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination,...

The first official trailer for the "Minecraft" movie is here. The new film is based on the wildly popular, visually retro open-world building video game of the same name, and we're hoping it'll be a little less "Super Mario Bros Movie" and a little more "Lego Batman Movie" or "Barbie." So far, there have been promising signs; the film's cast features a variety of in-demand actors, from "Aquaman" star Jason Momoa to "The White Lotus" headliner Jennifer Coolidge to "The Color Purple" standout Danielle Brooks.

Jack Black stars in the film, and though I have no doubt he'll bring the same energy and amazing comedic intensity to the role as he does to everything else he's been in, it's worth noting that the actor is less beloved than usual lately thanks to his choice to temporarily break up Tenacious D over a comment Kyle Gass made. Other key "Minecraft" cast...

A Minecraft Movie just dropped its first teaser today, but it might have been better if it had stayed in sandbox mode. You might want to steel yourself a bit before hitting play: visually, this lands somewhere between The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Emoji Movie. Maybe it's time...

In 1967, The Beatles and producer George Martin gathered in the studio to record the song “A Day in the Life.” They were far from the only people in the studio that day. In their typical fashion, the band invited many of their contemporaries to join them as they recorded the song. According to one of the many people present, Martin seemed embarrassed by the spectacle.

George Martin seemed embarrassed as The Beatles recorded a song

David Puttnam, who was a friend of The Beatles, was present at the “A Day in the Life” recording session. He admitted that many of his experiences with the band were chaotic.

“From the moment they started meeting to make the film [Magical Mystery Tour], there are fantastic stories of total lunacy,” Puttnam said in the book All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines. “You hire a caterer,...

Let It Be is back? Nobody thought this day would ever come. The Beatles’ 1970 lost-lost documentary Let It Be has always been dismissed as the band’s tombstone. It’s a movie that people regard as a disaster but hardly anyone has actually seen, just like Magical Mystery Tour. Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Let It Be came out in May 1970, right when the Fabs were splitting up, and went down in history as their “break-up film.” All four refused to show up for the premiere. Apple has kept it officially unavailable for decades.

We know that Beatles fans all have their favorites, and now we want to know yours. Over Memorial Day weekend, The Beatles Channel (Ch. 18) will play the band’s 100 most popular songs — according to you, the real experts — during the annual “All Together Now” special.

The Beatles ChannelAll Together Now 2024Listen on the App

Listen on the App

Tune in to hear the countdown starting May 24, the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, on The Beatles Channel (Ch. 18).

Stream the countdown in full anytime, anywhere, on the SiriusXM app.

Directions: Select 10 songs from the list below. Voting ends April 17 at 11:59pm Et.

Memorial Day weekend is a time to remember our family, friends, and loved ones. If you’d like to be a part of this year’s “All Together Now” countdown, here’s your chance to introduce your favorite song on air. Please submit a dedication via voice memo to beatles@siriusxm.

No Paul McCartney song was created in a vacuum. A 1960s classic rock star said Paul took ideas from him. The star’s producer told him not to let Paul hear one of his tracks. The tune in question became a massive hit in the United States and the United Kingdom, and it is recognizable to this day.

Paul McCartney and another rock star inspired each other’s songs

During a 2016 interview with The Guardian, Donovan discussed the place he was in life when he wrote his most famous hit, the psychedelic classic “Sunshine Superman.” “At the time, I was great pals with The Beatles,” he said. “We were all experimenting, nicking sounds from each other.

“I was getting into baroque music and told my producer, Mickie Most, I wanted harpsichord on the track,” Donovan recalled. “‘You need an arranger,’ he said, introducing me to John Cameron who understood immediately.

The best classic rock artists influence other classic rock artists. For example, The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” inspired one of Donovan’s songs. Donovan also revealed that a member of Led Zeppelin was a fan of his drumming.

The Beatles’ ‘I Am the Walrus’ inspired Donovan to make up a word for 1 of his songs

If you thought the lyrics of The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” had odd lyrics, just listen to Donovan’s “Barabajagal.” It’s so nonsensical it uses fake words. The BBC reports the word “barabajagal” was derived from the line “Goo goo g’joob” from “I Am the Walrus.”

