Women Who Inspire The Beatles' Great Songs

The Beatles are one of the popular bands during 1960s. They produced countless hit singles and albums, which influences difference styles and genres. Whether it is love, cosmic or rock and roll song, I appreciate the Beatles and their great hits. I became curious on the women who inspire the Beatles to write their great hits that stole many hearts worldwide.

Nowadays, the Beatles' legacy continues. And the band proved to be relevant after decades when a music video game "The Beatles: Rock Band" simply evolved and released on September 9, 2009. It seems that they still influenced the public imagination and appeared to be interesting to younger generation.

Although the "Girl" song is about the fantasy girl that John Lennon had been looking for, there are women who are behind the band's songs in real life. Let's find out the real women who inspires some of Beatles' hits.

Cynthia is the first wife of John Lennon. She is not aware that a Beatle ever write a song for her because she thought that it was too sloppy to dedicate anything to anybody when they were young. She can only reminisce about their time together and feel from the music.

Fortunately, I found out that she seems to be the inspiration for "Across The Universe." John wrote a song after getting irritated from an argument with her. He went downstairs and came up with a peaceful song instead of irritating one.

The "Jai Guru Deva Om" is a mantra that allows the mind reach into a higher consciousness. It also means "I give thanks to Guru Dev," who was the teacher of The Maharishi.

Linda was the wife of Sir Paul McCartney. It is believed that she was the inspiration behind the songs "I Will," "Two of Us," and "I've got a Feeling."

* "I Will" was materialized as a love song for her. The Beatles and their associates worked on this song when they were in Rishikesh, India. The music came together easily but the words stayed unfinished until the recording started in London.

* "Two of Us"

This song is about Paul and Linda. Six weeks after this song was recorded, the couple tied a knot. They used to send a lot of postcards to each other. Then they liked to go for long drives together with a sheepdog in the back seat and headed off for nowhere in particular.

* "I've got a Feeling" was Paul's song to Linda, whom he soon married. Somehow he expressed that she was the girl he had always been looking.

Jane is the English actress, who had a five-year romance with Paul. It is believed that she is the inspiration for the songs "Every Little Thing," "You Won't See Me," "All My Loving," "And I Love Her," "Here, There and Everywhere," "We Can Work It Out" and "I'm Looking Through You."

* "Every Little Thing" seems to show the affections of Paul to his girlfriend. It includes promises of love and boasting about "the things she does." The Beatle wrote this song when he is staying with Jane and her family in London. He later revealed that the song is very catchy. Although it was his attempt at the next single, the song transformed into an album filler.

* "You Won't See Me" reflects Paul's anger in his bitter lyrics: "Time after time, you refuse to even listen/I wouldn't mind if I knew what I was missing." It was the time that the Beatle was having problems with his girlfriend. He was disappointed that the actress had moved to Bristol to join the Old Vic theater company.

* "All My Loving" was written within a month after the couple had met. It was materialized in unconventional ballad for Paul. It was made as a poem first and complement it to music later.

* "And I Love Her" was a love song, which was inspired by Jane. When Paul wrote this song, he was already dating with the actress at that time. The Beatle thought this was the first song that he impressed himself with.

* "Here, There and Everywhere" was also inspired by Paul's girlfriend especially the lyrics "changing my life with a wave of her hand." He was blown away when he listened to the album before it was released.

* "We Can Work It Out" was written about his girlfriend. They were engaged for a while but they parted ways for a reason in 1968. The lyrics might have been personal for Paul, which was likely a reference to his romance. Then he took it to John to complete the song together.

* "I'm Looking Through You" was written mainly by Paul. The song is about his girlfriend, who left on a theater tour. The lyrics "You don't look different, but you have changed" seems to show his dissatisfaction with their relationship.

Pattie Boyd was the first wife of George Harrison. It is believed that the Quiet beatle wrote "I Need You" and "Something" for her.

* "I Need You" had simple arrangement. The lyrics seem to link George's romance with Pattie, whom he had met in March 1964. Unfortunately, the couple officially divorced in 1977.

