The Beatles

"For our last number, I'd like to ask your help. Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands. And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry."

"No — we need money first."

"I was looking for a name like the Crickets that meant two things, and from crickets I got to beetles. And I changed [to] B E A because … B E E T L E S didn't mean two things, so I changed … the E to an A. And it meant two things then. … When you said it, people thought of crawly things; and when you read it, it was beat music."

"There's only one person in the United States we ever wanted to meet … not that he wanted us. And we met him last night. We can't tell you how we felt. We just idolised him so much. … You can't imagine what a thrill that was last night. Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been the Beatles."

""One cave she wolf go too farther, and I wolf leaf her" he said to his fave rave horse. Of course the horse didn't answer, because as you know they cannot speak, least of all to a garlic eating, stinking, little yellow greasy fascist bastard catholic Spaniard. They soon made it up howevans and Jesus and wee Spastic were once morphia unitely in a love that knew no Suzie. The only thing that puzzled Jesus was why his sugarboot got so annoyed when he called her his little Spastic in public."

"Christianity will go.. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first — rock and roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

"I suppose if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I would have gotten away with it. I'm sorry I opened my mouth. I'm not anti-God, anti-Christ, or anti-religion. I wasn't knocking it or putting it down. I was just saying it as a fact and it's true more for England than here. I'm not saying that we're better or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is. I just said what I said and it was wrong. Or it was taken wrong. And now it's all this."

"Very rich."

"I am he as you are he as you are me And we are all together"

"We thought being offered the M.B.E. [Member of the Order of the British Empire] was as funny as everybody else thought it was. Why? What for? We didn't believe it. It was a part we didn't want. We all met and agreed it was daft."

"I think our society is run by insane people for insane objectives... I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends, you know... I'd be very pleased to know what they think they're doing. I think they're all insane. But I am liable to be put away as insane for expressing that, you know. That's what is insane about it."

"Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE received theirs for heroism in the war—for killing people. We received ours for entertaining other people. I'd say we deserve ours more."

"It was just a gradual development over the years. Last year was "All You Need Is Love." This year it's "Give Peace a Chance." Remember love. The only hope for any of us is peace. Violence begets violence. If you want to get peace, you can get it as soon as you like if we all pull together. You're all geniuses and you're all beautiful. You don't need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are. Get out there and get peace. Think peace, live peace, and breathe peace and you'll get it as soon as you like. Okay?"

"That's part of our policy, is not to be taken seriously, because I think our opposition, whoever they may be, in all their manifest forms, don't know how to handle humor. You know, and we are humorous, we are, what are they, Laurel and Hardy. That's John and Yoko, and we stand a better chance under that guise, because all the serious people, like Martin Luther King, and Kennedy, and Gandhi, got shot."

"What's Bagism? It's like... a tag for what we all do, we're all in a bag ya know, and we realised that we came from two bags, I was in this pop bag going round and round in my little clique, and she was in her little avant-garde clique going round and round, and you're in your little tele clique and they're in their...ya know? and we all sort of come out and look at each other every now and then, but we don't communicate. And we all intellectualise about how there is no barrier between art, music, poetry... but we're still all "I'm a rock and roller, he's a poet" … so we just came up with the word so you would ask us what bagism is, and we'd say "WE'RE ALL IN A BAG BABY!""

"We're trying to sell peace, like a product, you know, and sell it like people sell soap or soft drinks. And it's the only way to get people aware that peace is possible, and it isn't just inevitable to have violence. Not just war — all forms of violence. People just accept it and think 'Oh, they did it, or Harold Wilson did it, or Nixon did it,' they're always scapegoating people. And it isn't Nixon's fault. We're all responsible for everything that goes on, you know, we're all responsible for Biafra and Hitler and everything. So we're just saying "SELL PEACE" — anybody interested in peace just stick it in the window. It's simple but it lets somebody else know that you want peace too, because you feel alone if you're the only one thinking 'wouldn't it be nice if there was peace and nobody was getting killed.' So advertise yourself that you're for peace if you believe in it."

"I'd like to say "thank you" on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we passed the audition."

"When I was about twelve, I used to think I must be a genius, but nobody's noticed. Either I'm a genius or I'm mad, which is it? "No," I said, "I can't be mad because nobody's put me away; therefore I'm a genius." Genius is a form of madness and we're all that way. But I used to be coy about it, like me guitar playing. But if there's such a thing as genius — I am one. And if there isn't, I don't care."

"If people take any notice of what we say, we say we've been through the drug scene, man, and there's nothing like being straight."

"All that business was awful, it was a fuckin' humiliation. One has to completely humiliate oneself to be what the Beatles were, and that's what I resent. I didn't know, I didn't foresee. It happened bit by bit, gradually, until this complete craziness is surrounding you, and you're doing exactly what you don't want to do with people you can't stand — the people you hated when you were ten."

"It's just natural, it's not a great disaster. People keep talking about it like it's The End of The Earth. It's only a rock group that split up, it's nothing important. You know, you have all the old records there if you want to reminisce."

"If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry."

"We announce the birth of a conceptual country, NUTOPIA. Citizenship of the country can be obtained by declaration of your awareness of NUTOPIA. NUTOPIA has no land, no boundaries, no passports, only people. NUTOPIA has no laws other than cosmic. All people of NUTOPIA are ambassadors of the country. As two ambassadors of NUTOPIA, we ask for diplomatic immunity and recognition in the United Nations of our country and our people."

"' It makes rock concerts look like tea parties."

"The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn't the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility."

"I've always considered my work one piece and I consider that my work won't be finished until I am dead and buried and I hope that's a long, long time."

"I really thought that love would save us all."

"I've sold my soul to the devil."

"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. … I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it."

"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination."

"Well, I just want him to grow up happy. That's the main thing."

"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace."

"You have to be! (Laughs) You might get shot!"

"When we say "War is over if you want it," we mean that if everyone demanded peace instead of another TV set, we'd have peace."

"I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against "Cold Turkey" slipping down the charts."

"When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight. Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor."

"It can never be again! Everyone always talks about a good thing coming to an end, as if life was over. But I'll be 40 when this interview comes out. Paul is 38. Elton John, Bob Dylan — we're all relatively young people. The game isn't over yet. Everyone talks in terms of the last record or the last Beatle concert — but, God willing, there are another 40 years of productivity to go. I'm not judging whether "I Am The Walrus" is better or worse than "Imagine." It is for others to judge. I am doing it. I do. I don't stand back and judge — I do."

"I don't have any romanticism about any part of my past. I think of it only inasmuch as it gave me pleasure or helped me grow psychologically. That is the only thing that interests me about yesterday. I don't believe in yesterday, by the way. You know I don't believe in yesterday. I am only interested in what I am doing now."

"Where do people get off saying the Beatles should give $200,000,000 to South America? You know, America has poured billions into places like that. It doesn't mean a damn thing. After they've eaten that meal, then what? It lasts for only a day. After the $200,000,000 is gone, then what? It goes round and round in circles. You can pour money in forever. After Peru, then Harlem, then Britain. There is no one concert. We would have to dedicate the rest of our lives to one world concert tour, and I'm not ready for it. Not in this lifetime, anyway."

"Part of me suspects that I'm a loser and the other part of me thinks I'm God Almighty."

"I've had cocaine, but I don't like it. The Beatles had lots of it in their day, but it's a dumb drug, because you have to have another one 20 minutes later. Your whole concentration goes on getting the next fix. Really, I find caffeine is easier to deal with. … A little mushroom or peyote is not beyond my scope, you know, maybe twice a year or something. You don't hear about it anymore, but people are still visiting the cosmos. We must always remember to thank the CIA and the Army for LSD. That's what people forget. … They invented LSD to control people and what they did was give us freedom. Sometimes it works in mysterious ways its wonders to perform."

