Yesterday (song)
A melancholic ballad about lost love, widely covered.
"Yesterday" is a Beatles track written by Paul McCartney, with the usual Lennon–McCartney credit. It came out on the *Help!* album in August 1965, though in the United States it was released as a single the following month, hitting number one on the Billboard Hot 100. In March 1966 it appeared on a UK EP called *Yesterday*, and in June 1966 it made its US album debut on *Yesterday and Today*.
The recording features only McCartney on vocals and acoustic guitar, backed by a string quartet—essentially the band’s first solo performance. It remains widely popular, with around 2,200 cover versions, making it one of the most recorded songs in history. In a 1999 BBC Radio 2 poll of music experts and listeners, it was voted the best song of the 20th century; the following year, MTV and *Rolling Stone* named it the number one pop song of all time. It entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1997. Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) reports it was performed over seven million times during the 20th century.
Often heard as a melancholic ballad about lost love, McCartney later suggested the line “I said something wrong” might have come from a childhood memory of mocking his mother for sounding “posh,” rather than from a romance. McCartney is the only Beatle on the track. Because the final recording differed so much from the band’s usual work, the other Beatles vetoed its release as a single in the United Kingdom. Other artists quickly put out their own single versions. The Beatles’ recording was finally issued as a UK single in 1976, peaking at number eight on the UK Singles Chart.
The melody came to McCartney in a dream at the Wimpole Street home of his then-girlfriend Jane Asher. Waking, he played it on a piano to remember it, but worried he might have subconsciously plagiarized someone else’s work. For about a month he asked people in the music business if they’d heard it before, treating it like something handed in to the police—if no one claimed it, he figured he could keep it. Once convinced the melody was original, he started writing lyrics. As was common for Lennon and McCartney, they used placeholder words. The working title was “Scrambled Eggs,” with the opening verse: “Scrambled eggs / Oh my baby how I love your legs / Not as much as I love scrambled eggs.”
During the filming of *Help!*, a piano was set up on set, and McCartney kept tinkering with the song, annoying director Richard Lester, who told him to finish it or the piano would be removed. The other Beatles also grew tired of his work-in-progress; George Harrison remarked, “Blimey, he’s always talking about that song. You’d think he was Beethoven or somebody!”
McCartney originally said he wrote “Yesterday” during the Beatles’ 1964 tour of France, but the song wasn’t released until summer 1965. In between, the band released *A Hard Day’s Night* and *Beatles for Sale*, either of which could have included it. McCartney never explained the delay, but it may have stemmed from a disagreement with producer George Martin over the arrangement or from the other Beatles feeling it didn’t fit their image. Lennon later said the song was around for months before completion, with the placeholder “Scrambled Eggs” becoming a joke between them. They agreed only a one-word title would work, but couldn’t find it until McCartney woke up one morning with both the song and the title ready. Lennon said he was sorry in a way, because they’d had so many laughs about it.
McCartney said the lyric breakthrough came during a trip to Portugal in May 1965. While mulling over the tune, he got one-word openings to the verse: “da-da da, yes-ter-day, sud-den-ly, fun-il-ly, mer-il-ly.” He found it easy to rhyme those sounds—“say, nay, today, away, play, stay”—and gradually pieced the song together. On 27 May 1965, he and Asher flew to Lisbon for a holiday in Albufeira, Algarve, where he borrowed an acoustic guitar from Bruce Welch and finished the work. The song was offered as a demo to Chris Farlowe, who turned it down as “too soft.” In a March 1967 interview, McCartney said Lennon came up with the word that replaced “scrambled eggs”: *Yesterday*.
In 2001, Ian Hammond suggested McCartney might have subconsciously based the melody on Ray Charles’ version of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia on My Mind,” but concluded that “Yesterday” remains a completely original and individual work.
Lore & Background
According to biographers, the entire melody came to McCartney in a dream one night in his room at the Wimpole Street home of his then-girlfriend Jane Asher and her family. Upon waking, he hurried to a piano and played the tune to avoid forgetting it. Initially he was concerned that he had subconsciously plagiarised someone else's work; as he put it: 'For about a month I went round to people in the music business and asked them whether they had ever heard it before. Eventually it became like handing something in to the police. I thought if no one claimed it after a few weeks then I could have it.'
