Every Beatles Song Ever Recorded (1962–1970)

How Many Songs Did The Beatles Record?

Explore the complete history of the band in our Beatles Timeline

Between 1962 and 1970, The Beatles recorded and released 213 songs across singles, albums and B-sides. These recordings were made primarily at Abbey Road Studios under the guidance of producer George Martin and represent one of the most influential song catalogues in popular music history.

Most of the band’s songs were written by the partnership John Lennon and Paul McCartney, although George Harrison increasingly contributed compositions during the later years of the band.

Complete Beatles Song Database

Complete list of every officially released Beatles song recorded between 1962 and 1970, including album tracks, singles and B-sides. Use the searchable database below to explore the entire Beatles catalogue.

Browse Beatles Songs by Album

• Please Please Me (1963)
• With The Beatles (1963)
• A Hard Day's Night (1964)
• Beatles for Sale (1964)
• Help! (1965)
• Rubber Soul (1965)
• Revolver (1966)
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
• The Beatles (White Album) (1968)
• Yellow Submarine (1969)
• Abbey Road (1969)
• Let It Be (1970)

Please Please Me (1963)

The Beatles' debut album, recorded in a single day on 11 February 1963 at EMI Studios, Abbey Road. Full tracklist and album story →

• I Saw Her Standing There – An explosive opener driven by Paul McCartney's bass and a count-in that became one of rock's most recognisable moments.
• Misery – A tongue-in-cheek lament written for Helen Shapiro, featuring John Lennon and McCartney sharing lead vocals.
• Anna (Go to Him) – A soulful cover of Arthur Alexander's 1962 R&B original, sung with raw emotion by Lennon.
• Chains – A Goffin–King composition originally recorded by The Cookies, here given a harmonica-driven treatment by George Harrison.
• Boys – Ringo Starr's first lead vocal on a Beatles record, a cover of the Shirelles' B-side performed at full throttle.
• Ask Me Why – A Lennon-led ballad with close harmonies, originally released as the B-side to Please Please Me.
• Please Please Me – The band's second single and first No.1, a driving Lennon composition that announced Beatlemania to Britain.
• Love Me Do – The debut single from October 1962, featuring Lennon on harmonica and McCartney on lead vocals.
• P.S. I Love You – The B-side to Love Me Do, a McCartney-penned love letter with a Latin-influenced rhythm.
• Baby It's You – A Bacharach–David composition originally by the Shirelles, sung by Lennon with brooding intensity.
• Do You Want to Know a Secret – A Harrison lead vocal written by Lennon, inspired by a Disney song his mother used to sing.
• A Taste of Honey – A show tune from the 1960 musical of the same name, sung by McCartney with delicate restraint.
• There's a Place – A Lennon-led track exploring inner emotional life, ahead of its time in its introspective lyric.
• Twist and Shout – The closing track recorded in a single take as Lennon's voice gave out, now one of the most celebrated vocal performances in rock history.

With The Beatles (1963)

The second album, released 22 November 1963 — the same day as JFK's assassination. A mix of Lennon–McCartney originals and R&B covers that captured the band at the peak of early Beatlemania. Full tracklist and album story →