"In England, there are only two things to be, basically: You are either for the labor movement or for the capitalist movement. Either you become a right-wing Archie Bunker if you are in the class I am in, or you become an instinctive socialist, which I was. That meant I think people should get their false teeth and their health looked after, all the rest of it. But apart from that, I worked for money and I wanted to be rich. So what the hell — if that's a paradox, then I'm a socialist. But I am not anything. What I used to be is guilty about money. That's why I lost it, either by giving it away or by allowing myself to be screwed by so-called managers."

"What would you suggest I do? Give everything away and walk the streets? The Buddhist says, "Get rid of the possessions of the mind." Walking away from all the money would not accomplish that. It's like the Beatles. I couldn't walk away from the Beatles. That's one possession that's still tagging along, right?"

"It takes time to get rid of all this garbage that I've been carrying around that was influencing the way I thought and the way I lived. It had a lot to do with Yoko, showing me that I was still possessed. I left physically when I fell in love with Yoko, but mentally it took the last ten years of struggling. I learned everything from her. … It is a teacher-pupil relationship. That's what people don't understand. She's the teacher and I'm the pupil. I'm the famous one, the one who's supposed to know everything, but she's my teacher. She's taught me everything I fucking know. She's my Don Juan … a Don Juan doesn't have a following. A Don Juan isn't in the newspaper and doesn't have disciples and doesn't proselytize."

"Well, that's rubbish, you know. Nobody controls me. I'm uncontrollable. The only one who controls me is me, and that's just barely possible."

"We never made love in a bag. People probably imagined that we were making love. It was just, all of us are in a bag, you know. The point was the outline of the bag, you know, the movement of the bag, how much we see of a person, you know. But, inside, there might be a lot going on. Or maybe nothing's going on."

"It's better to fade away like an old soldier than to burn out. I don't appreciate worship of dead Sid Vicious or of dead James Dean or of dead John Wayne. It's the same thing. Making Sid Vicious a hero, Jim Morrison — it's garbage to me. I worship the people who survive. Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo."

"I go to restaurants and the groups always play "Yesterday." I even signed a guy's violin in Spain after he played us "Yesterday." He couldn't understand that I didn't write the song. But I guess he couldn't have gone from table to table playing "I Am The Walrus.""

"If you want to change the system, change the system. It's no good shooting people."

"Nor do I think we came from monkeys, by the way...That's another piece of garbage. What the hell's it based on? We couldn't've come from anything--fish, maybe, but not monkeys. I don't believe in the evolution of fish to monkeys to men. Why aren't monkeys changing into men now? It's absolute garbage. It's absolutely irrational garbage, as mad as the ones who believe the world was made only four thousand years ago, the fundamentalists. That and the monkey thing are both as insane as the other. I’ve nothing to base it on; it’s only a gut feeling. They always draw that progression-these apes standing up suddenly. The early men are always drawn like apes, right? Because that fits in the theory we have been living with since Darwin. I don't buy that monkey business. [Singing] "Too much monkey business..." [Laughing] I don' t buy it. I've got no basis for it and no theory to offer, I just don't buy it. Something other than that. Something simpler. I don't buy anything other than "It always was and ever shall be." I can't conceive of anything less or more. The other theories change all the time. They set up these idols and then they knock them down. It keeps all the old professors happy in the university. It gives them something to do. I don't know if there's any harm in it except they ram it down everybody's throat. Everything they told me as a kid has already been disproved by the same type of "experts" who made them up in the first place."

"It just came to me. Everybody was going on about karma, especially in the Sixties. But it occurred to me that karma is instant as well as it influences your past life or your future life. There really is a reaction to what you do now. That's what people ought to be concerned about. Also, I'm fascinated by commercials and promotion as an art form. I enjoy them. So the idea of instant karma was like the idea of instant coffee: presenting something in a new form. I just liked it."

"These critics with the illusions they've created about artists — it's like idol worship. They only like people when they're on their way up … I cannot be on the way up again. … What they want is dead heroes, like Sid Vicious and James Dean. I'm not interesting in being a dead (expletive) hero. … So forget 'em, forget 'em.""

"I'm not claiming divinity. I've never claimed purity of soul. I've never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can … But I still believe in peace, love and understanding."

"Everything is as important as everything else."

"I wouldn't say I was a born writer; I'm a born thinker."

"All kids draw and write poetry and everything, and some of us last until we're about eighteen, but most drop off at about twelve when some guy comes up and says, "You're no good." That's all we get told all our lives. "You haven't got the ability. You're a cobbler." It happened to all of us, but if somebody had told me all my life, "Yeah, you're a great artist," I would have been a more secure person."

"I don't mind people putting us down, because if everybody really liked us, it would be a bore. You've got to have people putting you down. It doesn't give any edge to it if everybody just falls flat on their face saying, "You're great." We enjoy some of the criticisms as well, they're quite funny; some of the clever criticisms, not the ones that don't know anything, but some of the clever ones are quite fun."

"Happiness is just how you feel when you don't feel miserable."

"We must always remember to thank the CIA and the Army for LSD, by the way. Everything is the opposite of what it is, isn't it? They brought out LSD to control people, and what they did was give us freedom. Sometimes it works in mysterious ways its wonders to perform. But it sure as hell performs them. If you look a the government report book on acid, the only ones who jumped out of windows because of it were the ones in the Army. I never knew anybody who jumped out of a window or killed themselves because of it."

"I've never met anybody who's had a flashback in my life and I took millions of trips in the Sixties, and I've never met anybody who had any problem. I've had bad trips, but I've had bad trips in real life. I've had a bad trip on a joint. I can get paranoid just sitting in a restaurant; I don't have to take anything."

"I don't need to go to church. I respect churches because of the sacredness that's been put on them over the years by people who do believe. But I think a lot of bad things have happened in the name of the church and in the name of Christ. Therefore I shy away from church, and as Donovan once said, "I go to my own church in my own temple once a day." And I think people who need a church should go. And the others who know the church is in your own head should visit that temple because that's where the source is. We're all God. Christ said, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." And the Indians say that and the Zen people say that. We're all God. I'm not a god or the God, but we're all God and we're all potentially divine — and potentially evil. We all have everything within us and the Kingdom of Heaven is nigh and within us, and if you look hard enough you'll see it."

"Don't believe that jazz about there's nothing you can do, "turn on and drop out, man" — because you've got to turn on and drop in, or they're going to drop all over you."

"She forced me to become avant-garde and take my clothes off, when all I wanted was to be Tom Jones."

"I think a label like "avant-garde" defeats itself. You learn to have avant-garde exhibitions. The very fact that avant-garde can have an exhibition defeats the purpose of avant-garde, because it's already formalised and ritualised."

"Above all else never let people know how physically unattractive they actually are. Everyone deserves to believe they are beautiful."

"I’m 40, I wanna talk to the people my age. I’m happy if the young people like it, and I’m happy if the old people like it, I’m talkin’ to guys and gals that have been through what we went through, together — the sixties group that has survived. Survived the war, the drugs, the politics, the violence on the street – the whole she-bang – that we’ve survived it and we’re here. And I’m talkin’ to them. And the "Woman" song is to Yoko, but it’s to all women. And, because my role in society – or any artist or poet’s role – is to try to express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel, not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all. And it’s like that’s the job of the artist in society, not to...they’re not some alienated being living on the outskirts of town. It’s fine to live on the outskirts of town, but artists must reflect what we all are. That’s what it’s about – artists, or poets or whatever you wanna call it. And that’s what I’m tryin’ to express on behalf of all the men to all the women, through my own feelings about women – when it dawned on me, "God! It is the other half of the sky" as the late-great Chairman MacDougal said, right? I mean, they are the other half of the sky, and without them there is nothing. And without us there’s nothing. There’s only the two together creating children, creating society. So what’s all this B.S. about, you know, "women are this" and "men are that" – we’re all human, man. We’re all human. And, I am tryin’ to say it to Yoko, but to all women, you know? On behalf of all men, in a way. If that’s taken it too much on meself, I feel that artists are that – they’re reflections of society... Mirrors."