During a 2016 interview with Best Classic Bands, Donovan discussed his heavier songs, such as “Barabajagal,” “Atlantis,” and “Hurdy Gurdy Man.” “I’m not really Buddy Holly or The Everly Brothers and I’m not really Elvis, and I’m not rhythm and blues, like Brian Jones,...

Known for his adventures as the world-renowned archaeologist, Harrison Ford reprised his role as Indiana Jones after 15 years in James Mangold’s 2023 film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. However, despite the anticipation surrounding his return, the film failed miserably at the box office, which has been attributed to the lack of appeal to a wide audience and its excessive budget. Reports suggested potential losses of around $100 million for Disney.

James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

However, the projected losses for the film could have been even more severe if the director had pursued his initial title for the film, which involved naming it after The Beatles album, Magical Mystery Tour.

James Mangold Wanted to Name Indiana Jones 5 After The Beatles Album

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny follows the titular character on a quest to find an ancient artifact while grappling with personal losses.

The Beatles‘ “I Am the Walrus” might seem like a psychedelic novelty today, but John Lennon adored it. He said it would appeal to fans of the Electric Light Orchestra. Interestingly, Elo has some deep connections to the Fab Four — particularly George Harrison during his solo era.

John Lennon explained why The Beatles’ ‘I Am the Walrus’ was a personal favorite

The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon features the text of a radio interview from 1974. “And now we’re gonna play a track from Magical Mystery Tour, which is one of my favorite albums because it was so weird, and it’s ‘I Am the Walrus,'” he said. While Magical Mystery Tour is a classic, it’s generally not as acclaimed as other Beatles records such as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Revolver, or The White Album. It’s interesting that John valued Magical Mystery Tour so highly.

In 1964, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr acted for the first time in A Hard Day’s Night. While filming a new movie was an entirely new experience for The Beatles, they all jumped into their roles with excitement. Starr loved movies as kid and loved the experience of filming one. Still, some days on set were a challenge for him. He revealed how feeling terrible while shooting actually helped his performance.

Ringo Starr had a rough day on the set of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’

While The Beatles were happy to make a movie, they found it difficult to wake up for the early call times.

“It was a very early start,” George Harrison said in The Beatles Anthology. “We’d have to arrive and get dressed and have our hair and faces done. While all this was going on they would set up with stand-ins. They...

In 1964, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr made their on screen debuts in The Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night. The film took advantage of their ever rising fame and was both a critical and financial success. The band also enjoyed shooting the film, though they found some parts of the process embarrassing. Lennon shared the scene he found tough to film and watch.

John Lennon said The Beatles were embarrassed to film 1 scene in ‘A Hard Day’s Night’

The Beatles had no acting experience when they began filming A Hard Day’s Night but they jumped into their roles eagerly. They began filming in March at Marylebone Station.

“It was a great day out,” McCartney said in The Beatles Anthology. “We filmed the scene where all the fans run into the train station then the train pulls off, leaving the fans, so then we could get on...

John, Paul, George and Ringo will each be the subject of a different upcoming feature film.

Director Sam Mendes plans to make four separate movies, one from each Beatles member’s point of view. They will intersect to “tell the astonishing story of the greatest band in history,” leading up to their 1970 breakup, according to a press release. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of the late John Lennon and George Harrison have granted full life story and music rights for the scripted films.

“I’m honored to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time, and excited to challenge the notion of what constitutes a trip to the movies,” Mendes, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker of “American Beauty,” war drama “1917” and James Bond films “Skyfall” and “Spectre,” said in a statement.

Sony Pictures Entertainment will finance and distribute all four films theatrically in 2027. Details about...

In the latter half of the 1960s, George Harrison began writing more songs for The Beatles. While he hadn’t had much interest in songwriting early in the band’s career, he took it more seriously in later years. He was so dedicated to songwriting that he wrote one song while reeling from jetlag.

