Yesterday

Paul McCartney composed "Yesterday" after its melody came to him in a dream while he was staying at the London home of his girlfriend Jane Asher's family in late 1964. Uncertain whether he had subconsciously borrowed the tune, he spent weeks playing it for friends and fellow musicians to confirm no one recognized it. During this period he used the placeholder lyrics "Scrambled Eggs" before settling on the final words. First recorded in June 1965 for the Beatles' Help! album, the session was unusual for the group: McCartney performed alone on acoustic guitar, accompanied only by a string quartet arranged by producer George Martin. It was among the first Beatles tracks to use outside session musicians and the only one to feature a single band member. The song's structure is itself distinctive, with its main melody unfolding over seven bars rather than the standard eight, lending it an asymmetry that mirrors the wistfulness of its lyric. John Lennon later acknowledged it as entirely McCartney's work, calling it "Paul completely on his own." Often cited as the most covered song in recorded music history, "Yesterday" has been interpreted by artists ranging from Frank Sinatra to Ray Charles to Elvis Presley, with renditions spanning orchestral pop, soul, and jazz idioms. Its harmonic progression and melodic clarity have made it a natural vehicle for improvisation, and jazz musicians frequently recast the ballad in small-group settings that depart considerably from the spare original arrangement.