"[In regard to conscription] "I was always thinking I could go to Southern Ireland if it came to it [but] I didn't know what I was going to do there, I hadn't thought that far.""

"Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come."

"You say you want a revolution, Well, you know, we all want to change the world... But when you talk about destruction, Don't you know that you can count me out... But if you want money for people with minds that hate... All I can tell is brother you have to wait"

"There's nothing you can do that can't be done Nothing you can sing that can't be sung Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game It's easy.All you need is love."

"There are places I remember All my life though some have changed Some forever not for better Some have gone and some remain"

"These memories lose their meaning When I think of love as something new."

"The Walrus was Paul!"

"All we are saying is give peace a chance!"

"For the benefit of Mr. Kite there will be a show tonight on trampoline."

"The celebrated Mr. K. Performs his feat on Saturday at Bishops Gate The Hendersons will dance and sing As Mr. Kite flies through the ring don't be late Messrs. K and H. assure the public Their production will be second to none And of course Henry the Horse dances the waltz!"

"Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see. It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out. It doesn't matter much to me. Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields. Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about. Strawberry Fields forever."

"No one I think is in my tree I mean it must be high or low That is you can't, you know, tune in But it's all right That is, I think, it's not too bad ...Always, no, sometimes think it's me But you know I know when it's a dream I think, er, no, I mean, er, yes But it's all wrong That is I think I disagree."

"Half of what I say is meaningless But I say it just to reach you Julia."

"When I cannot sing my heart, I can only speak my mind."

"You say you want a Revolution; you better get it on right away."

"Christ, you know it ain't easy You know how hard it can be. The way things are going, they're going to crucify me."

"The newspapers said, "Say, what you're doing in bed?" I said "We're only trying to get us some peace.""

"Instant Karma's gonna get you Gonna knock you off your feet Better recognize your brothers Everyone you meetWhy in the world are we here? Surely not to live in pain and fear Why on Earth are you there When you're everywhere Go and get your share Well, we all shine on Like the moon and the stars and the sun Yeah, we all shine on C'mon and on and on, on, on"

"Mother, you had me, but I never had you."

"They hate you if you're clever, and they despise a fool."

"They keep you doped with religion and sex and TV, And you think you're so clever, and classless and free, But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see."

"First you must learn to smile as you kill."

"God is a concept by which we measure our pain."

"I don't believe in ElvisI don't believe in ZimmermanI don't believe in Beatles.I just believe in meYoko and meAnd that's reality."

"I was the dreamweaver, but now I'm rebornI was the Walrus, but now I'm JohnAnd so dear friends, you'll just have to carry onThe dream is over."

"Imagine there's no heaven, It's easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky, Imagine all the people Living for today..."

"Imagine there's no countries, It isn't hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion, too, Imagine all the people Living life in peace..."

"Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can; No need for greed or hunger – A brotherhood of man; Imagine all the people Sharing all the world..."

"How can I give love when I don't know what it is I'm giving?"

"I'm sick and tired of hearing things from Uptight short sided narrow minded hypocrites All I want is the truth, just give me some truth I've had enough of reading things By neurotic psychotic pigheaded politicians All I want is the truth, just give me some truth"

"You can shine your shoes and wear a suit You can comb your hair and look quite cute... You can go to church and sing a hymn You can judge me by the color of my skin You can live a lie until you die One thing you can't hide Is when you're crippled inside"

"So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise You better see right through that mother's eyes Those freaks was right when they said you was dead The one mistake you made was in your head How do you sleep?"

"Well, I don't want to be a soldier mama, I don't want to die Well, I don't want to be a sailor mama, I don't want to fly Well, I don't want to be a failure mama, I don't want to cry Well, I don't want to be a soldier mama, I don't want to die"

"You know life can be long And you got to be so strong And the world is so tough Sometimes I feel I've had enough"

"In the middle of a dream In the middle of a dream I call your name Oh Yoko Oh Yoko My love will turn you on"

"We're playing those mind games together Pushing the barriers, planting seeds Playing the mind guerrilla Chanting the mantra, Peace on Earth."

"We all been playing those mind games forever Some kinda druid dudes lifting the veil. Doing the mind guerrilla, Some call it magic — the search for the grail."

"Love is the answer and you know that for sure. Love is a flower, you got to let it — you got to let it grow. ...Faith in the future, out of the now..."

"Yes is the answer and you know that for sure. Yes is surrender, you got to let it, you got to let it go…"

"So keep on playing those mind games together Doing the ritual dance in the sun... Putting their soul power to the karmic wheel."

"I want you to make love, not war — I know you've heard it before."

"I know it's true It's all because of you And if I make it through It's all because of you And now and then If we must start again Well, we will know for sure That I will love you."

"Now and then I miss you Oh, now and then I want you to be there for me Always to return to me I know it's true It's all because of you And if you go away I know you'll never stay."

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

"I know you understand the little child inside of your man.... Woman, please let me explainI never meant to cause you sorrow or painSo let me tell you again and again and again...I love youNow and forever."

"'I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round I really love to watch them roll No longer riding on the merry-go-round I just had to let it go Ah, people ask me questions Lost in confusion Well, I tell them there's no problems, Only solutions Well, they shake their heads and they look at me, as if I've lost my mind I tell them there's no hurry, I'm just sitting here doing time"

"Before you go to sleep Say a little prayer Every day in every way, it's getting better and better Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy... Out on the ocean sailing away I can hardly wait to see you come of age But I guess we'll both just have to be patient 'Cause it's a long way to go, A hard row to hoe... But in the meantime before you cross the street take my hand Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"

"This is ex-Beatle, John Lennon. I've been wanting to write you, but I guess I didn't really want to face reality. I never do this, this is why I take drugs. Reality frightens me and paranoids me. True, I have a lot of money... but basically, I'm afraid to face the problems of life. Let me begin to say, I regret that I said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. I don't even like myself anymore — guilt. My Cousin, Marilyn McCabe has tried to help me. She told me you were praying for me. … I want happiness. I don't want to keep up with drugs... Explain to me what Christianity can do for me. Is it phoney? Can He love me? I want out of Hell. I am, I hate to say, under the influence of pills now. I can't stop. I only wish I could thank you for caring."

"Once a thing's been done it's been done, so while this nostalgia — I mean for the '60s and '70s, you know, looking backwards for inspiration, copying the past — how's that rock 'n' roll? Do something of your own. Start something new, you know? Live your lives now. Know what I mean?"

""Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear." — frequently attributed to Lennon, but entirely unsourced"

""You grow with music, or the music outgrows you." - attributed to Lennon, but no verifiable source found"

"Everything is OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end."

"Before Elvis there was nothing."

"If art were to redeem man, it could do so only by saving him from the seriousness of life and restoring him to an unexpected boyishness."

"Ringo isn't even the best drummer in the Beatles."

"John Lennon has been my idol all my life but he's dead wrong about revolution... find a representative of gluttony or oppression and blow the motherfucker's head off."

"Was it a millionaire who said "Imagine no possessions"?"

