The Beatles proved time and again throughout their career that good songs can come in small packages. Early in their career, it was common for many of their songs to hover around the two-minute mark, often lasting a little bit less.
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Even as their career progressed, they still occasionally dropped in a little postage stamp of a song. Here are five occasions where The Beatles showed that you can pack a whole lot into a short running time.
“Do You Want to Know a Secret” from Please Please Me (1963)
Early in the recording career of The Beatles, George Harrison didn’t do all that much songwriting. “Don’t Bother Me,” found on the 1963 album With the Beatles, is the only writing credit that can be found by Harrison on any of their first four albums. John Lennon and Paul McCartney would occasionally write songs for him to sing, however, and “Do You Want a Secret” is one of the best of those efforts. Clocking in at 1:56, it gives Harrison time to put in a charming performance of a lyric that was inspired by a line from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
“From Me to You” (Single, 1963)
1963 was the year Beatlemania fully took hold in Great Britain. It wouldn’t be until the following year it would make it to America, which is why “From Me to You,” with a running time of 1:56, first made its presence known in the U.S. via a cover by Del Shannon. This is one of the many early songs by Lennon-McCartney that do an outstanding job of seeming to reach out directly to the oodles of teenage fans that made up most of their early audience. But they were also showing off their maturing musicality, as evidenced by the surprisingly jazzy modulation they make into the middle eight.
“I’ll Follow the Sun” from Beatles for Sale (1964)
The Beatles were running a bit short of original material as they hit the second half of 1964 and were scheduled to churn out another album. That’s why Beatles for Sale relies on a few cover songs to fill it out, after none appeared on previous album A Hard Day’s Night. Meanwhile, Paul McCartney reached into the past to dust off “I’ll Follow the Sun,” which he had written when he was still a teenager. It’s only 1:49 long, but it allows McCartney to flash his melodic ease and generally positive outlook: But tomorrow may rain, so / I’ll follow the sun.
“She Came in Through the Bedroom Window” from Abbey Road (1969)
On the second side of Abbey Road, The Beatles strung together a series of short songs into an ingenious medley. In some cases, these songs were hardly more than fragments. But “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” is a fully realized effort, even at only 1:58. That Joe Cocker did a successful cover of it speaks to its ability to stand on its own. Paul McCartney was influenced by a fan who actually did sneak into his house with a ladder while he was out. His lyrics are typical of the surreal wordplay in which he and John Lennon liked to indulge around that time.
“Her Majesty” from Abbey Road (1969)
It was technically the last Beatles song, as Abbey Road was the last album they recorded together (even though Let It Be was released after it). And, at only 23 seconds long, it’s their shortest as well. “Her Majesty” wasn’t intended to be a part of the album, as McCartney originally had it slotted into the middle of the medley before deciding to shelve it. An engineer stuck it onto the back of the rough mix, several seconds after the completion of “The End,” because he didn’t want to destroy it. Good move, as it proved a charmingly anticlimactic way to close out the record.
Photo by King Collection/Avalon/Getty Images
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