Beatles Lyrics Quiz

The wildly popular British band, The Beatles, produced some of the most iconic and pivotal songs of the century. McCartney, Lennon, Starr, and Harrison churned out dozens of hits and topped charts for decades. You can get the melodies stuck in your head for days, but are you singing the right words? Test your lyrical knowledge with this fun Beatles quiz.

Hey Jude

This anthemic song became one of the band’s biggest hits. Paul McCartney primarily wrote the lyrics about John Lennon’s son, Julian, at the time that the boy’s parents were going through a divorce. A friend of the family, McCartney had driven out to see Cynthia and Julian Lennon, and on the way was inspired to write the song, later changing “Hey Jules,” to “Hey Jude.” John Lennon, however, admitted that he thought Paul had written the song about him.

Lyrics:

Hey Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better

Hey Jude, don't be afraid
You were made to go out and get her
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better

And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders
For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah

Hey Jude, don't let me down
You have found her, now go and get her
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better

So let it out and let it in, hey Jude, begin
You're waiting for someone to perform with
And don't you know that it's just you, hey Jude, you'll do
The movement you need is on your shoulder

Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah Hey Jude (x16)

Eleanor Rigby

Miss Daisy Hawkins was actually the name that Paul McCartney used first when composing this song, and later changed it to Eleanor Rigby. The track was darker and more complex than many of the Beatles’ hits, and touched on the societal neglect of the elderly. Though Eleanor Rigby is a fictitious name, a gravestone bearing that name can be found in the graveyard of St. Peter’s Church in Liverpool where Paul McCartney and John Lennon first met.

Lyrics:

Ah look at all the lonely people
Ah look at all the lonely people

Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice
In the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face
That she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?

All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Father McKenzie, writing the words
Of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near
Look at him working, darning his socks
In the night when there's nobody there
What does he careAll the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?

Ah look at all the lonely people
Ah look at all the lonely people

Come Together

In 1969, Timothy Leary asked John Lennon to write him a campaign song for the California governor’s race against Ronald Reagan. Lennon said he “tried and tried,” but could not come up with a suitable campaign song, but what he did come up with was Come Together. The requested campaign song turned out to be unnecessary, as Leary’s run ended when he was arrested for possession of marijuana.

Lyrics:

Here come old flat top
He come groovin' up slowly
He got joo joo eyeballs
He one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker
He just do what he please

He wear no shoeshine
He got toe jam football
He got monkey finger
He shoot Coca-Cola
He say I know you, you know me
One thing I can tell you is
You got to be free
Come together, right now
Over me

He bad production
He got walrus gumboot
He got Ono sideboard
He one spinal cracker
He got feet down below his knee
Hold you in his armchair
You can feel his disease
Come together, right now
Over me

He roller coaster
He got early warning
He got muddy water
He one Mojo filter
He say one and one and one is three
Got to be good looking
'Cause he's so hard to see
Come together right now
Over me

Paperback Writer

Paul McCartney’s aunt requested that he “write a single that wasn’t about love,” and so he wrote a song about an aspiring and desperate writer. The bass guitar was rather prominent on this track, recorded and mixed louder than any of their previous tracks.

Lyrics:

Paperback writer, paperback writer.
Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?
It took me years to write, will you take a look?
It's based on a novel by a man named Lear,
And I need a job,
So I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.

It's a dirty story of a dirty man,
And his clinging wife doesn't understand.
His son is working for the Daily Mail
It's a steady job,
But he wants to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.
Paperback writer, paperback writer.

It's a thousand pages, give or take a few.
I'll be writing more in a week or two.
I could make it longer if you like the style.
I can change it 'round,
And I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.

If you really like it you can have the rights.
It could make a million for you overnight.
If you must return it you can send it here,
But I need a break,
And I want to be a paperback writer,
Paperback writer.

The Long and Winding Road

The last single released by The Beatles, The Long and Winding Road was written by Paul McCartney at High Park Farm, His property in Scotland. Of the location, McCartney said, “I have always found inspiration in the calm beauty of Scotland and again it proved the place where I found inspiration.”

Lyrics:

The long and winding road
That leads to your door
Will never disappear
I've seen that road before
It always leads me here
Lead me to you door

The wild and windy night
That the rain washed away
Has left a pool of tears
Crying for the day
Why leave me standing here
Let me know the way

Many times I've been alone
And many times I've cried
Any way you'll never know
The many ways I've tried

And still they lead me back
To the long winding road
You left me standing here
A long long time ago
Don't leave me waiting here
Lead me to your door

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

This song was written by George Harrison following the group’s return from India where they studied Transcendental Meditation. Eric Clapton contributed to the track by overdubbing a lead guitar part.

Lyrics:

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps.

I don't know why nobody told you
How to unfold your love
I don't know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you.

I look at the world and I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps.

I don't know how you were diverted
You were perverted too
I don't know how you were inverted
No one alerted you.

Yellow Submarine

Meant to be a nonsensical children’s song, Paul McCartney primarily wrote Yellow Submarine and intended Ringo Starr to sing the lead vocals, which he did. The single was number one on British charts for four weeks, and reached number two on Billboard in the United States.

Lyrics:

In the town where I was born
Lived a man who sailed to sea
And he told us of his life
In the land of submarines

So we sailed up to the sun
Till we found a sea of green
And we lived beneath the waves
In our yellow submarine

We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine

And our friends are all aboard
Many more of them live next door
And the band begins to play

We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine

As we live a life of ease
Every one of us has all we need
Sky of blue and sea of green
In our yellow submarine