"He must have been a gardener that cared a lot, Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop; But now it all looks strange, it's funny how one insect Can damage so much grain."

"I definitely did look up to John. We all looked up to John. He was older and he was very much the leader; he was the quickest wit and the smartest and all that kind of thing."

"John loved and prayed for the human race. Please pray the same for him."

"He's a son of a bitch and an anti-American."

"John Lennon was many things to many people. A poet, a rocker, a leader, a troublemaker, a father, a husband — a man. Growing up, to me, he was a hero. The work of John Lennon was marked by its exquisite beauty and by its brutal honesty. So in that vein, let me say, that while I'm both deeply honored to be here — I'm also incredibly pissed-off. I'm outraged because this passionate prophet of peace, and so many others, are not with us here — because we live in an all-too-violent world. And so in the spirit of this occasion it is up to all of us, to do what we can, not only to keep John's songs alive, but help rebuild New York — and that includes your host..."

""three quarters of the Beatles"."

"Although there were no strict rhythm and lead roles in The Beatles, many music fans often highlight John Lennon's rhythm playing and how well it complimented George Harrison's lead guitar. We can easily say that Lennon has laid out some of the foundations for rock 'n' roll guitar players all around the world."

"She's lovely, great. She was very friendly. She was just like a mum to us."

"I really wish the people that look sort of in anger at the 'weirdos,' at the happenings, at the psychedelic freak-out, would instead of just looking with anger, just look with nothing; with no feeling; be unbiased about it. They really don't realize that what these people are talking about is something that they really want themselves. It's something that everyone wants. You know, it's personal freedom to be able to talk and be able to say things And it's dead straight! It's a real sort of basic pleasure for everyone. But it looks weird from the outside."

"Some fella said to me, "Have you had LSD, Paul?" And I said "Yes." And it was only 'cuz I was going to just be honest with him. There's no other reason. I didn't want to spread it or anything, you know. I'm not trying to do anything except answer his question. But he happened to be a reporter, and I happened to be a Beatle."

"Personally, I think you can put any interpretation you want on anything, but when someone suggests that Can't Buy Me Love is about a prostitute, I draw the line. That's going too far."

"We probably seem to be anti-religious...none of us believes in God."

"I wasn't really dead."

"“You’re up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion. It’s a fine spring day. We’re riding through the woods. The bluebells are all out, and the sky is a clear blue." I had barely got to the end of the sentence when she closed her eyes and gently slipped away. She was unique, and the world is a better place for having known her. I love you, Linda."

"When I see bacon, I see a pig, I see a little friend, and that's why I can't eat it. Simple as that. But I'll eat Linda's veggie bacon. All her food was so good."

"Steve Martin came around for a barbecue once. I was grilling and he said, “Oh, no, I can’t have any of that.” I asked why not and he said, “Sorry, I’m vegetarian.” I said, “You didn’t know we are?! Everything on the grill is veggie!” He said, “Ahhh” and ate three veggie burgers and then asked where he could buy them."

"Criticism didn't really stop us and it shouldn't ever stop anyone, because critics are only the people who can't get a record deal themselves."

"We're constantly being asked all sorts of very profound questions. But we're not very profound people. People say, 'What do you think of the H-bomb, of religion, of fan worship?' But we didn't really start thinking about these things until people asked us. And even then we didn't get much time to consider them. What do I think of the H-bomb? Well, here's an answer with the full weight of five O levels and one A level behind it: I don't agree with it."

"I don't have any desire to learn. I feel it's like a voodoo, that it would spoil things if I actually learnt how things are done."

"While the others had got married and moved out to suburbia, I had stayed in London and got into the arts scene through friends like Robert Fraser and Barry Miles and papers like The International Times. We opened the Indica gallery with John Dunbar, Peter Asher and people like that. I heard about people like John Cage, and that he’d just performed a piece of music called 4’33” (which is completely silent) during which if someone in the audience coughed he would say, ‘See?’ Or someone would boo and he’d say, ‘See? It’s not silence—it’s music.’ I was intrigued by all of that. So these things started to be part of my life. I was listening to Stockhausen; one piece was all little plink-plonks and interesting ideas. Perhaps our audience wouldn’t mind a bit of change, we thought, and anyway, tough if they do! We only ever followed our own noses—most of the time, anyway. ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ was one example of developing an idea."

"With life and all I've been through, I do have a belief in goodness, a good spirit. I think what people have done with religion is personified good and evil, so good's become God with 'o' out, and evil's become Devil with a 'd' added. That's my theory of religion."

"For cruelty to animals, vegetarianism is the great thing to get rid of that. For the planet, to prevent depleting the water and the land and everything, it’s a great idea. And I think it’s a great thing for your health, and doctors nowadays agree with that. There are plenty of great books and organizations, so no matter where you are, there is someone to help you. That’s your first step, and I think your second step is just look in the supermarket for good vegetarian food, and I think it’s so much more readily available now."

"We thought we'd be really big in Liverpool."

"What a fucking great band we were."

"I tend not to say much on the phone now. If I leave a message, it's benign. You edit yourself according to the new circumstances of the new world. I think it would be quite good to get some sort of laws."

"I'd like to be able to go on holiday and not to have to hold my belly in for two whole weeks."

"Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away Now it looks as though they're here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday."

"Why she had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday."

"Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play Now I need a place to hide away. Oh, I believe in yesterday."

"To lead a better life, I need my love to be here. Here, making each day of the year, Changing my life with a wave of her hand. Nobody can deny that there's something there."

"I want her everywhere and if she's beside me I know I need never care. But to love her is to need her Everywhere, knowing that love is to share each one believing that love never dies watching her eyes and hoping I'm always there."

"Lovely Rita, Meter Maid, nothing could come between us. When it gets dark I'll tow your heart away"

"Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm sixty-four?"

"Hey Jude, don't make it bad Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart Then you can start to make it better."

"Obladi oblada life goes on bra Lala how the life goes on"

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."

"The long and winding road that leads to your door Will never disappear, I've seen that road before it always leads me here, Leads me to your door."

"I thought the only lonely place was on the moon."

"You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs I look around me and I see it isn't so Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs And what's wrong with that? I'd like to know 'Cause here I go again... I love you."

"Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord why don't we?"

"Even legendary musician Paul McCartney weighed in. In his foreword to a new book against Arctic drilling by Greenpeace activist Ben Stewart, McCartney wrote, "As the ice retreats, the oil giants are moving in. Instead of seeing the melting as a grave warning to humanity, they are eyeing the previously inaccessible oil beneath the seabed at the top of the world. They're exploiting the disappearance of the ice to drill for the very same fuel that caused the melting in the first place.""

"Among Sir Paul's accomplishments with the Beatles and as a massively successful solo artist, McCartney's talent as a bassist is often downplayed. Music fans of any real level or generation understand what a phenomenal songwriter McCartney was and still is. However, his bass playing on such Beatles' classics as "Nowhere Man," "Come Together," and "A Day in the Life" were innovative for the time. The latter is also an example of just how melodic his playing can be. McCartney's talent on the instrument is worth paying attention to the next time a Beatles tune comes on."

"If you'd have asked me that question, 9 months ago, well, I would have been able to say, to come to America, to have a number one hit in America, and to play Carnegie Hall, to play the Palladium, to play in front of the Queen, and all that. ... The things we've done, they were our ambitions, say 9 months ago."

"If there's a God, I want to see Him. It's pointless to believe in something without proof, and Krishna consciousness and meditation are methods where you can actually obtain God perception. In that way you can see, hear and play with God. Perhaps this may sound weird, but God is really there next to you."