George Harrison wrote 1 Beatles song while suffering from jetlag

In 1967, Harrison traveled to Los Angeles with his wife, Pattie Boyd, road manager, Neil Aspinall, and friend, Alex Mardas. He went from the airport to his rental home, where Beatles press officer Derek Taylor was due to meet him. Taylor was running late, though.

“By the time we got there the song was virtually intact,” Taylor said, per the book A Hard Day’s Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song by Steve Turner. “Of course, at the time I felt very bad. Here were these two...

C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books and The Beatles’ songs are two of post-war England’s most valuable cultural exports. Paul McCartney said one of The Beatles’ songs is about a place that John Lennon felt was similar to Narnia. John did an incredible job of translating his feelings into music.

Paul McCartney said 1 Beatles song was inspired by a ‘wild garden’

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed Strawberry Field, the orphanage that inspired The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever.” “I’ve seen Strawberry Fields described as a dull, grimy place next door to him that John imagined to be a beautiful place, but in the summer it wasn’t dull and grimy at all: it was a secret garden,” Paul recalled.

“John’s memory of it wasn’t to do with the fact that it was a Salvation Army home; that was up at the house,...

C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books and The Beatles’ songs are two of post-war England’s most valuable cultural exports. Paul McCartney said one of The Beatles’ songs is about a place that John Lennon felt was similar to Narnia. John did an incredible job of translating his feelings into music.

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed Strawberry Field, the orphanage that inspired The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever.” “I’ve seen Strawberry Fields described as a dull, grimy place next door to him that John imagined to be a beautiful place, but in the summer it wasn’t dull and grimy at all: it was a secret garden,” Paul recalled.

“John’s memory of it wasn’t to do with the fact that it was a Salvation Army home; that was up at the house,” he added. “There was a wall you could bunk over and...

The Beatles‘ “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” is one of their more psychedelic songs. A specific instrument helped make the tune stand out from the pack. An engineer revealed how the track came together in the studio. “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” became the fitting B-side of a more famous Fab Four song.

Why The Beatles worked a synthesize into ‘Baby, You’re a Rich Man’

Engineer Eddie Kramer worked at Olympic Road Studios. He had collaborated with The Beatles during the recording of the album Magical Mystery Tour. During a 2013 interview with Guitar World, Kramer said his boss, Keith Grant, had wanted Kramer to impress the Fab Four. “Keith said to me, ‘Look, we’ve got to really prove it to these guys that we are not only as good as but probably better than Emi Abbey Road,'” he recalled. “And that was the mantra for the night.

John Lennon‘s son, Sean Ono Lennon, has a hard time picking a definitive favorite Beatles song. However, he’s a big fan of The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love.” He said a line from that song captures the feel of the 1960s really well. The track was so much more popular in the United States than it was in the United Kingdom.

John Lennon’s son connected The Beatles’ ‘All You Need Is Love’ to ‘enlightenment’

During a 2015 interview with NME, Sean picked “All You Need Is Love” as his favorite Beatles track. However, he said fans should take that with a grain of salt. “My list of favorite things changes from day to day,” he said.

Sean lied an optimistic line from “All You Need Is Love.” “I like when my dad said: ‘There’s nothing you can know that isn’t known / Nothing you can see...

In an interview, Ringo Starr said John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison had more of a role in crafting The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour than he did. However, Ringo did help create a great scene in the film. During an interview, Ringo discussed what it was like constantly being portrayed as the clown of the group.

Ringo Starr made George Harrison look like a cat for The Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’

During a 1981 interview with Rolling Stone, Ringo discussed the creation of Magical Mystery Tour. “Magical Mystery Tour is not my movie,” he said. “John, Paul, and George wrote more of it than I did, but I shot a lot of it.”

Ringo took responsibility for an interesting visual moment from the film. “There’s a scene with George where I put him in my living room and projected slides on him. It’s nothing new. It was done back in 1926 or so.

After the success of A Hard Day’s Night and Help!, The Beatles released a film so widely despised that Paul McCartney apologized for it. Neither critics nor audiences liked it, making it The Beatles’ first real flop. Looking back, though, McCartney didn’t need to apologize. He liked the film and thought it had at least one significant positive to it.

