For the longest time I thought the lyrics to ‘Get Back’ were “ Jojo was a man, who thought he was a woman / But he knew it couldn’t last…..Get Back to where you once belonged”….I do know now that the first line was different, but these mis-heard lyrics made perfect sense to me? No? Just me then?🤦🏽‍♂️😳

Songs from the “supernova” era of the Beatles  – 1968-1970, when they were spectacularly breaking up –  are what I remember most from the radio. Get Back is the song that finally pulled the curtain down on the Beatles – after all it is the last song on the last album ever released by the Beatles. This story of a gender-curious man called Jojo (OK OK, it wasn’t that…I get it 😂) originally started out as a protest song parodying the “No Immigrants” sentiment brewing in the UK & US at the end of the 60s, mocking the anti-immigrant chants of ‘Get Back (to your countries)’ of the hard-right. However, the Beatles decided to not go ahead with that version as they were worried about the political fallout of Paul’s lyrics. Instead they turned it into a bit of a nonsense lyric – the ‘Let It Be’ album version starts with John saying “Sweet Loretta Fart/she thought she was a cleaner/ but she was a frying pan” …I guess when you’re the Beatles even crazy lyrics become a #1 hit! 

‘Come Together’ from the ‘Abbey Road’ album (yes the album that which made it impossible to drive down Abbey Road without worrying about hitting some tourist posing for photos on the zebra crossing) is for me, the closest The Beatles ever got to the origins of Rock & Roll. That monster groove – that’s Paul on the bass guitar! That guitar solo – George at his best. John’s crazy lyrics (who doesn’t have feet below their knees ?). Ringo’s drums…..it’s like an exquisite swiss watch, every piece just working perfectly, even as they were breaking up as a band. That must have been tough – but what consummate professionals they were 😱. Interestingly, this song too started out as a political statement – Tim Leary, an American politician asked John to write for him a campaign song around his slogan of ‘Come Together – Join the Party’. Unfortunately, the campaign was still-born, but John had the notion of ‘Come Together’ stuck in his head, and of course, turned it into a blockbuster song. This song always, always, grabs my attention  – Lennon going ‘Shoot Me’ throughout the song (apparently short for “shoot me up”), and that amazing line “One and One and One is Three” – I love this song!

‘Here Comes The Sun’ is one of the most beautifully optimistic songs ever written. This and ‘Let It Be’ are songs that I’ve turned to for solace many times in the intervening years since I heard them first on the radio in Delhi. There’s such purity in the lyrics and in George’s guitar, it literally feels like the first rays of warmth on a cold English winter day, after a dark & depressing winter…..magical! By 1969 the Beatles business empire was crumbling and the stresses and tensions of meetings with accountants and lawyers were proving too much for George. So, one early Spring day, he decided to bunk the meetings and go hang out with his friend Eric Clapton at his house in Surrey. Walking in the garden with one of Clapton’s acoustic guitars, George literally wrote the entire song spontaneously as the warm sun came through. Genius at work! Unfortunately, the Beatles never actually performed this song live – they broke up soon after recording it.

Ok, last one of my favourite Beatles songs – ‘Let It Be’. What a hymn ! This song has forever become associated with having faith and laying down your burdens, safe in the knowledge that God (‘Mother Mary’) is telling you to not worry about things outside your control and to let things be. All over the world, millions have embraced this song with its deep, faith-led lyrics. …..Actually, the song is about a dream that Paul had about his mother, Mary (he lost her when he was only 14)! Towards the end of The Beatles era as a band, Paul realised that he was the only one of the Fab Four still trying to hold the band together. Seeing his best friends and bandmates drift away was hurtful. One night, Paul dreamt of his mum, Mary, who told him not to worry and that it’ll all be ok. That dream turned into the glorious ‘Let It Be’. Of course, the reference to ‘Mother Mary’ was bound to make the song a hymn –and it has been embraced by people of all faith globally. The song really touches me deep down somewhere – if I happen to hear it when I’m feeling in a certain mood, it’s like laying my head in my mum’s lap! Yes, even at my age!    

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