The working title was 'Scrambled Eggs', with placeholder lyrics. During the shooting of Help!, a piano was placed on one of the stages, and McCartney tinkered with the song, annoying director Richard Lester. The patience of the other Beatles was also tested; George Harrison summed this up when he said: 'Blimey, he's always talking about that song. Lennon later indicated the song had been around for months before completion, and that McCartney wrote nearly all of it.
Reader's Guide
"Yesterday" is significant as the Beatles' first solo performance, featuring only McCartney's vocal and acoustic guitar, together with a string quartet. 1 pop song of all time by MTV and Rolling Stone magazine the following year. Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) asserts that it was performed over seven million times in the 20th century. The final recording was so different from other works by the Beatles that the band members vetoed its release as a single in the United Kingdom, though other artists quickly recorded versions for single release. The Beatles' recording was issued in the U.K. The song's composition, with a seven-bar main melody and use of secondary dominants, has been noted for its melancholic aura and stylistic hybridity.
Did You Know?
- The working title of 'Yesterday' was 'Scrambled Eggs'.
- McCartney initially feared he had subconsciously plagiarised the melody and asked people in the music business if they had heard it before.
- The song was offered as a demo to Chris Farlowe before the Beatles recorded it, but he turned it down as he considered it 'too soft'.
The Dream and the Scrambled Eggs Era
The melody arrived fully formed in a dream while McCartney was staying at the Wimpole Street home of his then-girlfriend Jane Asher and her family. He rushed to a piano upon waking to capture the tune before it slipped away. Yet for roughly a month, he was consumed by anxiety that he had unconsciously lifted the melody from someone else's work, going around the music industry asking people if they recognized it—describing the process as akin to handing something in to the police. Once he was satisfied no one claimed it, he turned to lyrics. Following the Lennon-McCartney habit of using placeholder words, the working title became "Scrambled Eggs," with a throwaway opening verse about loving scrambled eggs. The song lingered in the band's sessions for months, becoming a running joke. During the filming of Help!, McCartney would tinker with it on a piano placed on set, much to the frustration of director Richard Lester, who threatened to have the instrument removed, and George Harrison quipped that McCartney talked about it as though he were Beethoven.
A Solo Voice in a Band of Four
What makes the track remarkable is that McCartney is the only Beatle to appear on it. His vocal and acoustic guitar, backed by a string quartet, constituted essentially the band's first solo performance—a stark departure from their usual ensemble sound. The result was so unlike anything the Beatles had previously released that the other members actually vetoed its issuance as a single in the United Kingdom. Ironically, other artists quickly recorded their own versions for single release while the Beatles' own recording sat on the album Help!
The Portugal Breakthrough and Finding the Title
McCartney recalled mulling over the tune and suddenly hearing one-word syllable openings—da-da da, yes-ter-day, sud-den-ly, fun-il-ly—and from there the rhyme scheme of "a" sounds (say, nay, today, away, play, stay) fell into place naturally.
A Legacy Measured in Millions of Performances
The song's cultural footprint is staggering. Interpretations of its meaning vary: it is commonly read as a melancholic ballad about lost love, though McCartney later suggested the line "I said something wrong" might stem from a childhood memory of mocking his mother for sounding "posh." The song's enduring popularity ensures it remains a touchstone of popular music, a piece that transcended its origins as a Beatles album track to become a global standard.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote Yesterday and who gets the credit?
Paul McCartney composed the melody and lyrics for the track, but it was officially credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership like all other Beatles compositions.
What is Yesterday actually about?
It is a melancholic ballad in which the narrator laments a lost love, painting a wistful picture of a simpler, happier time that has slipped away.
Why is Yesterday considered one of the most important Beatles songs?
Its deceptively simple structure and emotional weight made it one of the most covered songs in recorded history, cementing its place as a cornerstone of pop and rock songwriting.
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