Paul McCartney doesn’t think a Beatles project deserved the hate it got

On Boxing Day, 1967, The Beatles released Magical Mystery Tour, their third film. The film was a visual feast but premiered in black and white. This didn’t help the ratings, but audiences took bigger issue with the lack of narrative. Critics ripped the film in reviews, and audiences hated it so much that broadcasters in the United States opted not to air it.

Not long after, McCartney gave both an apology and a defense of the film in an interview.

All roads lead to Rome — and all classic rock roads lead to The Beatles. Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” has a major connection to a song from The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour. One of the songs blew the other out of the water commercially, no pun intended.

Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ connects to The Beatles’ ‘Blue Jay Way’

During a 1972 interview with Rolling Stone, Simon discussed the origin of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” “Me and Artie [Garfunkel] and [Simon’s wife] Peggy [Harper] were living in this house with a bunch of other people throughout the summer,” he said. “It was a house on Blue Jay Way, the one George Harrison wrote ‘Blue Jay Way’ about.” The two tracks are a study in contrast, as “Blue Jay Way” is a sleepy psychedelic tune, while “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is a forceful power ballad.

“We had this Sony machine and Artie had the piano,...

The best pop songs are the ones that are almost too intelligent to be pop songs. The Beatles‘ “Strawberry Fields Forever” questions the nature of reality, which John Lennon connected to Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. He also discussed how certain philosophical ideas influenced his everyday life.

John Lennon discussed 1 famous line from The Beatles’ ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’

The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” includes the famous line “Nothing is real.” During a 1980 interview with Rolling Stone, John was asked about this observation. “In a way, no thing is real, if you break the word down,” he opined.

“As the Hindus or Buddhists say, it’s an illusion,” he said. “It’s Rashomon. We all see it, but the agreed-upon illusion is what we live in. And the hardest thing is facing yourself.” Rashomon is a famous film by director Akira Kurosawa about different perspectives on a single crime.

John Lennon discussed...

Tl;Dr:

Oasis’ Noel Gallagher discussed the “magic” of The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” and what would ruin it. He revealed he wasn’t a big fan of journalists. The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” was more popular in the United States than it was in the United Kingdom.

Oasis’ Noel Gallagher is a big fan of The Beatles‘ “I Am the Walrus.” In addition, he said listeners shouldn’t think about the track too hard. Notably, he said Oasis’ cover of “I Am the Walrus” is substantially different from the original.

Oasis’ Noel Gallagher said nobody knew why The Beatles’ ‘I Am the Walrus’ was awesome

According to a 2009 interview in the book The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters, Gallagher gave his opinions on musical criticism. “It would take all the magic out of it to break down ‘I Am the Walrus’ to its basic components,...

Tl;Dr:

A song from The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour was inspired by a mishap from the band’s press officer. George Harrison received all credit for the song even though Paul McCartney helped create it. Paul revealed what he thought about the tune’s appearance in a famous film.

The Beatles‘ Magical Mystery Tour contains one of their most unusual songs. Sadly, the tune in question causes street signs in Los Angeles to get stolen. In addition, it’s the only song from a famous Beatles album that George Harrison wrote by himself.

The Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ and ‘Abbey Road’ have created similar problems

According to a 2014 article from Iowa State University’s Institute for Transportation, signs are often stolen if they are perceived as containing a reference to something famous. For example, the signs for Abbey Road were stolen regularly. To deal with this problem, the city...

It didn’t take long for The Beatles to go multimedia. As Beatlemania took over the world, they added movies to their output with A Hard Day’s Night and Help! in 1964 and 1965, respectively. They were on top of the world; even the songs they abandoned turned into hits. The Beatles kept writing songs to soundtrack their movies, and these were the seven most successful.

The Beatles wrote soundtracks for five movies they starred in

The Fab Four made hay in the relatively short time they were together. Between 1963 and 1970, there wasn’t a year where they didn’t release at least one album. Add in hundreds of live shows, scores of interviews, television appearances, and recording hit non-album singles, and it’s a wonder they didn’t keel over from exhaustion.

With that kind of schedule, The Beatles might have preferred built-in time to blow off steam on their movies.