"From the Hindu perspective, each soul is divine. All religions are branches of one big tree. It doesn't matter what you call Him just as long as you call. Just as cinematic images appear to be real but are only combinations of light and shade, so is the universal variety a delusion. The planetary spheres, with their countless forms of life, are naught but figures in a cosmic motion picture. One's values are profoundly changed when he is finally convinced that creation is only a vast motion picture and that not in, but beyond, lies his own ultimate reality."

"My idea in "My Sweet Lord," because it sounded like a "pop song," was to sneak up on them a bit. The point was to have the people not offended by "Hallelujah," and by the time it gets to "Hare Krishna," they're already hooked, and their foot's tapping, and they're already singing along "Hallelujah," to kind of lull them into a sense of false security. And then suddenly it turns into "Hare Krishna," and they will all be singing that before they know what's happened, and they will think, "Hey, I thought I wasn't supposed to like Hare Krishna!""

"I always felt at home with Krishna. You see it was already a part of me. I think it's something that's been with me from my previous birth .... I'd rather be one of the devotees of God than one of the straight, so-called sane or normal people who just don't understand that man is a spiritual being, that he has a soul."

"It just annoyed me that people got so into the Beatles. "Beatles, Beatles, Beatles." It's not that I don't like talking about them. I've never stopped talking about them. It's "Beatles this, Beatles that, Beatles, Beatles, Beatles, Beatles." Then in the end, it's like "Oh, sod off with the Beatles," you know?"

"I had no ambition when I was a kid other than to play guitar and get in a rock 'n' roll band. I don't really like to be the guy in the white suit at the front. Like in the Beatles, I was the one who kept quiet at the back and let the other egos be at the front."

"He was annoyed 'cause I didn't say that he'd written one line of this song "Taxman." But I also didn't say how I wrote two lines of "Come Together" or three lines of "Eleanor Rigby," you know? I wasn't getting into any of that. I think, in the balance, I would have had more things to be niggled with him about than he would have had with me!"

"Rap music is just computerised crap. I listen to Top of the Pops and after three songs I feel like killing someone."

"I felt in love, not with anything or anybody in particular but with everything."

"If everybody who had a gun just shot themselves there wouldn’t be a problem."

"You can be standing right in front of the truth and not necessarily see it, and people only get it when they’re ready to get it."

"That's what the whole Sixties Flower-Power thing was about: "Go away, you bunch of boring people.""

"I'd thought it would be something like King's Road [London], only more. Somehow I expected them all to own their own little shops. I expected them to all be nice and clean and friendly and happy … (on the contrary, I discovered them to be) hideous, spotty little teenagers."

"I don't mind anybody dropping out of anything, but it's the imposition on somebody else I don't like. The moment you start dropping out and then begging off somebody else to help you, then it's no good. It doesn't matter what you are as long as you work. It doesn't matter if you chop wood as long as you chop and keep chopping. Then you get what's coming to you. You don't have to drop out. In fact, if you drop out you put yourself further away from the goal of life than if you were to keep working."

"I got tired of people saying "But what can I do?" Also, the reluctance of the press to report the full details created the need to bring attention to it. So the song "Bangla Desh" was written specifically to get attention to the war prior to the concert."

"Even now I still meet waiters in Bengali restaurants who say, "When we were in the jungle fighting, it was great to know somebody out there was thinking of us.""

"The money we raised was secondary. The main thing was, we spread the word and helped get the war ended ... What we did show was that musicians and people are more humane than politicians."

"Try to realize it's all within yourself, No one else can make you change. And to see you're really only very small And life flows in within you and without you."

"Without going out of your door, You can know all things on earth. Without looking out of your window you could know the ways of heaven. The farther one travels. the less one knows, the less one really knows."

"If you're listening to this song You may think the chords are going wrong But they're not We just wrote it like that"

"...the more I learn the less I know..."

"Do what you want to do, And go where you're going to. Think for yourself 'Cause I won't be there with you."

"I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping While my guitar gently weeps."

"I don't know why nobody told you how to unfold your love I don't know how someone controlled you They bought and sold you."

"I look at the world and I notice it’s turning. While my guitar gently weeps. With every mistake we must surely be learning, Still my guitar gently weeps."

"I don't know how you were diverted You were perverted too. I don't know how you were inverted No one alerted you."

"Little darling, It's been a long cold lonely winter. Little darling, It feels like years since it's been here. Here comes the sun..."

"Little darling I feel that ice is slowly melting Little darling It seems like years since it's been clear Here comes the sun..."

"Something in the way she moves attracts me like no other lover."

"If I grow up I'll be a singer, wearing rings on every finger Not worrying what they or you say, I'll live and love and maybe someday Who knows baby you may comfort me."

"I really want to see you, Really want to be with you, Really want to see you lord, But it takes so long, my lord."

"My sweet Lord (Hallelujah) Hm, my Lord (Hallelujah) My, my, my Lord (Hallelujah) I really want to know you (Hallelujah) Really want to go with you (Hallelujah) Really want to show you Lord (ahh) That it won't take long, my Lord (Hallelujah) Hmm (Hallelujah) My sweet Lord (Hallelujah) My, my, Lord (Hallelujah) Hm, my Lord (Hare Krishna) My, my, my Lord (Hare Krishna)"

"Bangladesh, Bangladesh Where so many people are dying fast And it sure looks like a mess I've never seen such distress. Now won't you lend your hand, try to understand? Relieve the people of Bangladesh."

"Give me love, give me peace on earth, Give me light, give me life, keep me free from birth, Give me hope, help me cope, with this heavy load, Trying to, touch and reach you with, heart and soul."

"I got blisters on my fingers!"

"I'd Like to be Under the sea In an octopus's garden with you."

"Got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues And you know it don't come easy."

"The world's saddest man will live here in Los Angeles."

"The only way I'll get you is to get you in bed."

"All I do is scream your name."

"When we first started, they basically went John and Paul's way because they were the writers and they would say, "This is the song," and I would play as creatively as I could. Sometimes I would have three people telling me how to do it. They were saying play it this like on that track. I'm saying, "For Christ's sake, there are two drummers there." They could never hear that, you know. You'd have to have four arms to do half the stuff they wanted me to do."

"Drumming is my middle name."

"First and foremost I am a drummer. After that, I'm other things.... But I didn't play drums to make money. I played drums because I loved them.... My soul is that of a drummer.... It came to where I had to make a decision — I was going to be a drummer. Everything else goes now. I play drums. It was a conscious moment in my life when I said the rest of things were getting in the way. I didn't do it to be come rich and famous, I did it because it was the love of my life."

"I used to wish that I could write songs, like the others—and I've tried, but I just can't. I can get the words all right, but whenever I think of a tune the others always say it sounds like such-a-thing, and when they point it out, I see what they mean."

"The song ‘With a Little Help From My Friends’ was written specifically for me, but they had one line that I wouldn’t sing. It was ‘What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me?’ I said, ‘There’s not a chance in hell am I going to sing this line,’ because we still had lots of really deep memories of the kids throwing jelly beans and toys on stage; and I thought that that if we ever did get out there again, I was not going to be bombarded with tomatoes."

"I am a big Beatles fan. And, you know, unbeknownst to anyone, I used to be one. But I have no problems of putting titles and lines from other songs in my songs, because they're great lines and great titles. And some of them I even thought of. You know, I think this is the third time I've used "It Don't Come Easy." I used that on "Time Takes Time," I think, as well. So it's just a great line that, you know, expresses so much. So I just put it in again."

"I don't collect any memorabilia. I wish I'd have kept everything I had. But who knew you had to keep it. Just gave it away. And we lost so much and we didn't look after a lot of it. I believe Paul's got everything he ever had, but I lost a lot of mine."

"He's always underrated. … He's probably … the finest rock drummer in the world today. … Ringo is the one."

"That they were the worst musicians in the world. They were no-playing motherfuckers. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it. I remember once we were in the studio with George Martin, and Ringo had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song. He couldn’t get it. We said, “Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.” So he did, and we called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up. Ringo comes back and says, “George, can you play it back for me one more time?” So George did, and Ringo says, “That didn’t sound so bad.” And I said, “Yeah, motherfucker because it ain’t you.” Great guy, though."

"You think you lost your love When I saw her yesterday. It's you she's thinking of And she told me what to say. She says she loves you And you know that can't be bad. Yes, she loves you And you know you should be glad. Ooh!"

"Oh yeah, I´ll tell you something I think you´ll understand When I say that something I wanna hold your hand."

"That boy took my love away, He'll regret it someday, But this boy wants you back again. That boy isn't good for you, Tho' he may want you too, This boy wants you back again."

"Baby's good to me, you know, She's happy as can be, you know, She said so. I'm in love with her and I feel fine.I'm so glad that she's my little girl. She's so glad she's telling all the world."

"My love don't give me presents. I know that she's no peasant, Only ever has to give me love forever and forever. My love don't give me presents. Turn me on when I get lonely, People tell me that she's only Foolin', I know she isn't."

"Got a good reason for taking the easy way out. Got a good reason for taking the easy way out now. She was a day tripper, a one way ticket yeah. It took me so long to find out, and I found out."

"Try to see it my way Do I have to keep on talking 'til I can't go on? While you see it your way Run the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone. We can work it out. We can work it out."

"Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book? It took me years to write, will you take a look? Based on a novel by a man named Lear. And I need a job, so I want to be a paperback writer, Paperback writer."

"When the rain comes they run and hide their heads. They might as well be dead. If the rain comes, if the rain comes."

"Lady Madonna, children at your feet, Wonder how you manage to make ends meet. Who finds the money when you pay the rent? Did you think that money was heaven sent?"

"Without going out of my door I can know all things on earth Without looking out of my window I can know the ways of Heaven The farther one travels The less one knows."

"Hey Jude don't make it bad, Take a sad song and make it better, Remember, to let her into your heart, Then you can start to make it better."

"I'm in love for the first time. Don't you know it's gonna last? It's a love that lasts forever, It's a love that had no past."

"Christ! You know it ain't easy, You know how hard it can be. The way things are going, They're going to crucify me."

"Saving up your money for a rainy day, Giving all your clothes to charity. Last night the wife said, "Oh boy, when you're dead You don't take nothing with you But your soul - think!""

"Whatever happened to the life that we once knew Can we really live without each other? Where did we lose the touch That seemed to mean so much? It always made me feel so Free as a bird."

"All my little plans and schemes, Lost like some forgotten dreams. Seems that all I really was doing Was waiting for you."

"I know it's true It's all because of you And if I make it through It's all because of you And now and then If we must start again Well, we will know for sure That I will love you."

"Now and then I miss you Oh, now and then I want you to be there for me Always to return to me I know it's true It's all because of you And if you go away I know you'll never stay."

"Well, she was just seventeen, You know what I mean, And the way she looked was way beyond compare, So how could I dance with another, Oh when I saw her standing there"

"Last night I said these words to my girl I know you never even try girl Come on, come on, come on, come on, Please please me oh yeah like I please you."

"Love, love me do. You know I love you, I'll always be true, So please, love me do. Whoa, love me do."

"As I write this letter, send my love to you, Remember that I'll always be in love with you. Treasure these few words till we're together Keep all my love forever. P.S. I love you, you, you, you."

"Listen, do you want to know a secret, Do you promise not to tell, Whoa-o-oh Closer let me whisper in your ear, Say the words you long to hear, I'm in love with you, ooh-o-ooh."

"Whenever I... want you around yeah, All I gotta do... Is call you on the phone, And you'll come running home, Yeah that's all I... gotta do."

"Close your eyes and I'll kiss you, Tomorrow I'll miss you, Remember I'll always be true, And then while I'm away, I'll write home every day, And I'll send all my loving to you."

"Little child, little child, little child, won't you dance with me? I'm so sad and lonely, Baby take a chance with me."

"It feels so right now, hold me tight, Tell me I'm the only one, And then I might, Never be the lonely one. So hold me tight, to-night, to-night, It's you, you you you - oo-oo - oo-oo."

"Tell me that you love me baby, Like no other can. Love me like no other baby, Like no other can. I wanna be your man, I wanna be your man."

"It's been a hard day's night, And I've been working like a dog, It's been a hard day's night, I should be sleeping like a log, But when I get home to you, I find the things that you do, Will make me feel alright."

"You know I work all day, To get you money to buy you things, And it's worth it just to hear you say, You're gonna give me ev'rything, So why on earth should I moan, ‘Cos when I get you alone, You know I feel okay."

"I should have known better with a girl like you, That I would love everything that you do, And I do, hey hey hey, and I do."

"That when I tell you that I love you, oh You're gonna say you love me too, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, oh And when I ask you to be mine, You're gonna say you love me too."

"If I fell in love with you Would you promise to be true? And help me understand? 'Cause I've been in love before. And I found that love was more Than just holding hands."

"I don't want to kiss or hold your hand. If it's funny, try and understand. There is really nothing else I'd rather do. 'Cause I'm happy just to dance with you."

"She gives me ev'rything, And tenderly, The kiss my lover brings, She brings to me, And I love her."

"I'll give you all I got to give if you say you love me too I may not have a lot to give but what I got I'll give to you. I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love."

"Someday when we're dreaming, Deep in love, not a lot to say. Then we will remember The things we said today."

"I got something to say that might cause you pain, If I catch you talking to that boy again, I'm gonna let you down, and leave you flat. Because I told you before, oh, you can't do that."

"I tried to telephone, They said you were not home, That's a lie. 'Cause I know where you've been, I saw you walk in your door. I nearly died, I nearly died. 'Cause you walked hand in hand With another man in my place."

"I'm a loser, And I've lost someone who's near to me. I'm a loser, And I'm not what I appear to be."

"Oh dear, what can I do? Baby's in black and I'm feeling blue. Tell me, oh what can I do? She thinks of him and so she dresses in black, And though he'll never come back, she's dressed in black."

"One day you'll look and see I've gone, For tomorrow may rain so I'll follow the sun. Some day you'll know I was the one, But tomorrow may rain so I'll follow the sun."

"Ooh I need your love babe, guess you know it's true, Hope you need my love babe just like I need you, Hold me, love me, Hold me, love me, I ain't got nothin' but love babe, Eight days a week."

"Help me if you can, I'm feeling down, And I do appreciate you being around, Help me get my feet back on the ground, Won't you please, please help me?"

"We said our goodbyes, ah, the night before. Love was in your eyes, ah, the night before. Now today I find you have changed your mind. Treat me like you did the night before."

"Ev'rywhere people stare, Each and ev'ry day. I can see them laugh at me, And I hear them say. Hey, you've got hide your love away."

"If you don't take her out tonight, She's going to change her mind. And I will take her out tonight, And I will treat her kind. You're going to lose that girl, You're going to lose that girl. If you don't treat her right, my friend, You're going to find her gone. 'Cause I will treat her right, and then You'll be the lonely one."

"She's got a ticket to ride, She's got a ticket to ri - hi - hide, She's got a ticket to ride, but she don't care."

"I've just seen a face I can't forget the time or place where we just met, She's just the girl for me and I want the world to see we've met."

"Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away Now it looks as though they're here to stay Oh, I believe in yesterday."