• It Won't Be Long – An energetic Lennon opener built around call-and-response "yeah" harmonies, released just as the band conquered Britain.
• All I've Got to Do – A quieter, more intimate Lennon ballad influenced by Smokey Robinson, showcasing his softer vocal style.
• All My Loving – One of McCartney's most perfectly constructed early songs, featuring a distinctive triplet strumming pattern from Harrison.
• Don't Bother Me – George Harrison's first solo composition as a Beatle, a deliberately moody number written while he was ill in a hotel room.
• Little Child – A Lennon–McCartney rocker with harmonica, written as a vehicle for Ringo Starr that he ultimately didn't sing.
• Till There Was You – A show tune from Meredith Willson's The Music Man, sung by McCartney and famously performed at the Royal Variety Performance in 1963.
• Please Mister Postman – A cover of the Marvelettes' Motown classic, driven by Lennon's most forceful vocal on the album.
• Roll Over Beethoven – Chuck Berry's 1956 rock and roll anthem given a Harrison lead vocal and a harder, faster treatment.
• Hold Me Tight – A McCartney-led rocker, an early composition that the band had previously attempted and rejected before finally recording it here.
• You Really Got a Hold on Me – Smokey Robinson's 1962 Miracles hit, covered by Lennon with genuine emotional depth and close harmonies.
• I Wanna Be Your Man – Written by Lennon and McCartney and given to the Rolling Stones before the Beatles recorded their own version as a Ringo showcase.
• Devil in Her Heart – A cover of a 1962 single by The Donays, sung by Harrison and one of the more obscure tracks in the Beatles catalogue.
• Not a Second Time – A Lennon composition that music critic William Mann famously compared to Mahler, much to Lennon's amusement.
• Money (That's What I Want) – Barrett Strong's 1959 Motown debut, delivered by Lennon in a raw, ragged performance that closes the album on a high.

A Hard Day's Night (1964)

The third album and soundtrack to the band's debut film, released 10 July 1964. The only Beatles album composed entirely of Lennon–McCartney originals — not a single cover in sight. Full tracklist and album story →

• A Hard Day's Night – Opens with one of the most famous chords in rock history — a Fadd9 struck by Harrison on a 12-string Rickenbacker — before launching into the title track.
• I Should Have Known Better – A harmonica-driven Lennon rocker featured in the film's card-playing scene, breezy and irresistibly catchy.
• If I Fell – A delicate Lennon ballad with intricate two-part harmonies, considered one of his most emotionally honest early compositions.
• I'm Happy Just to Dance with You – Written by Lennon and McCartney specifically for Harrison to sing, a lightweight but charming pop number.
• And I Love Her – McCartney's first true ballad masterpiece, featuring a classical guitar part from Harrison and one of the most covered melodies in the catalogue.
• Tell Me Why – A punchy Lennon call-and-response rocker, written quickly to fill the film's soundtrack requirements.
• Can't Buy Me Love – The lead single, recorded in Paris in January 1964, which entered the US charts at No.1 — the first record ever to do so.
• Any Time at All – A driving Lennon track with a dramatic shift between verse and chorus, showcasing his ability to build tension within a pop structure.
• I'll Cry Instead – A country-tinged Lennon composition originally intended for the film but replaced by A Hard Day's Night at the last minute.
• Things We Said Today – A McCartney minor-key gem, unusually dark and reflective for 1964, written while on holiday with Jane Asher.
• When I Get Home – A high-energy Lennon rocker with a demanding vocal, built around an insistent repeated chord pattern.
• You Can't Do That – The B-side to Can't Buy Me Love, a jealous, possessive Lennon number featuring his first use of a 12-string Rickenbacker.
• I'll Be Back – A quietly sophisticated album closer in an unusual alternating major/minor structure, hinting at the musical complexity to come.

Beatles for Sale (1964)

The fourth album, released 4 December 1964 — recorded under intense pressure during a relentless touring schedule. Half originals, half covers, it captures a band running on empty but still delivering. Full tracklist and album story →

• No Reply – A Lennon story-song about unrequited love and deception, which John Lennon later cited as an early example of his narrative writing style.
• I'm a Loser – A self-deprecating Lennon composition showing the first clear influence of Bob Dylan, with acoustic guitar and harmonica prominent in the mix.
• Baby's in Black – A waltz-time minor-key number written jointly by Lennon and McCartney, one of the few songs they genuinely composed together face to face.
• Rock and Roll Music – Chuck Berry's 1957 classic delivered by Lennon at full throttle, one of the most energetic performances on any Beatles record.
• I'll Follow the Sun – A gentle McCartney acoustic number written years before the album, its simplicity standing out amid the harder-edged tracks around it.
• Mr. Moonlight – A cover of Roy Lee Johnson's 1962 R&B original, featuring an organ solo and one of Lennon's most impassioned — if divisive — vocal performances.
• Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! – A medley combining Leiber and Stoller's Kansas City with Little Richard's Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!, performed with raw exuberance by McCartney.
• Eight Days a Week – An early attempt at a fade-in opening, written by McCartney and originally considered as a single before I Feel Fine took that slot.
• Words of Love – Buddy Holly's 1957 original, lovingly recreated with close harmonies that reflect the band's deep admiration for Holly's work.
• Honey Don't – Carl Perkins' rockabilly classic given to Ringo Starr as his lead vocal showcase, a role he relished in live performance.
• Every Little Thing – A McCartney composition featuring Ringo Starr on timpani, written for Jane Asher and notable for its unusually rich arrangement.
• I Don't Want to Spoil the Party – A country-influenced Lennon number about social awkwardness, later covered by Rosanne Cash as a straight country record.
• What You're Doing – A McCartney rocker with an innovative drum intro from Ringo Starr, reportedly one of the most difficult tracks on the album to get right in the studio.
• Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby – Carl Perkins' rockabilly boast given to Harrison as a solo showcase, a staple of the band's live set since their Hamburg days.