Tl;Dr:

Paul McCartney baited fans with the lyrics of a song from The Beatles’ The White Album. The song references the “I Am the Walrus” scene from Magical Mystery Tour and other Beatles songs. The Beatles released another classic song that mentions a walrus.

Paul McCartney said a song from The Beatles’ The White Album references the movie Magical Mystery Tour. He looked back on the reference fondly. In addition, he revealed the song in question was mostly John Lennon’s work.

Paul McCartney wanted to plant a legend with a song from The Beatles’ ‘The White Album’

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul explained how he helped John write “Glass Onion.” “We had a fun moment when we were working on the bit, ‘I’ve got news for you all, the walrus was Paul,'” he recalled. “Because, although we’d never planned it,...

Styx recorded their own version of The Beatles‘ “I Am the Walrus.” The band’s fans went wild for the cover. Subsequently, the tune inspired Styx to release an entire album of classic rock covers.

Styx covered The Beatles’ ‘I Am the Walrus’ at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival

A 2006 article from The Morning Call revealed that Styx’s “I Am the Walrus” was born out of an appearance at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2004. “We had [singer] Lawrence [Gowan] do ‘I Am the Walrus,’ which I had heard him noodle on at a sound check maybe three or four years earlier,” Styx’s James Young recalled. “I mentioned it as a suggestion, then everybody started to embrace the idea.”

The crowd loved the performance. Because of that, Styx started regularly performing “I Am the Walrus” at shows. Greg Salk of the radio station Wlup offered to play the cover on his station.

Paul McCartney will reveal the stories behind some of his best-known songs, from his work in the Beatles and Wings through his solo career, on a new podcast, McCartney: A Life in Lyrics. Each episode will find him focusing on a single song — including “Eleanor Rigby,” “Let It Be,” and “Live and Let Die,” among others in the first season — in discussion with poet Paul Muldoon, who wrote the foreword to McCartney’s bestselling book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present.

All 12 of the first season’s episodes will be available...

While the Harrison Ford-led Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny features another iconic score from John Williams, the soundtrack includes a few needle drops. “Sympathy for the Devil” by The Rolling Stones was a crucial song in the trailer, and David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” is heard in the film. However, the studio for Indiana Jones 5 had to pay $1 million to play this classic song by The Beatles.

Harrison Ford said ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ paid $1 million to use The Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’

“Magical Mystery Tour” was released in 1967 as the title track for the soundtrack and TV film of the same name. It’s a psychedelic track that invites listeners on a surreal, colorful journey. In Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, “Magical Mystery Tour” welcomes audiences into the 1960s.

After an exciting train heist set during World War II, the...

Tl;Dr:

Paul McCartney said The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” was inspired by a fake five-legged sheep. Paul said he and John Lennon wrote The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” together. In retrospect, John wasn’t sure if he contributed to the track at all.

Paul McCartney said many of his songs were inspired by his childhood experiences. For example, he revealed freak shows he used to visit influenced The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour.” Notably, Paul said these freak shows became cherished memories for him.

Paul McCartney said a fraudulent freak show inspired The Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul said trips to fairgrounds and freak shows when he was young inspired him to write The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour.” “I used to go to the fairgrounds as a kid, the waltzers and the dodgems, but what interested me was the freak shows: the boxing booths,...

Tl;Dr:

The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” appears early in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” is also in the movie. The Beatles make sense in the film but Bowie does not.

The Beatles‘ “Magical Mystery Tour” plays a vital role in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. In addition to establishing the time and place, it establishes Indiana Jones’ place in the world. Notably, Paul McCartney said the song was inspired by adventures from his youth.

The Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ shows the world passed Indiana Jones by

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny begins during World War II. Subsequently, the film cuts to 1969. We see Jones as an older man. He’s woken up by hippies playing music in the apartment next to his. They’re playing “Magical Mystery Tour” at full blast.

Then Jones goes and tells the hippies to turn down the racket.

“Glass Onion” is one of the strangest and most surreal songs that John Lennon wrote for The Beatles. It’s a self-aware song that openly mocks its audience and contains several references that passionate Beatles fans can appreciate. Lennon put plenty of thought into the lyrics for this song, and one line in the song he put in specifically for Paul McCartney.

