Yesterday

This is the most covered pop song of all time, with over 3,000 versions recorded according to The Guinness Book Of World Records. For years, it was also the song with the most radio plays, but in 1999 BMI music publishing reported that You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ had passed it. Still, at any given time, some version of “Yesterday” is probably being broadcast somewhere.

Paul McCartney wrote this song and was the only Beatle to play on it. It was the first time a Beatle recorded without the others, and marked a shift to more independent accomplishments among the group. While John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote The Beatles early songs together, by 1965 most of their songs were primarily written by one or the other, although they continued to credit all their songs Lennon/McCartney.

A string quartet was brought in to play on this track. In addition to the strings, this is notable as one of the first pop songs to use elements of classical music.

When producer George Martin first suggested adding a string quartet, Paul McCartney responded; “Oh no, George. We are a rock ‘n’ roll band and I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

This was the first Beatles song that could not be reproduced live without additional musicians. When they played it live, including at their famous Shea Stadium concert in 1965, it was just McCartney with an acoustic guitar.

This song caused a rift between McCartney and Yoko Ono. When The Beatles Anthology album was released, McCartney asked that the writing credit on this read “McCartney/Lennon,” since he wrote it. Yoko refused, and it was listed as “Lennon/McCartney,” which is how they usually credited songs written by either Beatle (between Please Please Me and With The Beatles, the song credits turned from McCartney/Lennon to Lennon/McCartney).

In 2003, McCartney switched the writing credit for the first time when he listed 19 Beatles songs on his Back In The US album as “Paul McCartney and John Lennon.” Paul claims he and John made an informal agreement in 1962 regarding the credits, but he had every right to switch it if he chose. Yoko disagreed.

Yesterday is the name of a 2019 film about a struggling musician (Himesh Patel) who finds himself in an alternate universe where The Beatles never existed. He finds this out when he plays Yesterday to some friends, who think he wrote it.