"Why she had to go I don't know, She wouldn't say. I said something wrong, Now I long For yesterday."

"Asked a girl what she wanted to be, She said, baby can't you see? I wanna be famous, a star of the screen, But you can do something in between. Baby, you can drive my car, yes I'm gonna be a star, Baby, you can drive my car, and maybe I'll love you."

"I once had a girl, Or should I say She once had me. She showed me her room, Isn't it good? Norwegian wood."

"When I call you up, Your line's engaged. I have had enough, So act your age. We have lost the time That was so hard to find. And I will lose my mind If you won't see me."

"He's a real Nowhere Man, Sitting in his Nowhere Land, Making all his Nowhere plans for nobody. Doesn't have a point of view, Knows not where he's going to, Isn't he a bit like you and me?"

"Do what you want to do, And go where you're going to. Think for yourself 'Cause I won't be there with you."

"Say the word and you'll be free. Say the word and be like me. Say the word I'm thinking of. Have you heard the word is love? It's so fine, it's sunshine. It's the word, love."

"Michelle ma belle These are words that go together well, My Michelle, Michelle ma belle, Sont les mots qui vont très bien ensemble Tres bien ensemble."

"Was she told when she was young the pain would lead to pleasure? Did she understand it when they said That a man must break his back to earn his day of leisure, Will she still believe it when he's dead? Ah girl, girl."

"Why, tell me why, did you not treat me right? Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight."

"There are places I'll remember All my life though some have changed. Some forever not for better. Some have gone and some remain. All these places have their moments With lovers and friends I still can recall. Some are dead and some are living. In my life, I've loved them all."

"Though I know I'll never lose affection For people and things that went before I know I'll often stop and think about them In my life I love you more."

"Well I'd rather see you dead, little girl Than to be with another man. You better keep your head, little girl Or I won't know where I am.You better run for your life if you can, little girl Hide your head in the sand little girl. Catch you with another man, That's the end'a little girl."

"If you drive a car, I'll tax the street, If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat, If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat, If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet. Taxman. ‘Cos I'm the Taxman, Yeah, I'm the Taxman."

"Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been, Lives in a dream. Waits at the window, wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door, Who is it for? All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?"

"Father McKenzie, writing the words of a sermon that no-one will hear, No one comes near Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there, What does he care? All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?"

"Here, making each day of the year, Changing my life with the wave of her hand. Nobody can deny that there's something there.There, running my hands through her hair. Both of us thinking how good it can be. Someone is speaking but she doesn't know he's there.I want her everywhere and if she's beside me I know I need never care. But to love her is to need her everywhere. Knowing that love is to share."

"So we sailed on to the sun, Till we found the sea of green, And we lived beneath the waves, In our yellow submarine."

"She said, "I know what it's like to be dead. I know what it is to be sad." And she's making me feel like I've never been born."

"I need to laugh and when the sun is out, I've got something I can laugh about. I feel good in a special way, I'm in love and it's a sunny day."

"You tell me that you've got everything you want And your bird can sing. But you don't get me, you don't get me."

"And in her eyes you see nothing, No sign of love behind the tears Cried for no one. A love that should have lasted years!You want her, you need her. And yet you don't believe her when she said her love is dead. You think she needs you."

"I was alone, I took a ride, I didn't know what I would find there. Another road where maybe I could see another kind of mind there."

"Turn off your mind, Relax and float down stream. It is not dying; It is not dying."

"Each day just goes so fast I turn around, it's past You don't get time to hang a sign on me A lifetime is so short A new one can't be bought But what you've got means such a lot to me There's people standing round Who'll screw you in the ground They'll fill you in with all their sins, you'll see"

"It was twenty years ago today, That Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play. They've been going in and out of style, But they're guaranteed to raise a smile. So may I introduce to you The act you've known for all these years, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

"What would you think if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me? Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song, And I'll try not to sing out of key. Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends, I get high with a little help from my friends, I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends."

"Picture yourself in boat on a river, With tangerine trees and marmalade skies. Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly, A girl with kaleidoscope eyes."

"I used to get mad at my school The teachers who taught me weren't cool. You're holding me down, turning me round Filling me up with your rules. I've got to admit it's getting better, A little better all the time."

"I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in And stops my mind from wandering Where it will go."

"She [We gave her most of our lives] is leaving [Sacrificed most of our lives] home [We gave her everything money could buy] She's leaving home after living alone For so many years. Bye, bye."

"For the benefit of Mr. Kite There will be a show tonight on trampoline. The Hendersons will all be there, Late of Pablo Fanque's Fair - what a scene! Over man and horses hoops and garters, Lastly through a hogshead of real fire! In this way Mr. K. will challenge the world!"

"We were talking About the space between us all. And the people who hide themselves Behind a wall of illusion Never glimpse the truth. Then it's far too late When they pass away."

"When I get older losing my hair, Many years from now. Will you still be sending me a valentine, Birthday greetings bottle of wine? If I'd been out till quarter to three Would you lock the door? Will you still need me, will you still feed me When I'm sixty-four?"

"Lovely Rita meter maid, nothing can come between us. When it gets dark I tow your heart away. Standing by a parking meter, When I caught a glimpse of Rita. Filling in the ticket in her little white book."

"Going to work don't want to go feeling low down; Heading for home you start to roam then you're in town. Everybody knows there's nothing doing; Everything is closed it's like a ruin; Everyone you see is half asleep. And you're on your own, you're in the street. Good morning, good morning."

"I read the news today, oh boy. About a lucky man who made the grade And though the news was rather sad Well I just had to laugh. I saw the photograph."

"He blew his mind out in a car He didn't notice that the lights had changed A crowd of people stood and stared They'd seen his face before Nobody was really sure If he was from the House of Lords"

"I read the news today, oh boy, four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire. And though the holes were rather small, They had to count them all. Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall. I'd love to turn you on."

"Roll up for the Mystery Tour! The Magical Mystery Tour is coming to take you away, Coming to take you away. The Magical Mystery Tour is dying to take you away, Dying to take you away - take you today."

"But the fool on the hill Sees the sun going down. And the eyes in his head See the world spinning 'round."

"Let's all get up and dance to a song That was a hit before your mother was born. Though she was born a long, long time ago, Your mother should know. [Ahh, your mother should know]"

"I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together. See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly. I'm crying.Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come. Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday. Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long. I am the eggman, they are the eggmen. I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob."

"You say goodbye and I say hello. Hello, hello. I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello."

"Let me take you down, ‘Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields. Nothing is real, And nothing to get hung about. Strawberry Fields forever."

"Living is easy with eyes closed, Misunderstanding all you see. It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out, It doesn't matter much to me."

"In Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs Of every head he's had the pleasure to have known. And all the people that come and go Stop and say hello."

"How does it feel to be One of the beautiful people? Now that you know who you are, What do you want to be?"

"There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing you can sing that can't be sung. Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game. It's easy. All you need is love."

"Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out. They leave the West behind. And Moscow girls make me sing and shout. That Georgia's always on my mind. I'm back in the U.S.S.R.. You don't know how lucky you are, boys. Back in the U.S.S.R.."

"Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play. Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day. The sun is up, the sky is blue. It's beautiful and so are you."

"I told you about Strawberry Fields You know the place where nothing is real. Well here's another place you can go, Where everything flows. Looking through the bent backed tulips To see how the other half live. Looking through a glass onion."

"Happy ever after in the market place Desmond lets the children lend a hand. Molly stays at home and does her pretty face And in the evening she still sings it with the band."

"The children asked him if to kill was not a sin. "Not when he looked so fierce", his mother butted in. If looks could kill it would have been us instead of him. All the children sing... Hey, Bungalow Bill, What did you kill Bungalow Bill?"