John Lennon said Paul McCartney was the ‘walrus’ in ‘Glass Onion’

“Glass Onion” from The White Album was John Lennon’s way of addressing fans who looked too deeply into the messaging of the Beatles’ songs. The track references popular Beatles songs, such as “Lady Madonna” and “Strawberry Fields Forever”. Another song it references is the deeply confusing “I Am the Walrus” from the Magical Mystery Tour soundtrack.

“I Am the Walrus” is easily The Beatles’ most nonsensical track, but it created so many theories as fans thoroughly analyzed every lyric.

Tl;Dr:

George Harrison liked The Beatles’ albums Rubber Soul and Revolver. He was not a fan of other albums like Yellow Submarine, Yesterday and Today, and Please Please Me. John Lennon had his own take on the band’s discography.

George Harrison said each of The Beatles’ albums had highlights. Despite this, he had some harsh words for a few of the Fab Four’s records. On the other hand, John Lennon said he liked some of the band’s albums more over time.

George Harrison said some of The Beatles’ albums were ‘just awful packages’

The book George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters includes an interview from 1977. In it, George was asked which of The Beatles’ albums he revisited. “I liked when we got into Rubber Soul, Revolver — each album had something good about it and progressed,” he said.

George wasn’t a fan of every Beatles album.

Tl;Dr:

The Beatles’ “Penny Lane” is similar to one of Hanson’s songs in an obvious way. A member of Hanson discussed the similarity. The Beatles’ “Penny Lane” was once the most popular song in the United States.

The Beatles‘ “Penny Lane” inspired one of Hanson’s songs. A member of Hanson said the tune was referencing the Fab Four on a subconscious level. Notably, the track in question appeared on one of Hanson’s successful albums.

The Beatles’ ‘Penny Lane’ inspired Hanson’s ‘Penny & Me’ in a subconscious way

During a 2004 interview with Songfacts, Hanson’s Zac Hanson said the members of his band became interested in the music of the 1960s at a young age. In addition, he was asked about his band’s song “Penny & Me.” “Penny was a reference to ‘Penny Lane,’ The Beatles,” he said. “It’s a great name, and also just referencing...

The Beatles tried to be democratic about the songs they put on their albums, but John Lennon once went to Paul McCartney and tried to bypass that system. Lennon had grown tired of The Beatles and didn’t see much of a point in competing with his bandmates for album space. As he no longer wanted to write that much, he asked McCartney for more freedom to add what he wanted to the albums.

John Lennon grew frustrated with The Beatles even when Paul McCartney tried to engage him

While Lennon and McCartney were The Beatles’ primary songwriters in the band’s early days, George Harrison began contributing more songs. Suddenly, getting album space was more competitive, and Lennon wasn’t interested in going head-to-head with his bandmates.

“You’d come up with a ‘Magical Mystery Tour.’ I didn’t write any of that except ‘Walrus’; I’d accept it...

John Lennon never hesitated to criticize himself. He said one of his lousy songs that The Beatles released as a single became a No. 1 hit. John also hit hard at his band. Let It Be became one of their most successful records, but John said that particular Beatles album gave him a dreadful feeling, and not just because of the stressful atmosphere while recording it.

John Lennon said The Beatles’ album ‘Let It Be’ gave him a ‘dreadful feeling’

It’s no secret the making of Let It Be was far from pleasant for The Beatles. Creative differences cropped up during the making of the White Album. That happened after Paul McCartney called nearly all the shots on the Magical Mystery Tour movie and album project.

McCartney was at it again with Let It Be. He suggested a return to The Beatles’ roots as a touring band — writing songs quickly...

The Beatles didn’t change the world overnight. They steadily built an audience in England with their first singles before becoming a legendary band. They suffered insults along the way, including from a fellow musician who called Paul McCartney and John Lennon idiots as songwriters. The Fab Four channeled a ton of creative energy into breaking pop music norms, less so into naming albums. Seven Beatles songs doubled as album titles, and now we’re ranking them.

Notes: We’re not including “Get Back” on our list. It was the working title of the album/project that became Let It Be, but The Beatles never released a record with that name. Chart placement stats via Billboard (United States) and the Official Charts Company (England).

7. ‘Yellow Submarine’ Song chart positions: No. 2 in the U.S.; No. 1 in England Album chart positions: No. 2 in the U.S.; No. 3 in England

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Plot: An older Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) finds himself whisked into one last adventure when a Nazi he battled in WW2 seeks a mythical dial called the Antikythera which may have the ability to find fissures in time that could change the outcome of the war.

Review: We should count ourselves lucky that we have three perfect Indiana Jones movies, no matter what happens. The fedora-wearing archeologist will always be considered one of the most iconic characters ever, and Harrison Ford’s place in the pantheon isn’t being threatened. Yet, resurrecting the character in the 21st Century hasn’t been easy. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas gave it a whirl with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and fans had a fit. Everyone hoped Ford, who was game for one last go-round as the character, would get a fitting send-off with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,...

If it seemed like The Beatles could do no wrong during their career, that’s because it was pretty much the case. After some struggles with their earliest singles, their debut album, Please Please Me, rocketed to the top of the charts in England. (So did every studio album through Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band). Even their lousy A-side songs became hits. Still, The Beatles dealt with a few BBC bans, including their video for “Hello, Goodbye.”

Paul Mccartney’s talent couldn’t stop the BBC from banning The Beatles music video for ‘Hello, Goodbye’

Kenny Lynch, a musician who toured with the Fab Four in the early 1960s, called Paul McCartney and John Lennon idiots when they struggled to write a song. Soon after, he set a record by becoming the first person to cover one of their songs. He must have sensed what the future would hold.

Many classic rock fans believe The Beatles‘ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band inspired The Rolling Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request. Mick Jagger was once asked if this was the case. Subsequently, he said Their Satanic Majesties Request was born out of his band’s frustrations.

Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger | Victor Blackman / Stringer The Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’ predates The Rolling Stones’ ‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’

The Beatles released the psychedelic album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in May 1967. Their Satanic Majesties Request came out in December of the same year. According to the 2013 book 50 Licks: Myths and Stories from Half a Century of the Rolling Stones, many fans felt The Rolling Stones regularly copied the Fab Four. Jagger was asked if Their Satanic Majesties Request was a conscious imitation of Sgt. Pepper.

“I can’t remember anything that happened in 1967 I’m afraid … I’m sure...

In 1967, The Beatles released Magical Mystery Tour, a film that George Harrison admittedly found confusing. He said that the movie was half-baked. They didn’t have a director, a script, or even a completely solid idea of what they wanted to make. Harrison said he never had any idea what he was doing on set. Still, he believed that the project ended up helping the band.

George Harrison | Chapman/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images George Harrison said The Beatles’ film ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ didn’t make sense to him

The Beatles released Magical Mystery Tour in 1967. The film follows a group of people on a bus tour. While the band understood the premise, they didn’t have a script. Harrison admitted that this made it difficult to understand what was happening.

“It was basically a charabanc trip, which people used to go on from Liverpool to see the Blackpool...

Paul McCartney has heard it all during his career. There has been tons of praise — with The Beatles, Wings, and solo — but also detractors. One musician called Paul and John Lennon idiots but covered one of their songs anyway. Sometimes the criticism came from those closest to him. Beatles press officer Tony Barrow said Paul craved constant approval and was “long on promises, short on performance” in his efforts to satisfy fans.

Paul McCartney | kpa/United Archives via Getty Images Paul McCartney craved public approval and was ‘long on promises, short on performance’ when he tried to get it

Fans called Paul the cute Beatle. The bassist seemed to smile perpetually. It made him seem like the most approachable and fun-loving member of the group.

According to Barrow, it was by design.

In his book 150 Glimpses of The Beatles, author Craig Brown quotes Barrow comparing John and Paul. Lennon was the dominant big personality.

Paul McCartney has publicly expressed his love of marijuana. While it has gotten him into legal trouble in the past, he continues to support the drug’s legalization worldwide. He has also professed his love for the drug in several songs, even if the pot references were subtle. Here are all the songs where Paul McCartney expresses his love for pot.

