Weird facts about the Beatles persist. However, sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction and when the lyrics, song titles and use of the Fab Four's music, are examined, many factual and quirky elements emerge.
For instance, the Beatles joined the stars, literally, when, in January 2008, NASA beamed Across The Universe into space to mark the 40th anniversary of the song’s recording. The song was transmitted 431 light years away over NASA’s Deep Space Network, to which Paul McCartney commented: 'This is amazing, well done NASA. Send my love to the aliens. All the Best, Paul.”
In fact, the transmission of Across The Universe was the second Beatles song sent into orbit. In 2005, McCartney performed the song Good Day Sunshine during a concert that was transmitted to the International Space Station.
And if the universe is just not a big enough audience for Beatles music, according to The Guinness Book Of World Records, "Yesterday" is the most covered pop song of all time, with over 3,000 versions recorded.
Who Was Eleanor Rigby?
Many song titles and phrases in Beatles’ songs create a fascination about their origins. The song Eleanor Rigby, is a good example. Beatles fans wondered for years about the identity of Miss or Mrs. Rigby and the mystery finally unravelled in 1990.
Annie Mawson received a salary register from Liverpool City Hospital that features the name and signature of E. Rigby, a scullery maid who had signed for her monthly wage.
The manuscript came to Annie Mawson from none other that Paul McCartney as a result of a letter that she sent to Sir Paul asking for a donation to a music charity that helps people with special needs.
The title of the song Norwegian Wood appears to have little bearing on its lyrics. However, John Lennon titled the song Norwegian Wood both because it is a fake wood used to make cheap furniture and it symbolized Lennon’s inability to be honest and truthful with his partner at the time.
Ringo Star in the Octopus's Garden
Equally odd is the title of the hit Octopus's Garden which was written by Ringo Starr with some help from George Harrison. The idea for the song came when Ringo was on a boating trip with his family in Sardinia in 1968 and he was offered an octopus lunch, but turned it down.
The boat's captain told Ringo about how octopuses travel along the sea bed picking up stones and shiny objects and use them to build gardens. It was one of the happiest stories that the Beatles drummer had ever heard and inspired him to write the song.
The story of the Octopus’s Garden is almost as odd as Ringo Starr’s early career aspiration. He has said that before hitting the top of fame with the Beatles, his career aspiration was to be a hairdresser.
Across the Universe on the Brain
The inspiration of members of the Beatles came from not only their dreams and thoughts but from ordinary objects. George Harrison, for example, before writing While My Guitar Gently Weeps randomly picked a book on a shelf, opened it and read the first word he saw. The word was gently.
Also, the melody that John Lennon wrote for Across The Universe" was ringing in his ears and keeping him awake so he sat down to finish the song.
The mythology of the Beatles endures as one of the group’s legacies to rock music. The unusual, some would say strange truth behind their song titles, lyrics and today’s continued use of their music keeps the Beatles alive as an iconic band in music history.
Shelley Aylesworth-Spink - Shelley Aylesworth-Spink has worked in support of communications, marketing and advertising for nearly 25 years in the private and public ...
