In My Life

Lyrics

In a 1980 interview, Lennon referred to this song as his "first real major piece of work" because it was the first time he had written about his own life. According to Lennon, the song's origins can be traced to English journalist Kenneth Allsop's remark that Lennon should write songs about his childhood. Afterwards, Lennon wrote a song in the form of a long poem reminiscing on those years. The original lyrics were based on a bus route he used to take in Liverpool, naming various sites seen along the way, including Penny Lane and Strawberry Field.

Lennon later thought the original lyrics were "ridiculous", calling it "the most boring sort of 'What I Did on My Holidays Bus Trip' song". He reworked the words and replaced the specific memories with a generalised meditation on his past. Few lines of the original version remained in the finished song. According to Lennon's friend and biographer Peter Shotton, the lines "Some [friends] are dead and some are living/In my life I've loved them all" referred to himself and Stuart Sutcliffe (who died in 1962).

Music

Lennon's and McCartney's recollections differ regarding the music. Lennon said that McCartney's "contribution melodically was the harmony and the middle-eight." In 1977, when shown a list of songs Lennon claimed writing on for the magazine Hit Parader, "In My Life" was the only entry McCartney disputed. McCartney said he set Lennon's lyrics to music from beginning to end, taking inspiration from songs by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles. In 1976, he commented: "I liked 'In My Life'. Those were words that John wrote, and I wrote the tune to it. That was a great one."

In a 2018 study, artificial intelligence researchers at Harvard University applied bag-of-words modelling to the notes and chords of the song, and concluded that there was a 18.9% probability of McCartney having written the verse. Lennon was given an 81.1% certainty of writing the verses, while McCartney was given a 43.5% certainty of writing the middle eight. The analysts reported "a large amount of uncertainty" regarding the middle eight.

Recording

The song was recorded on 18 October 1965, and it was complete except for the instrumental bridge. At that time, Lennon had not decided what instrument to use, but he subsequently asked George Martin to play a piano solo, suggesting "something Baroque-sounding". Martin wrote a Bach-influenced piece that he found he could not play at the song's tempo. On 22 October, the solo was recorded with the tape running at half speed, so when played back at normal pace the piano was twice as fast and an octave higher, solving the performance challenge and also giving the solo a unique timbre, reminiscent of a harpsichord.

Legacy

"In My Life" inspired pop music producers to use harpsichords in their arrangements. Rolling Stone magazine ranked "In My Life" number 23 on its 2004 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and number 98 on its 2021 list, as well as fifth on its list of the Beatles' "100 Greatest Songs". The song placed second on CBC's 50 Tracks. Mojo magazine named it the best song of all time in 2000.

Bette Midler covered the song in 1991 for her film For the Boys. The remake reached #20 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart in 1992.

Personnel

According to Walter Everett:

The Beatles

• John Lennondouble-tracked vocal, rhythm guitar
• Paul McCartneyharmony vocal, bass guitar
• George Harrisonharmony vocal, lead guitar
• Ringo Starrdrums

Additional musician

• George Martinpiano, tambourine

Charts

Certifications

References

Sources

References

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12. (6 July 2019). "AI used to solve disputed songwriting credits of Beatles hits".
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15. (15 September 2021). "In My Life ranked #98 on Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs List".
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