THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

218-Beatles-In My Life.

1965-It has never been released as a single in the UK.

Best Bit At 2.10. John Lennon shows off his vocal versatility, as he goes all falsetto on us. This was a technique he would later use on ‘Revolution,’ (‘You Know it’s gonna be alright) and in ‘Imagine,’ (‘Living life in peace, you-oh-oh-oh, you may say I’m a dreamer.)

As with nearly all of the Beatles original songs the writing credits were shared as Lennon/McCartney (see also best songs 599-319-238-141-80-51-10 and 5) but this one was mainly the work of John Lennon. There have always been disputes about how much input into a song Lennon or McCartney had, but McCartney disputes this one more than most stating that he had a major influence on the songs melody, and admitting that his inspiration was Smokey Robinson, (see also best songs 1031-309 and 193) the Beatles had previously recorded Robinson’s song ‘You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me’ for their second Album ‘With the Beatles’ in 1963.

There is no dispute that the lyrics were primarily written by John Lennon, (see also best songs 927-473-456-168 and 20) who has called the song his ‘first real major piece of work,’ because he had written lyrics from a personal point of view for the first time. The original lyrics were written by Lennon in 1964, and were based on a bus route he had used as a youngster, naming sites in Liverpool he had seen on the journey such as ‘Penny Lane,’ and ‘Strawberry Fields.’ places he would revisit in later songs. Lennon wasn’t happy with that lyrical idea when coming to recording, so instead chose to generalise the thoughts of his past .Lennon called his original lyrics ‘ridiculous,’ and re-worked the words in to a more personal account of his past memories and present situation. According to Lennon’s friend and biographer Peter Shotten, (1941-2017) the lines “Some friends are dead, and some are living, In my life I’ve loved them all,’ referred to himself (Shotten) and the ex Beatles bass guitarist Stuart Sutcliffe (1940-1962.) It is speculated that others who were in Lennon’s thoughts included his Aunt Mimi, (1906-1991) and his wife at the time Cynthia (1939-2015.)

‘In My Life’ made it’s first appearance on the Beatles sixth studio Album ‘Rubber Soul’ which was released on December 3rd, 1965. The song, and it’s parent Album were both produced by George Martin (1926-2016) who was often referred to as the ‘Fifth Beatle.’ It was Martin who wrote, and played the instrumental break on ‘In My Life.’ Lennon had not decided which instrument should be used, but eventually asked Martin to play a piano solo, suggesting ‘something Baroque sounding.’ Martin wrote a Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) influenced piece, but then realised that it didn’t fit the songs tempo, so he recorded his part with the tape running at half speed, so when played back at normal pace the piano was twice as fast, and an octave higher. This gave the track a unique sound, reminiscent of a harpsichord, which led to other musicians and producers introducing the harpsichord into their arrangements.

John Lennon’s original lyrics for ‘In My Life’ which he later discarded included,’Penny Lane is one I’m missing, up Church Road to the clock tower. In the circle of the abbey, I have seen some happy hours. Past the tram sheds with no trams, on the five bus into town. Past the Dutch and St. Columbus, to the Dockers Umbrella that they pilled down.’