The Beatles have produced hundreds of songs throughout their career as a band, along with an impressive catalog of solo work from each member, and there is no denying how most of their songs have shaped popular music, often being considered timeless classics. But with a number of songs recorded, there will always be a few that feel a bit subpar, a bit rushed, and sometimes slightly out of place on an artist’s otherwise legendary discography. Even a band as monumental as The Beatles had tracks they later considered “filler.” Not every song was regarded as a masterpiece by the band itself, especially by Paul McCartney in particular.
"Hold Me Tight" Was The Beatles' Attempt at Crafting Another Hit Single

By the time the band recorded their second studio album, With the Beatles, they had already established a name for themselves as a musical act to look out for. The album itself contains some of their early standout tracks, including songs like "All My Loving" and "Please Mr. Postman." It was also met with widespread critical praise and strong commercial success, with critics calling it an impressive follow-up album, especially complimenting the album’s more polished production and more mature songwriting. So calling any Beatles song a “filler” might not sit well with millions of fans, but even McCartney himself admitted that not every track was written with the same level of inspiration. While it is a beloved record, McCartney, in his biography Many Years from Now, openly reflected on the band’s early songwriting process. He said:

Source: Ryan Louis Mantilla/collider.com

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Paul McCartney's daughter Stella McCartney recalled how 'hurt' her late mother was by the bullying she faced from fans.

Linda McCartney was a founding member of her husband's band Wings, which launched in 1971, just a year after he announced he was leaving The Beatles.

McCartney's wife, a photographer by trade, did not always win over critics as she played keyboard and sang harmony in Wings.

In the new documentary Paul McCartney: Man on the Run, her daughter Stella, 54, discussed the impact the criticism had on her mother, who died of cancer in 1998 at age 56.

'She wasn't a cookie-cutter example of someone you put in a band. What they, and she especially, had to go through, like when they isolated her voice and ridiculed her? I mean, it breaks my heart,' the designer said in the documentary.

'I know that there was pain there. I knew she hurt. She wasn't like, cold,' Stella added.

Paul McCartney's, 83, daughter Stella McCartney, 54, recalled how 'hurt' her late mother Linda McCartney was by the bullying she faced from fans and critics; Stella pictured in 2025

Linda, who died of cancer in 1998 at age 56, was a founding member of her husband's band Wings, which launched in 1971; Mccartney pictured with Linda and Stella in 1974

Stella added that Linda's resilience showed 'her bravery and spirit. That side to her boosted a side that [McCartney] had perhaps lost.'

McCartney, 83, also spoke about some of the criticism he and Linda faced for her inclusion in the band, which he said was an idea that came to him 'spur of the moment.'

'"She can't do this, she can't sing, she can't play piano, she can't do anything. Oh, they're crazy man, what's he got his old lady in the band for? Who the hell is this?"' the musician recalled people saying.

However McCartney disagreed with the critics, and said Linda's style of singing gave the songs a 'special sound.'

Formed in London, the British rock band also featured McCartney on vocals and bass, with Denny Laine on guitar and vocals, and Denny Seiwell on drums.

Source: Sonia Horon/dailymail.co.uk

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An unassuming Liverpool street went back in time on Monday as director Sam Mendes prepared to shoot scenes for his new anthology of Beatles films outside the childhood home of Sir Paul McCartney.

Mendes is currently working on an ambitious collection of films about the pioneering pop group and their emergence from Liverpool's subterranean Cavern Club to become the biggest and most influential band in the world.

Having already filmed raucous scenes in central London, the director and his team have relocated to Allerton and the modest street outside 20 Forthlin Road, McCartney's home for several years before signing his first record deal with The Beatles in 1962.

Built in 1949, the address was originally bought by McCartney's father Jim in 1955. He would remain their for a decade, until his son – by now a global star – bought him a new house in Heswell, a more prosperous part of the Wirral.

The terraced home, now a National Trust property, was a hive of activity as the street was cut off by traffic cones and diversions were created for oncoming vehicles.

With black tents and vintage cars lining either side of the road, production assistants were seen wheeling period-appropriate props and clothing onto the exterior set.

A production assistant was seen carrying a replica of Sir Paul McCartney's very first guitar, the Framus Zenith (Model 17) acoustic, as Sam Mendes continued filming his Beatles film anthology in LIverpool on Monday

The director and his team have relocated to Allerton and 20 Forthlin Road, McCartney's childhood home for several years before signing his first record deal with The Beatles in 1962

Early sixties-era bicycles, boxes and bags occupied space outside the property, as well as a variety of musical instruments – among them a replica of McCartney's first ever guitar, the Framus Zenith (Model 17) acoustic.

