Narrowed down from more than 200 recorded songs, we agreed on these top timeless tunes.
Read on for the complete list of our favorites, from best to, well, 50th best.
They’d grown up.
Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison of the Beatles.Credit:Everett Collection
This isn’t just a pop song, it’s a cathartic cry forHelp!
“A Day in the Life” (1967, Sgt.
In less expert hands, the contrast might have felt clumsy.
The Beatles ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ album cover.Parlophone
“Yesterday” (1965, Help!)
The rest of the band initially resisted releasing it; even today, some find it mawkish.
But the song’s exquisite anguish remains strikingly undiminished with the passage of time.
The Beatles, ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ album cover.Capitol
Released as a single whose flip side ain’t too shabby either.
It’s certainly high up there.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah!”
The Beatles, ‘Yesterday and Today’ album cover.Capitol
was the irresistible chorus.
The song was a tumultuous way of celebrating their ever-increasing triumph over the pop world.
With a love like that, you know you should be glad.
The Beatles, ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ album cover.Robert Fraser/EMI Records Ltd
John once described the sessions as “the most miserable…that ever existed.”
Yet they produced one of pop’s most touching and beautiful ballads.
The title was also apt: They broke up shortly after releasing it as a single.
Beatles ‘Abbey Road’ billboard on the Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, 1970.Robert Landau/Corbis via Getty
(The song is actually a heartbreaker of a tribute to Paul’s late mother, Mary.)
The final track onRevolverwas the Beatles' trippiest song.
The path of sonic experimentation that soon led to the mind-expanding grandeur ofSgt.
Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and John Lennon of the Beatles at EMI House Manchester Square, London.PA Images via Getty
(Does anyone believe he really slept in a woman’s bathtub?)
The undulating, tactile phrases the verbs alone!
are perhaps some of the band’s greatest invitations ever to a higher consciousness.
The Beatles, ‘Let It Be’ album cover.Apple Records
And oh, those strings!
(1965, Help!)
Who doesn’t get a jolt out of that crescendoing “bettah, bettah, bettah”?
The Beatles, ‘Revolver’ album cover.Capitol
“You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” (1965, Help!)
It made people compare John toBob Dylan, but hey!
this waltz of lovelorn melancholy has a pity-me transcendence all its own.
Production line at E.M.I. factory in Hayes Middlesex where the Beatles LP “Rubber Soul” is being manufactured.Daily Herald/Mirrorpix via Getty
Plus, the chirping blackbird provides solid background vocals.
But first comes this exquisitely conflicted medley.
A hopeful thought, given how much love the Beatles had given the world.
The Beatles, ‘Abbey Road’ album cover.Capitol
Just a stellar rock & roll melody.
Bonus points for the waltz-y tempo change in the bridge.
Ringo hails “Rain” to be hisbest performance as a drummer.
Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison of the Beatles in 1966.Roger Viollet Collection/Getty
Subtlety and sophistication would come soon enough.
It’s one of many Beatles tunes that transport us to a more innocent time and place.
Just let the bizarre imagery rush over your ears and you’ll begoo-goo-g’joobinglike a regular eggman in no time.
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and John Lennon of the Beatles.Mirrorpix/Everett Collection
“Nowhere Man” (1965, Rubber Soul)
“Doesn’t have a point of view”?
Not this self-lacerating John ballad, further evidence that pop music can do more than produce silly love songs.
(Sorry, Paul.)
The Beatles, ‘Help!’ album cover.Parlophone/EMI
Great backstory, even better song.
That Paul reportedlystormed out of the song’s recordingonly adds to its lore.
“You Won’t See Me” (1965, Rubber Soul)
Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty
39.
The Beatles, ‘Hey Jude’ album cover.Apple Records
George’s acerbic gem features one of the funkiest riffs ever created for a song about governmental revenue collection.
“With a Little Help From My Friends” (1967, Sgt.
Thank you, greed.
George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon of the Beatles in December 1965.Jeff Hochberg/Getty
It remains their best-selling single worldwide.
Ringo claims the classic ashis favorite Beatles song.
“Lovely Rita” (1967, Sgt.
The Beatles, ‘White Album’ album cover.Odeon Records
And because it’s irresistible.
But mostly the meter maid thing.
“Ticket to Ride” (1965, Help!)
The Beatles, ‘Rubber Soul’ album cover.Parlophone/EMI
A song so powerful itinspired a disturbing vision from cult leader Charles Manson.
Paul McCartney in 1968.Chris Walter/Wireimage
The Beatles recording the album ‘Let It Be,’ circa 1969.Apple Corps LTD
The Beatles, ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ single cover.Capitol
The Beatles and their wives at the Rishikesh in India with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, March 1968.Hulton Archive/Getty
The Beatles, ‘I’m Down/Help!’ cover.Capitol
Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison, circa 1965.Bettmann/Getty
George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon at London Airport, June 23, 1966.Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty
Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison pose for a portrait, circa 1964.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
The Beatles on the set of ‘Top of the Pops,’ plugging their new single ‘Paperback Writer’/‘Rain’.Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty
Ringo Starr recording ‘The Beatles (White Album)’ circa 1968.Apple Corps LTD
The Beatles perform on ‘Top of the Pops’ in London.Mark and Colleen Hayward/Redferns
Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, George Martin, and John Lennon.Chris Ware/Keystone/Getty
George Harrison in December 1969.Ray Weaver/Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty
Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison on ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars’.David Redfern/Redferns
The Beatles mime to the song ‘I Am the Walrus’ in 1967.Mark and Colleen Hayward/Getty
The Beatles, ‘I Should Have Known Better’ cover.Capitol
The Beatles, circa 1970.Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
The Beatles, ‘Nowhere Man’ cover.Parlophone/EMI
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, and George Harrison of the Beatles.John Pratt/Keystone/Getty
The Beatles with their MBE at London in 1965.Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty
Paul McCartney and John Lennon at Olympia Stadium in Detroit, August 1966.Douglas Elbinger/Getty
The Beatles in 1967.Ivan Keeman/Redferns
George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr, circa 1965.Getty
Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and John Lennon on Granada Television’s ‘Late Scene Extra’ program in 1963.David Redfern/Redferns
The Beatles perform a rooftop concert at Apple Headquarters, 3 Saville Row London on Jan. 30, 1969.Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty
Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, circa 1967.Everett Collection
The Beatles, ‘Ticket to Ride’ cover.Capitol
George Harrison and Paul McCartney of the Beatles, circa 1968.Apple Corps LTD
Equipment used at Abbey Road Studios where the Beatles recorded the album ‘Abbey Road’.SSPL/Getty
The Beatles in the headquarters of the Apple Corporation.Mirrorpix/Courtesy Everett
The Beatles hold up sandwich boards in different languages.Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty
