"In My Life"
is a song by The Beatles written by John Lennon and
Paul McCartney. The song originated with Lennon, and
while McCartney contributed to the final version, the
extent of his contribution is in dispute.
Released on the 1965 album Rubber Soul, it is
ranked 23rd on the Rolling Stone article "The 500
Greatest Songs of All Time", and placed second on
CBC's 50 Tracks.
According to Lennon, the song's origins can be
found when English journalist Kenneth Allsop made a
remark that Lennon should write songs about his
childhood. 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 Stuart Sutcliffe (who died in 1962) and to
Shotton.
The song was recorded on 18 October 1965, and
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 suggestiing
"somethingBaroque-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 at half-tempo (one octave lower) and tape
speed was doubled for the final recording, solving the
performance challenge and giving the piano solo a
unique, harpsichord-like timbre.
is a song by The Beatles written by John Lennon and
Paul McCartney. The song originated with Lennon, and
while McCartney contributed to the final version, the
extent of his contribution is in dispute.
Released on the 1965 album Rubber Soul, it is
ranked 23rd on the Rolling Stone article "The 500
Greatest Songs of All Time", and placed second on
CBC's 50 Tracks.
According to Lennon, the song's origins can be
found when English journalist Kenneth Allsop made a
remark that Lennon should write songs about his
childhood. 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 Stuart Sutcliffe (who died in 1962) and to
Shotton.
The song was recorded on 18 October 1965, and
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 suggestiing
"somethingBaroque-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 at half-tempo (one octave lower) and tape
speed was doubled for the final recording, solving the
performance challenge and giving the piano solo a
unique, harpsichord-like timbre.