Source: dailymail.co.uk/Jason Chester

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John Lennon delivered some of the most celebrated songs in music history, both during his time with The Beatles and throughout his solo career. Among his most enduring solo works are "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," "Woman," "Jealous Guy," "(Just Like) Starting Over," "Give Peace a Chance," "Grow Old with Me," "Nobody Told Me," "Watching the Wheels," and arguably his most universally beloved composition, "Imagine." Yet among the many songs Lennon wrote, one held a particularly special place in the heart of Paul McCartney. That song is “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy),” a deeply personal track from Double Fantasy, his fifth collaborative studio album with Yoko Ono.
John Lennon Wrote "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" as a Tribute to His Son Sean

“I haven’t chosen any Beatles records, but if we had more than eight, I probably would have. I haven’t chosen any of my records so to sum up the whole thing I have chosen one of John Lennon’s from Double Fantasy, which I think is a beautiful song very moving to me. So, I’d like to sum up the whole thing by playing ‘Beautiful Boy.’”

The song reflects Lennon’s desire to protect his child from the world’s uncertainties, capturing a peaceful, intimate moment. The lyrics go, "Close your eyes / Have no fear / The monster's gone / He's on the run / And your daddy's here." Lennon also once spoke about how proud he is of his son and the hands-on role he played in raising him. He explained that “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” is simply about Sean, with the music and lyrics coming naturally from his love as a father. 

Source: Ryan Louis Mantilla/collider.com

The Beatles sang a lot of songs about love and delivered many songs with the word “you” in the title in their early days. But as the 60s progressed, they started to branch out with their lyrics to keep in line with the psychedelic times.

 These four songs defy easy description if you just focus on the narrative. But they nonetheless show off the ambition and ingenuity of The Beatles’ songwriters.

“I Am The Walrus”

John Lennon was starting to get fed up with people analyzing his song lyrics looking for deeper meanings between the lines. He decided to purposely send them way off out into the woods with a song that was mostly nonsensical. And yet, what brilliant nonsense “I Am The Walrus” turned out to be. Lennon raised the stakes on Dylanesque stream-of-consciousness writing, adding his love of Lewis Carroll’s wordplay and absurdist humor to a thesaurus-straining choice of words. Throw in a little bit of hippie-ish sentiment: “I am he as you are he as you are me/And we are all together.” Stir it all up and you end up with a surreal masterpiece where the wildness of the music is more than matched by the daring of the words.
“Glass Onion”

Lennon was at it again on “Glass Onion”, one of the unassailable standouts from The White Album. Only here, he gets a little “meta” before such a tactic even had a name. During the lyrics, he references no less than five different Beatles songs. Only he twists most of them ever so slightly. For instance, he sings of “Fixing a hole in the ocean.” Most tellingly, he goes back to “I Am The Walrus”, undercutting his original stance in the process: “Well, here’s another clue for you all/The Walrus was Paul.” Those lines would send conspiracy theorists down all kinds of wild rabbit holes. Even the song’s title contains meaning within meaning. It references an obscure flower-like creation that, when you look through it, skews perspective.

Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com

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While Anna Sawai has been busy conquering TV and film, the Emmy-winning “Shōgun” star first got her start in show business as a member of the J-pop band FAKY. Now, Sawai is going back to her musical roots in the role of Yoko Ono in Sam Mendes’ forthcoming “Beatles” biopics.

“It was my dream to tell her story and I didn’t think it would come this quick,” Sawai told Variety at the Los Angeles premiere of Apple TV’s “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” Season 2 on Thursday night. “There’s a version of her I feel people still don’t understand. And in this film, I think we’re going to be able to tell that side of the story.”

To prepare, Sawai has been busy reading everything she can about the artist and musician. “So much reading, oh my gosh,” she said. “So many books, so many videos, so many articles…She has so much artwork that also shows her personality.”

While on set in London, Sawai teases it’s been fun to hear the cast — Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr — play the iconic band’s music. “They’re not even looking at the sheet music anymore. They can just play it off and sing it, and it really sounds like the Beatles to me. It feels surreal.”

The four biopics will release simultaneously in theaters on April 7, 2028.

Source: Payton Turkeltaub/variety.com

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