It’s hard to pick a definitive Beatles song. The rockers have too many classic tracks to their name, but “Yesterday” is a strong contender for the title. The Paul McCartney penned track sees the singer long to turn back time. Revisit the meaning behind this hit, below.
Behind the Meaning
Yesterday
All my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Like much of McCartney’s catalog, “Yesterday” is concerned with romantic relationships–or the lack thereof. He finds himself reeling from heartbreak, wishing he could turn back the clock and erase the breakup.
Suddenly
I’m not half the man I used to be
There’s a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly
He sings about feeling the loss of his other half (I’m not half the man I used to be / There’s a shadow hanging over me) and feeling like the breakup came on suddenly (Oh, yesterday came suddenly). One thing that is singular to McCartney’s songwriting voice is his ability to say things simply while still packing a heavy emotional weight. The devastation of losing a lover is readily apparent in this track, despite the relatively simple lyrics.
Why she had to go
I don’t know, she wouldn’t say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday
According to McCartney, this timeless hit came very easily.
“It fell out of bed,” McCartney once said of this song. “I had a piano by my bedside, and I must have dreamed it, because I tumbled out of bed and put my hands on the piano keys and I had a tune in my head. It was just all there, a complete thing. I couldn’t believe it. It came too easy.”
