3 Beatles Songs From ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ That We Don’t Talk About Nearly Enough

We all know “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever”, but what about the other songs on The Beatles’ 1967 project, Magical Mystery Tour? Here are three standout tracks that you might not be as familiar with.

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“Baby, You’re A Rich Man”

Released as the B-side to the anthemic “All You Need Is Love” single, this song is actually a hybrid of a McCartney and Lennon song. It features a chanting refrain, which McCartney came up with, and a section that Lennon came up with. Originally, Lennon’s half was called “One Of The Beautiful People”, in reference to the questions he asks in the verse.

“How does it feel to be / One of the beautiful people / Now that you know who you are / What do you want to be.”

“Hello, Goodbye”

Another upbeat Beatles song, “Hello, Goodbye” features a series of percussive instruments and a melody that’s bound to get stuck in your head. The lyrics are pretty simple too, which makes this one easy to follow.

This particular Beatles track features a lot of opposites. McCartney eventually explained that this was representative of the uncertainty The Beatles felt at the time.

“The song was being written at a time when we had just lost our manager and guiding star Brian Epstein to an accidental overdose,” McCartney shared with The Lyrics. “There was suddenly a lot of uncertainty in our lives.”

“Magical Mystery Tour”

Ah, yes. The title track that started it all. “Magical Mystery Tour” is, in part, a reference to real-life mystery tours, which involve getting on a bus without knowing where you’ll end up. The other part was the “magical” addition. McCartney explained this had to be added because when The Beatles were working on the song, it was “psychedelic times.”

In a 1967 interview, McCartney talked about his experiences with LSD.

“After I took it (LSD), it opened my eyes,” he shared. “We only use one-tenth of our brain. Just think what we could accomplish if we could only tap that hidden part. It would mean a whole new world.”

The song as a whole kind of sounds like you’re chugging on a train to an unspecified destination.

Photo: Chris Walter / WireImage / Getty