Paul McCartney Picks Desert Island Beatles Song (And the Deep Cut He’d Put as Its B-Side)

Choosing a favorite song can be difficult for a songwriter as prolific and varied as Paul McCartney, but even he has a “desert island” Beatles song that he would list among his most beloved. Over the countless times reporters and fans have asked McCartney about his favorite Beatles song, he usually precedes his answer with a disclaimer about how his answer changes from day to day.

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However, this Revolver track has stayed among McCartney’s top selections, proving that this Beatles cut really is one of his favorites. In a later interview, he added a particularly wacky B-side to the mix.

Paul McCartney Picks Desert Island Beatles Song

When you write as many decade-defining songs as Paul McCartney has, you must prepare to answer the same question at least a thousand times: “What’s your favorite song you’ve ever written?” In a later interview (likely some time in the 1980s if we’re going off Macca’s short, not-yet-gray hair), one could almost see the exasperation behind McCartney’s eyes when he was once again presented with this million-dollar question.

“I don’t know really,” McCartney said after a few ‘ums’ and ‘ahs.’ “You know, I get asked that question quite a lot. I should just have a pat answer. But each day it kind of varies. I like “Here, There, and Everywhere.”” McCartney selecting this 1966 track off Revolver is no surprise. Out of the Beatles’ lengthy catalogue, he’s often cited this love song as one of his favorites. And he’s not the only member of the band who felt that way.

In his famous 1980 interview with David Sheff, John Lennon said the song was “Paul’s…completely, I believe. And one of my favorite songs of the Beatles.” McCartney didn’t take Lennon’s comments lightly. He described his bandmate’s reaction in Anthology, explaining that “Here, There, and Everywhere” started as a demo on a cassette tape. “I remember John saying, ‘You know, I probably like that better than any of my songs on the tape.’ Coming from John, that was high praise indeed” (via BeatlesBible).

So, What Would Be The B-Side?

Assuming the desert island in this “all-time favorite record” scenario had a phonograph, one could technically choose two songs to listen to for the rest of their lives because of a single’s A-side and B-side. For Paul McCartney, his A-side would clearly be “Here, There, and Everywhere.” But in the same 1980s interview, McCartney said his B-side would take a hard left turn from romantic ditties about love into full-fledged, Monty Python-esque absurdity.

“I’d probably make up a strange record,” he said, “with something like “Here, There, and Everywhere” on the A-side and a weird B-side. One of the old Beatles songs called “You Know My Name (Look Up The Number), which is like a crazy song. Nobody’s ever heard it. Not many people have heard of. But just because making that record was such fun. It’s an insane record to make, and the memories that brings back. I’d probably stick that on the B-side.”

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