‘Magical Mystery Tour’ Paul McCartney | Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

“Magical Mystery Tour” is the title track of the soundtrack to the 1967 television film of the same name. The soundtrack portrayed The Beatles at the height of their psychedelic era in the late 1960s. Paul McCartney wanted to give this song a psychedelic vibe and included the repetitive phrase, “roll up for the mystery tour,” multiple times in the track. The “Let It Be” singer admitted this is a not-so-subtle reference to rolling a joint.

“It...

In 1967, The Beatles released Magical Mystery Tour, a film vaguely planned out by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It was not a hit with the public, and, according to McCartney, even the people on set didn’t like it. He shared why the more professional actors they hired grew increasingly irritated with the band throughout the shoot. In hindsight, he said, they probably had reason to be upset.

John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Paul McCartney | Potter/Express/Getty Images Paul McCartney said not everyone working on a Beatles film was happy to be there

When The Beatles released Magical Mystery Tour, they had already acted in two films together. This was different, though. They had no script for the project, just a vague idea of how it should go.

“There wasn’t a script for Magical Mystery Tour; you don’t need scripts for that kind of film.

Indiana Jones has fought a lot of screen villains: Nazis, assassins, evil high priests, corrupt rich douchebags, Cate Blanchett, Cate Blanchett’s hair. Yet Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny — the fifth movie to feature Harrison Ford’s globetrotting, snake-hating, whip-cracking, fedora-rocking archeology professor — pits our man Indy against the single greatest nemesis he’s ever faced: time.

Oh, there’s a ton of Nazis here too, trust us. Ditto some shady government agents, a racist redneck, a henchman roughly the size and width of a redwood, a Moroccan kingpin with a scimitar,...

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is a dutifully eager but ultimately rather joyless piece of nostalgic hokum. It’s the fifth installment of the “Indiana Jones” franchise, and though it has its quota of “relentless” action, it rarely tries to match (let alone top) the ingeniously staged kinetic bravura of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” How could it? “Raiders,” whatever one thinks of it as a movie (I always found it a trace impersonal in its ’40s-action-serial-on-steroids excitement), is arguably the most influential blockbuster of the last 45 years, even more so than “Star Wars.”

Back in 1977, George Lucas took us through the looking glass of what would become our all-fantasy-all-the-time movie culture. But it was Steven Spielberg, teaming up with Lucas in “Raiders,” who introduced the structural DNA of the one-thing-after-another, action-movie-as-endless-set-piece escapist machine. This means that “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” isn’t just coming...

The Beatles set an impossibly high bar for groups that followed them. They had dozens of top-100 hits during their brief but prolific career, and even when they abandoned songs that didn’t work, they performed well for other artists. Several of The Beatles’ non-album singles became incredibly successful. Let’s look at five of them that went to No. 1.

Note: We considered only original songs that reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts and never appeared on a studio album during The Beatles’ active years. Songs with more weeks at No. 1 rank higher than songs with more time on the charts.

(l-r) Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, George Martin, and John Lennon | Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images 5. ‘Paperback Writer’ Weeks on chart: 10 Weeks at No. 1: 2

“Paperback Writer” arrived in May 1966. The tune became an interesting nexus in The Beatles’ sound. It mixed beautiful vocal harmonies that...

Tl;Dr:

John Lennon said it took a long time to finish one of the songs from The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour. He said part of the song was “sort of ludicrous.” The tune inspired covers by the Bee Gees, Candy Flip, Todd Rundgren, Cyndi Lauper, and Peter Gabriel. John Lennon | Rowland Scherman / Contributor

John Lennon said one of the songs from The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour was supposed to sound like a conversation. He felt the song didn’t live up to the vision in his head. Subsequently, several famous artists covered the track.

John Lennon wrote a song from The Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ alone on a beach

During a 1968 interview with Rolling Stone, John was asked if he wrote “Strawberry Fields Forever” while he was alone on a beach. “Yeh, in Spain, filming How I Won the War,” he said. “I was going through a big scene...