The Seven Most Important Beatles Songs By Paul McCartney
Too many people these days think of the Beatles as John Lennon and some other guys. The Beatles were very much a band with important contributions from all the members. Certainly the most important members were John Lennon and Paul McCartney as they wrote the lion’s share of the Beatles amazing songs.
I feel that Paul McCartney is unfairly marginalized by many modern rock critics and other uninformed dolts. McCartney was every bit as important to the Beatles success as Lennon was. Yet Lennon’s martyr status and his reputation from things like his “Bed In For Peace” with Yoko Ono seems to have caused a bit of revisionist history.
That’s why in this piece I’m going to be focusing in on Paul McCartney’s songwriting contributions to the Beatles and thus to the very fabric of popular music which is based so much on The Beatles work it’s impossible to calculate.
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The Seven Most Important Beatles Songs Written By Paul McCartney:
1. Yesterday:
The most covered song in history. Yesterday really ushered in a new era in popular music. Today it may seem like a very safe song but at the time The Beatles felt they were taking a risk with this recording as it was rather unusual for a rock and roll band to use strings on a recording. This song featured no other Beatles except for Paul McCartney. McCartney’s voice and acoustic guitar were backed by strings arranged by McCartney and Beatles producer George Martin. This was one of the first uses of strings in a popular song in this way and it was the beginnings of The Beatles use of classical instrumentation in their music which is one of the most influential things about their music.
2. Helter Skelter:
Helter Skelter was the heaviest song The Beatles ever recorded and was also one of their very most influential songs. It influenced everyone from many heavy metal rockers to Charles Manson. Many musical historians feel that Helter Skelter was a key point in the development of the Heavy Metal genre. Helter Skelter has been covered by everyone from Pet Benatar to Scumbo.
3. Hey Jude:
At over seven minutes long Hey Jude helped end the rule that radio singles had to be about three minutes. Hey Jude was one of the Beatles biggest selling singles in their history. Hey Jude was released as a single as the A side while John Lennon’s “Revolution” was the B side. Because of the U.S. practice of counting sales and airplay for the A- and B-sides of a single separately, at one point Record World listed “Hey Jude” at number one, followed by its B-side partner, “Revolution.
4. Yellow Submarine:
While definitly not one of my very favorite McCartney songs I do think it ranks among the most important. This McCartney song was written for Ringo Starr to sing and it fits him perfectly. I have a hard time imagining McCartney singing this one himself. Yellow Submarine is a very childlike and silly song and I think it helped open up field so to speak as to what kind of songs a popular musical group could write and record. The Beatles were constantly pushing the envelope in this area and Paul McCartney was a huge part of that. The variety in the songs heard on 1966’s Revolver is just amazing. A childlike song like “Yellow Submarine” sharing the same album space with a rocker like “Taxman” an indian flavored track like “Love You To” and the otherworldly “Tomorrow Never Knows.
5. Here, There, and Everywhere:
Another song from Revolver and another example of the variety the Beatles were showcasing. This is an extremely beautiful song that McCartney has said is his favorite song that he has written.
6. And I Love Her:
This pre-Yesterday ballad was really the first example of the sort of balladry that The Beatles and Paul McCartney in particular could pull off. A beautiful and simple song that is still one of my favorites to this day. To me this track holds up better than possibly any of the other early Beatles work from 1963 to 1964.
7. Blackbird:
This song has been extremely influential on acoustic guitar players everywhere. The classical type playing on this song was something different. McCartney says that the style was inspired by Bach’s Bouree. The same album that features the thrashing madness of “Helter Skelter” and the insanity of “Revolution #9” also features this extremely
beautiful ballad. The Beatles were always showcasing amazing variety and Paul McCartney was a huge part of that.
This list is probably a bit heavy on the ballads. Get Back, I’ve Got A Feeling, and Back In The USSR are great example’s of McCartney’s more rock n roll side (along with Helter Skelter of course.) Also tracks like When I’m 64 and Your Mother Should Know are very important as far as their influence on the “twee” set. I didn’t even mention song suite Side 2 of Abbey Road which is almost all McCartney and George Martin’s doing. Possibly the most perfect half an album ever made. McCartney was also an incredible bassist. Listen to the bass on the Lennon penned “Dear Prudence” to get an idea of what I’m talking about.
McCartney (and George Harrison and Ringo for that matter) deserve their due credit. The Beatles were not just John Lennon and some other guys, they were truly a band. Much more so than most.
