All their loving: Five of the most loving Beatles songs

George Harrison's first song on “Abbey Road” is a masterpiece of lyrical imagery. “Something in the way she moves, attracts me like no other lover.” It's no wonder that many singers, starting with Frank Sinatra, have embraced this song in cover versions. It may seem strange to call it understated, but the charm of its lyrics makes it one of the best of the songs ever written by any of the Beatles, and that, of course, includes the prolific team of Lennon and McCartney. Clearly written for his wife Pattie, Harrison was inspired in the writing of the song by Ray Charles and the James Taylor song “Something in the Way She Moves” from his Apple Records LP. “Actually, when I wrote it, I was thinking of Ray Charles,” he said in a later interview. Pattie Boyd, however, says it was for her. “He always told me that it was about me,” she said. The song was initially considered for “The Beatles (White Album),” but didn't make it. He reportedly offered it to Joe Cocker and Jackie Lomax first before deciding to record it for himself. A very good decision, in retrospect.Another early Beatles song, this one from 1963 while on tour with Helen Shapiro. John Lennon told Playboy in 1980, “We were writing it in a car I think, and I think the first line was mine. I mean I know it was mine. And then after that we took it from there. It was far bluesier than that when we wrote it. The notes – today you could rearrange it pretty funky."  Helen Shapiro remembered, “They asked me if I would come and listen to two songs that they had. Paul sat at the piano and John stood next to me and they sang 'From Me To You' and 'Thank You Girl.' They said they sort of knew their favorite, but hadn't finally decided, so they wanted me to tell them which one I thought would make the best A side. As it happened, I liked 'From Me To You,' and they said, 'Great. That's the one we like.” “If there's anything that you want, if there's anything I can do, just call on me and I'll send it along, with love from me to you.” The song wasn't a big hit in the U.S., rising only to #41, but in the UK it hit no. 1.A very pensive song written by Paul McCartney in 1964 after the filming of “A Hard Day's Night.” The song was reportedly written while on a yacht trip with Ringo Starr, his wife Maureen Cox, and then girlfriend Jane Asher. Despite its undercurrent of subtlety, the lyrics have a certain directness. The song first appeared on “Something New” in the U.S. and the “A Hard Day's Night” Album in the UK. It was also released as a single in 1964 in the UK on Parlophone Records as the flip side to “A Hard Day's Night.” This isn't your “she was just 17 and you know what I mean” type of lyrics. Author Steve Turner says Paul wrote it reflecting on his relationship with Jane Asher and how the nature of their two separate careers would affect their relationship.  “Someday when we're dreaming, deep in love, not a lot to say, then we will remember, things we said today,” the lyrics read. Very introspective and warm.View the list »
The Beatles on the cover of the single "Yesterday."

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"Love" was always a huge part of the Beatles' history. They have a show in Las Vegas using the name. In one of those songs, “In My Life,” they sang, “All these places have their moments with lovers and friends, I still can recall. Some are dead and some are living in my life, I've loved them all.”

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And the final song on their “Abbey Road” album summarized it all: “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

But the Beatles were big on love songs and created several great ones that not only they recorded but other famous artists did as well. Capitol Records at one point released a compilation of them, though Ringo perhaps spoke for the group when he said, “Please let us know what you're doing with the records we made. We'd like it done … how do I say, nicely!”

Here are five of the most loving Beatles songs. Not all were hits, but they all express the sentiment. Readers will certainly say there were many others we could have picked, and it was hard to leave off some of the very obvious choices. But we wanted some deep choices, too. So here goes. All you need is love.

(Copyright Steve Marinucci. Please do not reprint in full on other sites without permission. Headlines with links, though, are fine. Posting any of our links to Twitter and Facebook is much appreciated.)

