The Beatles are cemented into the public consciousness–and have been for a long time. Their legacy is well-established among fans and perhaps even more so among fellow musicians. Many fellow artists have written songs in tribute to the Fab Four. Check out the best songs about each member of the Beatles, below.
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“Friends To Go” (Paul McCartney) – George Harrison
Instead of speaking about George Harrison explicitly, Paul McCartney opted to echo his sonic sensibilities in his song about the former Beatle. McCartney penned “Friends To Go” several years after Harrison’s death. He called upon his bandmate’s spirit to help him pen this Harrison-esque track.
“The funny thing about it was I felt as if I was almost George Harrison during the writing of that song,” McCartney once said. “I just got this feeling, this is George. So it was like I was writing – I was like George – writing one of his songs. So I just wrote it, it just wrote itself very easily ’cause it wasn’t even me writing it.”
I’ve been sliding down a slippy slope
I’ve been climbing up a slowly burning rope
But the flame is getting low
I’ve been waiting on the other side
For your friends to go
“Edge of Seventeen” (Stevie Nicks) – John Lennon
While you may not think it while listening to “Edge of Seventeen,” this Stevie Nicks hit is about John Lennon–well, at least in part. The crux of the song is grief, inspired mainly by her late uncle (also named John). However, Lennon and his shocking death made its way into this track as well.
“I didn’t know John Lennon, but I knew Jimmy Iovine, who worked with John quite a bit in the ’70s, and heard all the loving stories that Jimmy told about him,” Nicks once said. “When I came back to Phoenix I started to write this song.”
This song about a Beatle would go on to be Nicks’ solo calling card. We can only think some of Lennon’s hit-making sensibilities rubbed off on her while she ruminated on his legacy.
He was no more than a baby then
Well, he seemed broken-hearted
Something within him
But the moment that I first laid
Eyes on him, all alone
On the edge of 17
“Ringo, I Love You” (Cher) – Ringo Starr
Cher’s debut song was a tribute to her favorite Beatle, Ringo Starr. The charmingly simple “Ringo, I Love You” puts her adoration in clear language. It’s a far cry from the songs she would become known for and it likely could’ve hurt her career if she never escaped this gushing track. Nevertheless, it’s a sweet message of devotion for a Beatle that often gets overlooked.
Ringo, I love you
Yeah, yeah, yeah
More than anything in this world
I wanna be your girl
Please let me hold you
Ringo
“How Can You Sleep” (John Lennon) – Paul McCartney
While the other songs on this list are tributes to a Beatle, John Lennon’s “How Can You Sleep” is a staunch dressing down of one. Lennon and Paul McCartney exchanged many words in the wake of the band’s breakup, but this song is perhaps the most seething. Lennon references McCartney-penned Beatles songs in the lyrics, effectively making fun of them and dismissing their legacy. We can’t think of a harsher berate from a former songwriting partner.
So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise
You better see right through that mother’s eyes
Those freaks was right when they said you was dead
The one mistake you made was in your head
(Photo by Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images)
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