3 of the Best Opening Lines From Songs by The Beatles

More than their guitar playing, bass playing, or drumming, The Beatles were known for their songwriting. Their lyrics, storytelling, and the way they keyed into the collective consciousness with their ideas. It’s how they articulated the world that made the same world fall in love with them over the few short years the band was together.

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Here below, we wanted to explore three examples of what made them so good as a group. How lyricism helped an audience get to know the group and their music instantly. Indeed, these are three of the best opening lines from songs by The Beatles.

[RELATED: 3 Beatles Songs That Will Make Any Listener Tear Up]

“Eleanor Rigby” from Revolver (1966)

A melodic song of loneliness. And an especially interesting song coming from perhaps the most famous musician on the planet at the time of its writing. What did Paul McCartney know about loneliness? Well, it turns out a lot. He composed an exquisite song that is both lovely to listen to and deep to think about. And he gets you from the top of the track, as he sings,

Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby
Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been

“Across the Universe” from No One’s Gonna Change Our World (1969)

A psychedelic song by The Beatles’ John Lennon. Listening to it, it’s as if we’ve slipped into his dreamscape for a moment and understand what it’s like to be the Liverpool, England-born artist. To look through his small circular glasses and see the melty, drippy, colorful place. And isn’t that what a piece of art should aspire to do? To make us understand the mind of another person? Indeed, on this offering, Lennon sings,

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe

“Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

On the carnival of an album that is the band’s 1967 LP Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, this John Lennon-penned song has often been associated with drugs because its title seems to be born from the acronym LSD. That and the song is another trippy work of art. But Lennon said the tune was inspired by a painting his son made of someone named Lucy flying in the sky with diamond-like stars. No matter what the origin or meaning, it’s a classic. And on it, Lennon sings,

Picture yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies

Photo by G Greenwell and A MacDonald /Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images