Thanks to Heather and the boys for their beautiful post earlier today. I created a bit of a gap between their post and my daily post in order for that message to sink in.
Well it’s about time I got to this song. It’s only one of the most covered songs in the history of popular music. It is estimated that ‘Yesterday’ has been covered over 2200 times. The truth is, I was waiting for the right time. The significance of today’s date is that it was on this day in 1965 that The Beatles; more specifically Paul McCartney, finished the overdubbing to complete this track that was later released on the Rubber Soul album. Accolades are abundant for this classic piece of music. In a BBC Radio 2 poll it was voted the best song of the 20th century. MTV and Rolling Stone both conducted polls where it was voted the #1 pop song of all time. ‘Yesterday’ was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1997 and according to Broadcast Music Incorporated it was performed over seven million times in the 20th century.
The story behind the composition of this song is perhaps its most intriguing characteristic. The melody actually came to Paul McCartney in a dream while sleeping at his girlfriend Jane Asher’s house. He woke up and immediately went to the piano and played it through so he would not forget it.
As a quick aside this is more or less how Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones composed the riff that became the foundation of ‘Satisfaction’. If we could all just channel our dreams the way these artists can…
As the song continued; because at this point it was simply a piece of music, McCartney offered it up under the hummed title ‘Scrambled Eggs’ and shared it with anybody who would listen. He was infatuated by the piece but he was also terrified that he had subconsciously plagiarized somebody else’s composition. Everywhere he went he was assured it was an original. This was only the beginning. Challenges occurred with the song on a few different levels. Because of his demanding schedule, McCartney found it difficult to focus on the lyrics which did not come easily. According to Sir Paul, once the words came, they fell into place. While on a trip to Portugal he worked out rhyme schemes with ‘ay’ and ‘ee’ words. A second challenge surrounding the song stemmed from the concern that it was essentially a McCartney solo song that originated during the recording and filming of ‘Help’. Two albums were written recorded and released before McCartney was able to finish the song. There may have been some resistance from the band and management because it was not typical of their approach up to that time. The final challenge resided within the grandiose vision Beatles producer George Martin developed for ‘Yesterday’ as he watched it evolve. Sir George wanted to see it recorded with a string section. The ultimate result is the song you hear today with the beautiful four piece string arrangement that emphasizes the minor chords and the prevailing air of sadness in the song.
I could go on forever about ‘Yesterday’ and its meaning but consider this. According to a BBC report in 2012 ‘Yesterday’ had earned approximately $19.5 million British pounds in royalties, making it the fourth most successful song of all time. It’s safe to say Sir Paul McCartney does not lie awake at night wondering how he is going to pay his hydro bill.
For today’s cover I listened to all 2200 cover versions and after careful consideration I decided to go with this version by Ray Charles.
In all seriousness I opted for the Ray Charles version because it has been speculated that there are similarities between ‘Yesterday’ and Ray Charles version of Hoagy Carmichael’s ‘Georgia On My Mind’ (I featured this song back in March). Ever the gentleman, Ray Charles denied any similarity and instead paid tribute to McCartney with his soulful version of the classic song.
Briefly…for me ‘Yesterday’ has significance because back in grade 7, that formative year of music for me, I remember my teacher Mr. Coleman, bringing in ‘Yesterday’ and our class sat and listened to the record several times and as a group we discussed the lyrics. We analyzed them and came up with our thoughts about the song’s meaning. This was his way of introducing ‘Rock Week’. He allowed each student in the class to research a band and at the end of the week we did a 3-5 minute presentation. I was captivated. For the record my choice was the Electric Light Orchestra. This is a vivid memory and to this day I remain focused on a song lyrics, meaning and composition. Any teachers out there should know how much of an impact they have on kids. They deserve to be put on a pedestal. If Mr. Coleman is out there. Thanks man! You were one cool guy, and you were not appreciated nearly enough at the time, but you are remembered fondly as I write this daily blog.
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Originally posted on June 17, 2018
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