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Mon 18 August 2025 20:10, UK
Like them, loathe them, or just live with them like the rest of the world, The Beatles are about as ubiquitous as pop music can be. The band created a seismic shift in the music world when they burst onto the scene, and ever since, their music has been intrinsically woven into the fabric of our society. The group is a part of our lives, whether we like it or not.
No matter where you are in the world, you can be sure there is a diehard Beatles fan just around the corner. This reality can leave you feeling both comforted and, if you’re a Beatle, a little bit problematic. For the members of the band, trying to go about their daily business must have been nearly impossible without someone mentioning a fact, figure, or anecdote about the Fab Four. It serves as a constant reminder that they are, in fact, a Beatle and that because of that fact, they are crucial to almost every person in the world.
For Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the two surviving members of the band, this reality has become a part of their daily routine. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not annoying. John Lennon, in particular, found it challenging to bear, and there was one song that would drive him up the wall.
‘Yesterday’ is a universal anthem, a song that has become as vital to our pop culture landscape as the very earth upon which it was crafted. Years of endless covers have rendered it an anthem that is now rarely revered, but digging through the band’s catalogue, it’s hard not to be stopped in one’s tracks by the magnanimous beauty of the song. It’s also a song championed by the band’s two principal songwriters, Lennon and McCartney.
In a previous interview, Sir Paul revealed, “Well, it’s difficult to choose a favorite. It (‘Here, There and Everywhere’) is one of my favorites. You look at your songs and kinda look to see which of the ones you think are maybe the best constructed and stuff,” says McCartney. “I think ‘Yesterday’—if it wasn’t so successful—might be my favorite.”
“But, you know, you get that thing when something is just so successful… people often don’t want to do ‘the big one’ that everyone wants them to do. They kind of shy away from it,” continued McCartney. It’s true; the song has been so widely covered and repeated that to remove it from its universal appeal is almost impossible. Every performer worth their salt has given it a go, from Willie Nelson to Boyz II Men — ‘Yesterday’ is in everyone’s repertoire. Everyone except John Lennon.
<p“Paul wrote the lyrics to ‘Yesterday,'” recalled Lennon in 1980 during an interview with David Sheff. “Although the lyrics don’t resolve into any sense, they’re good lines. They certainly work, you know what I mean? They’re good — but if you read the whole song, it doesn’t say anything; you don’t know what happened. She left, and he wishes it were yesterday — that much you get — but it doesn’t really resolve. So, mine didn’t used to either. I have had so much accolade for ‘Yesterday.’ That’s Paul’s song, and Paul’s baby. Well done. Beautiful — and I never wished I’d written it.”
This sentiment reveals a complex relationship between Lennon and the song. While it was beloved by millions, it didn’t align with what Lennon valued in music or art. For him, creation was about bearing one’s soul and expressing one’s heart. ‘Yesterday’ didn’t fulfill that for Lennon. Yet, there was another layer to this discomfort, stemming from his suggestion that he was glad he didn’t write the song.
One assumes that this suggestion arose from a few choice encounters. When speaking to the BBC, McCartney revealed how the track would annoy the bespectacled Beatle: “The worst thing for John was that he didn’t write ‘Yesterday’; I did, and he would get really quite biffed because you would be in New York and the pianist would go and hum the song. That would annoy him.”
This notion was confirmed by one of Lennon’s friends. “‘Yesterday’ drove him crazy,” journalist Howard Smith told MOJO Magazine in 2013. “People would say, ‘Thank you for writing ‘Yesterday’; I got married to it, what a beautiful song….’ He was always civil. But it drove him nuts.”
Despite its overwhelming popularity, the song still ranks as one of the most universally adored tracks of all time. However, there must have been some consolation for the iconic Lennon, as his own song, ‘Imagine,’ is probably the only song in the world to outstrip McCartney’s for sheer universality. Below, listen to ‘Yesterday,’ the Beatles song that drove John Lennon “nuts.”
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