Help! (1965)

The fifth album, released 6 August 1965 — also the soundtrack to the band's second film. The album marks a pivotal moment: Lennon later described the title track as a genuine cry for help amid the pressures of fame. Full tracklist and album story →

• Help! – The title track and lead single, written by Lennon in a genuine moment of personal crisis, its upbeat arrangement masking a plea for emotional support.
• The Night Before – A McCartney rocker featuring an electric piano played through an amplifier, recorded the same day as the Salisbury Plain sequences in the film.
• You've Got to Hide Your Love Away – Lennon's most overtly Dylan-influenced composition, recorded with acoustic guitars and a flute outro arranged on the spot.
• I Need You – Harrison's second composition for the band, featuring a volume-pedal guitar effect he and engineer Norman Smith devised during the session.
• Another Girl – A breezy McCartney number filmed on location in the Bahamas, with McCartney playing lead guitar himself in the promotional footage.
• You're Going to Lose That Girl – A Lennon-led call-and-response number with McCartney and Harrison on harmonies, one of the tightest vocal performances on the album.
• Ticket to Ride – The lead single from April 1965, which Lennon later claimed was one of the first heavy metal records — its slow, grinding rhythm was unlike anything in pop at the time.
• Act Naturally – A Buck Owens country hit given to Ringo Starr, whose natural comic timing made it a perfect fit and a fan favourite in concert.
• It's Only Love – A Lennon composition he later dismissed as embarrassingly weak lyrically, though its guitar work from Harrison is notably inventive.
• You Like Me Too Much – A Harrison composition featuring two pianos played simultaneously by George Martin and John Lennon on the studio's twin grand pianos.
• Tell Me What You See – A McCartney-led number with a distinctive electric piano and claves percussion, one of the more understated tracks in the catalogue.
• I've Just Seen a Face – A McCartney acoustic folk-pop number recorded at a rapid pace, later placed on the US version of Rubber Soul where it influenced a generation of American singer-songwriters.
• Yesterday – McCartney's solo acoustic ballad accompanied only by a string quartet arranged by George Martin — the most covered song in history, written after McCartney dreamed the melody.
• Dizzy Miss Lizzy – Larry Williams' 1958 rock and roll original, delivered by Lennon at full intensity as the album's closing track and the last cover version to appear on a UK Beatles album.

Rubber Soul (1966)

The sixth album, released 3 December 1965 — the moment the Beatles consciously became artists rather than pop stars. Recorded in just four weeks, it introduced sitar, folk influences, and a new lyrical maturity that changed what albums could be. Full tracklist and album story →