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  • A very pensive song written by Paul McCartney in 1964 after the filming of “A Hard Day's Night.” The song was reportedly written while on a yacht trip with Ringo Starr, his wife Maureen Cox, and then girlfriend Jane Asher. Despite its undercurrent of subtlety, the lyrics have a certain directness. The song first appeared on “Something New” in the U.S. and the “A Hard Day's Night” Album in the UK. It was also released as a single in 1964 in the UK on Parlophone Records as the flip side to “A Hard Day's Night.” This isn't your “she was just 17 and you know what I mean” type of lyrics. Author Steve Turner says Paul wrote it reflecting on his relationship with Jane Asher and how the nature of their two separate careers would affect their relationship.  “Someday when we're dreaming, deep in love, not a lot to say, then we will remember, things we said today,” the lyrics read. Very introspective and warm.
  • Another early Beatles song, this one from 1963 while on tour with Helen Shapiro. John Lennon told Playboy in 1980, “We were writing it in a car I think, and I think the first line was mine. I mean I know it was mine. And then after that we took it from there. It was far bluesier than that when we wrote it. The notes – today you could rearrange it pretty funky."  Helen Shapiro remembered, “They asked me if I would come and listen to two songs that they had. Paul sat at the piano and John stood next to me and they sang 'From Me To You' and 'Thank You Girl.' They said they sort of knew their favorite, but hadn't finally decided, so they wanted me to tell them which one I thought would make the best A side. As it happened, I liked 'From Me To You,' and they said, 'Great. That's the one we like.” “If there's anything that you want, if there's anything I can do, just call on me and I'll send it along, with love from me to you.” The song wasn't a big hit in the U.S., rising only to #41, but in the UK it hit no. 1.
  • George Harrison's first song on “Abbey Road” is a masterpiece of lyrical imagery. “Something in the way she moves, attracts me like no other lover.” It's no wonder that many singers, starting with Frank Sinatra, have embraced this song in cover versions. It may seem strange to call it understated, but the charm of its lyrics makes it one of the best of the songs ever written by any of the Beatles, and that, of course, includes the prolific team of Lennon and McCartney. Clearly written for his wife Pattie, Harrison was inspired in the writing of the song by Ray Charles and the James Taylor song “Something in the Way She Moves” from his Apple Records LP. “Actually, when I wrote it, I was thinking of Ray Charles,” he said in a later interview. Pattie Boyd, however, says it was for her. “He always told me that it was about me,” she said. The song was initially considered for “The Beatles (White Album),” but didn't make it. He reportedly offered it to Joe Cocker and Jackie Lomax first before deciding to record it for himself. A very good decision, in retrospect.
  • This one gets picked often when mentioning Beatles love songs and for good reason. It first appeared on the different versions of the “Rubber Soul” album released in both the UK and U.S. Like “Something,” it's imagery is beautiful. Even more is the lyrical contrast John Lennon displays between his public image and his inner self. “There are places I remember, all my life though some have changed, some forever not for better, some have gone and some remain.” According to friend Elliot Mintz, it was part of an effort by Lennon to catalog his earlier memories. As he told Playboy in 1980, “It was the first song I wrote that was consciously about my life. Before, we were just writing songs a la Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly -- pop songs with no more thought to them than that. The words were almost irrelevant.” He said it started out as a song about a bus journey from his house on Menlove Avenue to mention all the places he could recall. “I wrote it all down and it was boring. So I forgot about it and laid back and these lyrics started coming to me about friends and lovers of the past.” It worked. And very very well.
  • You can't really have a list of Beatles love songs and not include this one. It starts at the very poignant beginning. “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as though they're here to stay, oh I believe in yesterday.” As the story goes, Paul McCartney woke up one day and the melody just came to him. “It was just there. A complete thing. I couldn't believe it,” he remembered. Ironically, one of the Beatles' biggest songs had a difficult birth. As is well known, it began its life with the strange title of “Scrambled Eggs.” The song languished in McCartney's head for so long that Dick Lester threatened on the set of “Help!” to remove the piano there if McCartney didn't finish the song. He finally finished it in Portugal. It became a groundbreaking Beatles song when it was recorded at Abbey Road Studios using just Paul, a guitar and a string quartet, the first time the Beatles had done anything like this. It's the most covered Beatles song and has been done by such artists as the Brothers Four, Ray Charles, Shirley Bassey, Judy Collins, the Supremes, David and Jonathan, the Smothers Brothers and Sammy Davis Jr. When the Beatles debuted the song on British TV, George Harrison poked a little fun at it in his introduction. He introduced the song on “Blackpool Night Out” by saying, "For Paul McCartney of Liverpool, opportunity knocks," a reference to a British talent show of the same name. It also could have referred to the gold mine the song was about to open.
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Steve Marinucci's website, Abbeyrd's Beatles Page - http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net - is widely regarded as the most accurate Beatle news source on the internet. A former journalist for over 30 years at the San Jose Mercury News, he has interviewed celebrities including Yoko Ono, Bruce Johnston and...

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