* "Something" is the song that many think that George wrote for his wife Pattie. The model also claimed that she was the inspiration when the Quiet beatle told her that he had written it for her. However, the musician dished the scoop that he did not write it about her. Although everybody guessed that he wrote it about his wife, he was thinking of Ray Charles when he wrote it. Nevertheless, Something is a great song, which Frank Sinatra deemed it to be the greatest love song ever written.

Julia was the mother of John Lennon. She was the one who motivated his son's interest in music and she even purchased him his first guitar. It is believed that she was the inspiration behind the song "Julia" along with Yoko Ono.

* "Julia" - a song that was inspired by John's mother, who was knocked down and killed by a car driven by a drunk off-duty police officer when the Beatle was 17 years old. He also recalled that he lost her mother twice during two incidents: when he moved in with his aunt Mimi and the time that she actually passed away.

Trivia: The off-duty policeman, who was responsible for Julia's death, later became a postman. One of his assigned routes took him to the Forthlin Road home of Paul McCartney, where he dropped the mail while Paul and an unsuspecting John practiced their guitars.

Yoko is the second wife of John. She inspires the songs "Julia," I Want You (She's So Heavy), "Don't Let Me Down," and "Ballad of John and Yoko."

* "Julia"

Although the song was written for John's mother, it is also written for Yoko. In the lyrics, "Ocean child calls me" is a reference to the Japanese wife of John, who has the first name that literally means "child of the sea."

* "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"

According to John, "She's So Heavy" was about Yoko. It is believed that the lyrics were a result of an experiment in minimalism. The lines "I want you/I want you so bad" has been repeated over and over.

* "Don't Let Me Down"

The Beatle dished who was the inspiration for the song - Yoko. Paul explains that it was a very tense period. It seems the song was a genuine plea.

* "Ballad of John and Yoko"

When John and Yoko flew to Paris to get married, their two week odyssey resulted this song. The reporters accused the couple of having peace movement as a publicity stunt. Yoko thought that the they were having a difficult time but the Beatle used the experience and turned the song into a comedy rather than a tragedy.

Mary was the mother of Sir Paul McCartney, who passed away on 31 October 1956 after an operation to stop the spread of breast cancer. It is believed that she was the inspiration behind the lyrics: "Mother Mary comes to me" and "Let It Be."

* "Let It Be"

Paul had a dream of his mother when he wrote the song "Let It Be" during the Get Back/Let It Be sessions. At that time, it was a tense period that surrounds the sessions for The Beatles ("White Album"). According to Paul, his mother was the inspiration for "Mother Mary" lyric. In a dream, his mother told him that it will be alright, just let it be."

Lucy was a three year-old nursery school classmate of the then four year-old Julian Lennon, who is the son of John Lennon.

* "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" was inspired by a painting John's son Julian for his nursery school friend named Lucy. The drawing is called "Lucy - in the sky with diamonds", depicting his classmate, Lucy.

Julian did not know why he called it that or why it stood out from all his paintings but he had obviously had an affection for his classmate at that age. He used to show his father everything I'd built or painted at school. And this painting sparked off the idea while John was at work on the album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

Trivia: It is believed that she never particularly liked the song and lost touch with Julian over the years. However, when Julian heard of Lucy's serious illness, the two reconnected. She passed away died after having lupus.

Prudence Farrow is the sister of Mia Farrow that inspires the song "Dear Prudence."

* "Dear Prudence" - It is believed that the sister of Mia has been into meditation so deeply that she declined to come out of her hut. She has been twice in two weeks by the Beatles and everyone would be banging out on the door. The incident prompted John to write a song on acoustic guitar as a gentle invitation to "come out to play."

* "Polythene Pam"

John confessed that some of the song was inspired by a girl named Stephanie who was dating poet Royston Ellis in 1963. She chose to dress in polythene for a reason although the Beatle may have stretched the truth a little bit. She did not actually wear jackboots and kilts but it is kind of elaborated. It seems that the Beatle is looking for something to write about.

* "She's Leaving Home"

Melani Coe inspired the song even though her name was not included in it. Paul had seen a headline in the newspaper about a 17-year-old girl who had run away from home. She left her parents without clues that might suggest to the reason why she had left.

It is believed that Paul got most of the details right even though he made up most of the content in the song. The girl, who inspired the song, claimed that the Beatle got most of the lyrics were right except that she did not met “a man from the motor trade” and she left in the afternoon.