"I don't know why nobody told you how to unfold your love I don't know how someone controlled you; They bought and sold you. I look at the world and I notice it's turning, While my guitar gently weeps."

"Happiness is a warm gun. Happiness is a warm gun mama. When I hold you in my arms And I feel my finger on your trigger, I know nobody can do me no harm. Because happiness is a warm gun mama."

"Hold your head up you silly girl look what you've done. When you find yourself in the thick of it, Help yourself to a bit of what is all around you. Silly girl."

"Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life You were only waiting for this moment to arise."

"Have you seen the little piggies, Crawling in the dirt? And for all the little piggies, Life is getting worse. Always having dirt to play around in."

"Now the doctor came in, stinking of gin And proceeded to lie on the table. He said, 'Rocky you met your match' And Rocky said, 'Doc it's only a scratch And I'll be better, I'll be better Doc as soon as I am able.'"

"Yes I'm lonely wanna die. Yes I'm lonely wanna die. If I ain't dead already, Ooh girl you know the reason why."

"When I get to the bottom, I go back to the top of the slide, Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride. Get to the bottom and I see you again. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah."

"You say you want a revolution. Well, you know, We all want to change the world. You tell me that it's evolution. Well, you know, We all want to change the world. But when you talk about destruction, Don't you know that you can count me out in? Don't you know it's gonna be all right. All right, all right."

"It doesn't really matter what clothes I wear, Or how I fare, Or if my hair is brown. As it's only a Northern Song."

"Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles. What makes you think you're something special when you smile?"

"Some kind of innocence is measured out in years, You don't know what it's like to listen to your fears."

"He wear no shoeshine he got toe-jam football He got monkey finger he shoot coca-cola He say "I know you, you know me" One thing I can tell you is you got to be free. Come together right now over me."

"Got to be good looking Cause he's so hard to see."

"Something in the way she moves Attracts me like no other lover, Something in the way she woos me. I don't want to leave her now, You know I believe her now."

"Bang, bang, Maxwell's silver hammer Came down upon her head. Bang, bang, Maxwell's silver hammer Made sure that she was dead."

"When you told me you didn't need me anymore, Well you know I nearly broke down and cried. When you told me you didn't need me anymore, Well you know I nearly broke down and died."

"Oh what joy for every girl and boy knowing they're happy and they're safe. We would be so happy, you and me, no one there to tell us what to do, I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus's garden with you."

"Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting, Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear. Here comes the sun, here comes the sun. It's all right, it's all right."

"You never give me your money; You only give me your funny paper. And in the middle of negotiations, You break down. I never give you my number, I only give you my situation. And in the middle of investigation, I break down."

"She came in through the bathroom window, Protected by a silver spoon. But now she sucks her thumb and wanders By the banks of her own lagoon. Didn't anybody tell her? Didn't anybody see? Sunday's on the phone to Monday, Tuesday's on the phone to me."

"And so I quit the police department, And got myself a steady job. And though she tried her best to help me, She could steal but she could not rob."

"Once there was a way to get back homeward. Once there was a way to get back home. Sleep pretty darling do not cry, And I will sing a lullaby."

"And in the end, The love you take Is equal to the love you make."

"You and I have memories Longer than the road that stretches out ahead."

"All I want is you. Everything has got to be just like you want it to."

"Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe. Pools of sorrow waves of joy are drifting through my open mind, Possessing and caressing me."

"Jai guru deva om Nothing's gonna change my world. Nothing's gonna change my world."

"Sounds of laughter, shades of earth are ringing Through my open views inviting and inciting me. Limitless undying love which shines around me like a Million suns, it calls me on and on, Across the universe."

"When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness, She is standing right in front of me Speaking words of wisdom, let it be."

"And when the broken-hearted people Living in the world agree, There will be an answer, let it be. For though they may be parted, there is Still a chance that they will see. There will be an answer, let it be."

"The long and winding road that leads to your door Will never disappear. I've seen that road before. It always leads me here, leads me to your door."

"Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner But he knew it couldn't last. Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona Bought some California Grass. Get back, get back. Get back to where you once belonged."

"We knew that America would make us or break us as world stars. In fact, she made us."

"The Beatles are just a phenomenon; everything that the people say they are, they are. They're great. ... Their music is just melodious."

"I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, "The Beatles did.""

"The Beatles were so big that it’s hard for people not alive at the time to realize just how big they were. There isn’t a real comparison with anyone now. I suppose Michael Jackson at one point, but it still doesn’t seem quite the same. They were so big that to be competitive with them was impossible. I’m talking about in record sales and tours and all this. They were huge. They were bigger than Jesus!"

"Liverpool was a small subsidiary of the Empire. It was Podunk and people in London looked down their noses at Liverpool talent. There was no way to get from here to here to there. Without Brian [Epstein] they could have been Michelangelo but they didn’t get out. Without Brian, they were just the best band in Liverpool."

"The Beatles did not invent , the fusion of LSD and , but because of , they opened the floodgates."

"I declare that The Beatles are mutants. Prototypes of evolutionary agents sent by God, endowed with a mysterious power to create a new human species, a young race of laughing freemen."

"Hell, I'm not interested in meeting those sons of bitches."

"On artistic merit alone, as encapsulated in the film and LP, the Concert for Bangladesh perhaps holds up better than Woodstock in showcasing the best of its era in terms of music, optimism, and goodwill."

"I got tired of people saying "But what can I do?" Also, the reluctance of the press to report the full details created the need to bring attention to it. So the song "Bangla Desh" was written specifically to get attention to the war prior to the concert."

"The money we raised was secondary. The main thing was, we spread the word and helped get the war ended ... What we did show was that musicians and people are more humane than politicians."

"In the Oval Office, Nixon grumpily told Kissinger, “I see now the Beatles are up raising money for it. You know, it’s a funny thing the way we are in this goddamn country, is, we get involved in all these screwball causes.”"

"Even now I still meet waiters in Bengali restaurants who say, "When we were in the jungle fighting, it was great to know somebody out there was thinking of us.""

"The Concert for Bangladesh was the first rock event for humanitarian relief—the precursor for shows like Live Aid in 1985, with all the attendant sincerity, vapidity, and showy self-righteousness... Under the spotlights, in a cream suit with a hideous orange shirt, sporting shaggy hair and a huge scraggly beard, Harrison was a fervid countercultural figure to dumbfound the generals in Rawalpindi... Of course, the eager young crowd came mainly for the music. But many of them knew about the horrors, and Shankar explained to the audience the misery of the Bengalis. In between freewheeling sets, the musicians showed devastating films of the refugee camps, with corpses and starving children."

"The Indian government was delighted by this unexpected windfall, scrambling to get copies of Harrison’s record. For its part, Pakistan’s military regime was flummoxed by the power of rock and roll. The Pakistani authorities were humorlessly wrong-footed by Harrison and his hirsute musician friends. A Pakistani official warned all Pakistani embassies about an “Anti-Pakistan gramophone record entitled ‘Bangla Desh,’ ” which was “sung by George Harrison, a member of the Beatles’ Trio” (undercounting the Beatles by one). “It contains hostile propaganda against Pakistan.” This official, considering banning the song in Pakistan, ordered all of Pakistan’s embassies to somehow try to prevent its broadcast worldwide."

"To the utter consternation of [US President] Nixon and [Secretary of State] Kissinger, George Harrison's 'Bangla Desh' hit the chart. It was a thrilling moment in the midst of all the sad news emanating from the battlefront. Even the Western journalists covering the civil war in East Pakistan were not yet using the word 'Bangladesh'."