# The best Beatles songs

Starting from Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Beatles Songs (A Day in the Life at number one) and balanced with fans' favourites: the 20 songs that come up again and again.

- 50 votes · 21 items
- Jun 9, 2025 · the_riff
- https://even.best/en/l/109/the-best-beatles-songs

## Top 20

1. **A Day in the Life** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — Sgt. Pepper's, 1967. Lennon and McCartney's halves joined by a 40-piece orchestral crescendo; Rolling Stone's number one.
2. **Strawberry Fields Forever** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Single, 1967. Lennon remembers a Salvation Army garden in Liverpool; two takes in different keys spliced together.
3. **While My Guitar Gently Weeps** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — The White Album, 1968. Harrison's song with an uncredited guitar solo by Eric Clapton.
4. **I Want to Hold Your Hand** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Single, 1963. Their first US number one, which launched Beatlemania in America.
5. **Something** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Abbey Road, 1969. George Harrison's love song, which Frank Sinatra called one of the best ever written.
6. **Come Together** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Abbey Road, 1969. Lennon's opening track with Ringo's distinctive drum pattern.
7. **A Hard Day's Night** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — A Hard Day's Night, 1964. That opening chord, still debated by guitarists today.
8. **Penny Lane** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Single, 1967. McCartney's Liverpool, with a piccolo trumpet solo.
9. **Let It Be** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Let It Be, 1970. McCartney's hymn inspired by a dream about his mother, Mary.
10. **Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Rubber Soul, 1965. Harrison's sitar enters pop music for the first time.
11. **In My Life** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Rubber Soul, 1965. Lennon looks back at places and people, with George Martin's 'baroque' piano solo.
12. **Across the Universe** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Let It Be, 1970. 'Jai guru deva om': Lennon's lyrical meditation, later beamed into space by NASA.
13. **Yesterday** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Help!, 1965. McCartney alone with a string quartet; one of the most covered songs in history.
14. **Here Comes the Sun** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Abbey Road, 1969. Written by Harrison in Eric Clapton's garden; their most-streamed song on Spotify.
15. **Hey Jude** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Single, 1968. Written by McCartney for Julian Lennon; over seven minutes, with its famous 'na-na-na' coda.
16. **She Loves You** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Single, 1963. 'Yeah, yeah, yeah'; their best-selling single in the UK.
17. **Eleanor Rigby** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Revolver, 1966. A string octet and a story of loneliness, with no Beatle playing an instrument.
18. **Blackbird** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The White Album, 1968. McCartney alone with an acoustic guitar, inspired by the civil rights movement.
19. **Tomorrow Never Knows** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Revolver, 1966. Tape loops and Lennon's voice through a Leslie speaker; the psychedelic future.
20. **Twist and Shout** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Please Please Me, 1963. Lennon's shredded voice recorded in one take at the end of a 12-hour session.
21. **Help!** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Help!, 1965. Lennon's cry for help disguised as an upbeat pop song.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.