• Drive My Car – A McCartney-led opener with a funky riff borrowed from Otis Redding, its sardonic lyric about a wannabe star written after an earlier version was deemed too weak.
• Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) – Lennon's elliptical account of an extramarital affair, featuring Harrison on sitar in its first appearance on a Beatles record.
• You Won't See Me – A McCartney number written during a difficult period with Jane Asher, its insistent repeated chord pattern driving a deceptively simple pop song.
• Nowhere Man – Lennon's first Beatles song with no reference to romance, written in a moment of personal frustration and featuring some of the tightest three-part harmonies on any Beatles record.
• Think for Yourself – Harrison's acerbic composition featuring a fuzz bass played by McCartney — one of the earliest uses of the effect on a pop record.
• The Word – A Lennon–McCartney collaboration built around the concept of love as a universal message, an early signpost toward the band's later psychedelic philosophy.
• Michelle – McCartney's French-inflected ballad, written years earlier as a party piece and finally completed with a middle eight by Lennon — it won the Grammy for Song of the Year in 1967.
• What Goes On – A Ringo Starr lead vocal on an early Lennon composition, revised with a new middle section co-credited to Starr — his only songwriting credit on a Beatles record.
• Girl – A Lennon meditation on an idealised but unattainable woman, featuring a distinctive intake of breath and backing vocals that caused controversy on BBC radio.
• I'm Looking Through You – A McCartney number written in frustration at Jane Asher's commitment to her acting career, its upbeat arrangement belying a pointed lyric.
• In My Life – Lennon's first overtly autobiographical song, a reflection on Liverpool and lost friends featuring a baroque piano solo by George Martin played at half speed and then sped up.
• Wait – A track recorded during the Help! sessions and held back, given a new percussion overdub to fit the Rubber Soul album at the last minute.
• If I Needed Someone – A Harrison composition built around a guitar riff borrowed from The Byrds' The Bells of Rhymney, later covered by The Hollies much to Harrison's displeasure.
• Run for Your Life – A Lennon-led album closer he later disowned for its threatening lyric, built around a line lifted from Elvis Presley's Baby Let's Play House.

Revolver (1966)

The seventh album, released 5 August 1966 — widely regarded as one of the greatest albums ever made. The band stopped touring the same month and became a studio-only act, unleashing a creative freedom that transformed popular music. Full tracklist and album story →

• Taxman – Harrison's biting attack on the British tax system, opening the album with a count-in and a riff that McCartney played on lead guitar — one of his finest guitar performances on any Beatles record.
• Eleanor Rigby – McCartney's string-quartet portrait of loneliness and forgotten lives, recorded with no Beatles instruments at all — just voices and an octet arranged by George Martin.
• I'm Only Sleeping – A Lennon ode to the pleasures of staying in bed, featuring a guitar solo by Harrison recorded backwards — one of the first uses of the technique on a pop record.
• Love You To – Harrison's first full Indian classical composition for the Beatles, recorded with tabla and sitar players from the Asian Music Circle in London, with no other Beatles involved.
• Here, There and Everywhere – McCartney's delicate love song, which he has cited as one of his personal favourites, featuring some of the most intricate close harmonies on any Beatles record.
• Yellow Submarine – A Ringo Starr lead vocal on a McCartney children's song, recorded with sound effects and guest vocals from friends including Rolling Stones members, later becoming the title of the animated film.
• She Said She Said – A Lennon psychedelic rocker inspired by a conversation with Peter Fonda at a Hollywood party during an LSD session, recorded without McCartney after an argument.
• Good Day Sunshine – A McCartney summer pop number influenced by The Lovin' Spoonful, featuring a honky-tonk piano solo by George Martin recorded slightly fast to give it a brighter tone.
• And Your Bird Can Sing – A Lennon rocker featuring an intricate twin guitar riff played by Harrison and McCartney in unison, reportedly recorded in a fit of laughter during the session.
• For No One – A McCartney chamber pop masterpiece about the end of a relationship, featuring a French horn solo by session player Alan Civil that became one of the most celebrated on any pop record.
• Doctor Robert – A Lennon number referencing a New York doctor known for administering amphetamine injections to celebrities, featuring an unusual harmonium-led middle section.
• I Want to Tell You – A Harrison composition about the frustration of being unable to express one's thoughts clearly, featuring a deliberately clashing piano note from McCartney in the verses.
• Got to Get You into My Life – McCartney's ode to marijuana disguised as a love song, recorded with a brass section of session players in the style of Stax soul — later a hit for Earth, Wind & Fire.
• Tomorrow Never Knows – The album's closing track and one of the most radical recordings in pop history: Lennon's vocal run through a Leslie speaker, tape loops created by all four Beatles, and lyrics drawn from the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

The eighth album, released 1 June 1967 — the album that defined the Summer of Love and changed what a record could be. Took 129 days to record at a cost of £25,000, an unprecedented investment at the time. Full tracklist and album story →

• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band – The concept-establishing opener, introducing the fictional band alter ego that gave the album its framework, featuring a distorted McCartney vocal and a live audience recording.
• With a Little Help from My Friends – Ringo Starr's centrepiece vocal, written specifically for his voice and range, later transformed into a defining rock anthem by Joe Cocker at Woodstock in 1969.
• Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – Lennon's surrealist dreamscape inspired by a drawing his son Julian made at school, its initials fuelling LSD rumours Lennon always denied.
• Getting Better – A McCartney optimism anthem with a darker Lennon undercurrent — McCartney wrote "it's getting better all the time," Lennon added "it can't get no worse."
• Fixing a Hole – A McCartney meditation on creative freedom and self-determination, recorded at the Regent Sound Studio — the first Beatles session held outside Abbey Road.
• She's Leaving Home – A McCartney orchestral ballad about a runaway teenager, arranged by Mike Leander after George Martin was unavailable, causing lasting tension between Martin and McCartney.
• Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! – A Lennon collage built almost entirely from the text of a Victorian circus poster he bought at an antique shop, with fairground sound effects created by splicing and reassembling tape loops.
• Within You Without You – Harrison's Indian classical centrepiece, recorded entirely with Indian musicians and featuring dilruba, tabla, and swarmandal — no other Beatles played on the track.
• When I'm Sixty-Four – A McCartney music hall number written in his teens and finally recorded here, featuring a clarinet trio and a lyric addressed to his father Jim McCartney.
• Lovely Rita – McCartney's affectionate portrait of a traffic warden, featuring a comb-and-paper solo and a piano outro recorded with the band gathered around the microphone humming and grunting.
• Good Morning Good Morning – A Lennon number inspired by a Kellogg's Corn Flakes television advertisement, closing with a sequence of animal sounds arranged so each animal could theoretically eat the one before it.
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)– A faster, harder reprise that brings the fictional concert to a close, recorded in under an hour and considered one of the most effective album-closing devices in rock history.
• A Day in the Life – The closing masterpiece, combining a Lennon news-collage with a McCartney middle section and two orchestral crescendos conducted by George Martin — ending on a piano chord that rings for 42 seconds.

The Beatles (White Album) (1968)

Yellow Submarine (1969)

The tenth album, released 17 January 1969 — primarily the soundtrack to the animated film of the same name. Side one contains four new Beatles songs plus two previously released tracks; side two is George Martin's orchestral score. Full tracklist and album story →

• Yellow Submarine – Previously released on Revolver in 1966, included here as the film's title song — Ringo Starr's most beloved lead vocal and one of the most recognisable songs in the catalogue.
• Only a Northern Song – A Harrison composition written during the Sgt. Pepper sessions and rejected for that album, its deliberately discordant arrangement a sardonic comment on the band's publishing deal with Northern Songs.
• All Together Now – A McCartney children's singalong written quickly for the film, featuring almost every member of the band playing a different instrument simultaneously.
• Hey Bulldog – A Lennon piano-driven rocker recorded in a single day while the cameras were rolling for the Strawberry Fields Forever promotional film, one of the most underrated tracks in the entire catalogue.
• It's All Too Much – Harrison's extended psychedelic celebration of love and LSD, originally running to over eight minutes and featuring a trumpet line borrowed from the Merseys' Sorrow.
• All You Need Is Love – Previously released as a single in 1967 following the Our World global television broadcast, its chorus quoting La Marseillaise, Bach's Two-Part Invention, and the band's own She Loves You.
• Pepperland – George Martin's orchestral evocation of the film's utopian world, a sweeping cinematic piece that demonstrates his compositional range beyond his work with the band.
• Sea of Time / Sea of Holes – A flowing Martin orchestral medley capturing the film's more surreal sequences, blending jazz-influenced harmonies with classical structure.
• Sea of Monsters – A darker, more dissonant Martin orchestral piece accompanying the film's villainous Blue Meanies, its unsettling tone a deliberate contrast to the warmth of Pepperland.
• March of the Meanies – Martin's militaristic theme for the Blue Meanies' invasion, built around a repeated brass figure that became one of the film's most memorable musical motifs.
• Pepperland Laid Waste – A mournful Martin orchestral piece depicting Pepperland after the Meanies' attack, deconstructing the opening Pepperland theme into something bleak and fragmented.
• Yellow Submarine in Pepperland – Martin's orchestral reimagining of the title song, transforming McCartney's simple singalong into a rich, layered arrangement that closes the album on a note of restored joy.

Abbey Road (1969)

The eleventh album, released 26 September 1969 — the last album the Beatles recorded together, though not the last released. Side two's medley represents the pinnacle of their studio craft, a suite of unfinished song fragments woven into one of rock's most ambitious sequences. Full tracklist and album story →

• Come Together – Lennon's swampy, bass-driven opener written originally as a campaign song for Timothy Leary, its nonsense imagery and Lennon's half-spoken vocal making it one of the most distinctive album openers in rock history.
• Something – Harrison's greatest composition and the first Harrison A-side on a Beatles single, called by Frank Sinatra the greatest love song ever written and later one of the most covered songs in the catalogue.
• Maxwell's Silver Hammer – McCartney's jaunty music hall number about a serial killer, which Lennon, Harrison, and Starr all reportedly despised recording due to the sheer number of takes McCartney demanded.
• Oh! Darling – McCartney's raw soul shouter, which he recorded first thing each morning for a week to get the worn, ragged vocal quality he was after — convinced his voice needed to sound like it had already been singing all day.
• Octopus's Garden – Ringo Starr's second and final songwriting credit on a Beatles record, written after he temporarily quit the band during the White Album sessions and spent time on Peter Sellers' yacht learning about octopus behaviour from the captain.
• I Want You (She's So Heavy) – Lennon's obsessive, two-part love song for Yoko Ono, ending with nearly five minutes of building white noise that cuts to silence with no warning — one of the most arresting endings on any Beatles record.
• Here Comes the Sun – Harrison's most beloved composition, written in Eric Clapton's garden one spring morning playing truant from an Apple Corps business meeting, featuring a Moog synthesiser in one of its earliest appearances on a pop record.
• Because – A three-part Lennon harmony piece inspired by Yoko Ono playing the Moonlight Sonata, its chord sequence the Beethoven progression played in reverse, recorded with all three vocal parts sung three times to create a nine-voice choir.
• You Never Give Me Your Money – The medley's opening movement, a McCartney suite moving from a bitter reflection on the band's Apple business troubles through a nostalgic passage into a carefree outro that segues seamlessly into Sun King.
• Sun King – A Lennon atmospheric piece inspired by Fleetwood Mac's Albatross, drifting into a nonsense multilingual verse that Lennon described as "a bit of a joke" — fake Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese assembled for sound rather than meaning.
• Mean Mr. Mustard – A Lennon character sketch written in Rishikesh, originally about a real miser Lennon had read about in a newspaper, connected to the next track by a shared final note.
• Polythene Pam – Lennon's portrait of a real Liverpool character he had encountered, delivered in an exaggerated Scouse accent and crashing directly into She Came in Through the Bathroom Window.
• She Came in Through the Bathroom Window – A McCartney number inspired by a real incident in which a fan broke into his St John's Wood home by climbing a ladder left by a workman, its choppy rhythm one of the medley's most distinctive moments.
• Golden Slumbers – McCartney's orchestral lullaby based on a Thomas Dekker poem he found in a songbook at his father's house, unable to read the original notation and so composing his own melody instead.
• Carry That Weight – The whole band singing in unison for the only time on the album, its lyric widely interpreted as McCartney's acknowledgement of the burden of being a Beatle, reprising the You Never Give Me Your Money chord sequence.
• The End – The only Beatles recording to feature a Ringo Starr drum solo, followed by alternating lead guitar solos from McCartney, Harrison, and Lennon, closing with the couplet widely regarded as the band's farewell statement: "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."
• Her Majesty – A 23-second McCartney acoustic fragment originally placed between Mean Mr. Mustard and Polythene Pam, removed and accidentally left at the end of the tape by an engineer — McCartney liked it and kept it as a hidden closer.

Let It Be (1970)

The twelfth and final Beatles album, released 8 May 1970 — though most recordings date from the fractious January 1969 Get Back sessions, filmed for a documentary. Originally intended as a return to live, unadorned rock and roll, the tapes were later handed to Phil Spector whose orchestral overdubs on several tracks caused lasting controversy. Full tracklist and album story →

• Two of Us – McCartney's acoustic duet with Lennon, written for Linda Eastman and performed as a country-folk number, the two singing together in close harmony for the last time on a Beatles record.
• Dig a Pony – Lennon's rooftop performance number, its surrealist lyric assembled largely for sound rather than meaning — Lennon later disowned it, calling it "a piece of garbage."
• Across the Universe – One of Lennon's most lyrically beautiful compositions, its opening line "Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup" arriving fully formed in the middle of the night, the recording featuring two fan girls pulled in from outside Abbey Road to sing backing vocals.
• I Me Mine – Harrison's waltz-time frustration at Lennon's increasing detachment from the band, one of the last songs recorded for the album and notable for being the track that prompted Lennon to deny he was even in the Beatles anymore.
• Dig It – A Lennon improvised jam edited down from a much longer freeform session, its full title listing the FBI, CIA, and BBC in a stream-of-consciousness ramble.
• Let It Be – McCartney's hymn-like ballad inspired by a dream in which his late mother Mary came to him during a period of personal crisis, featuring two distinct versions — the single mix and the Spector-produced album version with added orchestra and choir.
• Maggie Mae – A brief Liverpool folk song traditional in the Merseyside repertoire, performed as a throwaway between takes and included as a nod to the band's pre-fame roots.
• I've Got a Feeling – A rooftop performance combining a McCartney verse about personal longing with a Lennon middle section of stream-of-consciousness imagery, one of the last true Lennon–McCartney collaborations.
• One After 909 – A Lennon–McCartney number written in the late 1950s when they were teenagers, attempted and abandoned in 1963 and finally recorded here as a joyful rooftop throwback to their earliest rock and roll roots.
• The Long and Winding Road – McCartney's orchestral ballad, recorded as a sparse piano-led number and then transformed by Phil Spector's sweeping strings and choir overdubs without McCartney's knowledge or consent — his formal objection to Spector's version was one of the final acts before the band's dissolution.
• For You Blue – Harrison's good-natured 12-bar blues featuring Lennon on lap steel guitar, its relaxed charm a deliberate contrast to the tension surrounding most of the Get Back sessions.
• Get Back – The rooftop finale and lead single, McCartney's driving rock and roll number performed live on the roof of the Apple Corps building on 30 January 1969 in what became the band's last ever public performance.

The Beatles recorded and released songs across nine key years between 1962 and 1970. Below is a chronological overview of notable Beatles songs by year.

Frequently Asked Questions About Beatles Songs

How many songs did The Beatles record?

The Beatles recorded 213 officially released songs between 1962 and 1970, including singles, album tracks and B-sides.

What was the first Beatles song recorded?

The first Beatles single released was Love Me Do, recorded at EMI Studios (Abbey Road) in June 1962.

What was the last Beatles song recorded?

The last Beatles recording session involving all four members took place in August 1969, when the band completed overdubs for The End during the Abbey Road sessions.

Which Beatles song was most successful?

One of the most commercially successful Beatles songs was Hey Jude, which spent nine weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968.

Key Beatles Milestones

• First single – Love Me Do (1962)
• First album – Please Please Me (1963)
• Final concert – Candlestick Park (1966)
• Final album recorded – Abbey Road (1969)
• Band breakup – 1970

Explore more in our Complete Beatles Timeline