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The Beatles - In My Life"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. Mojo magazine named it the best song of all time in 2000.CompositionJohn Lennon wrote the song in the form of a long poem reminiscing on his childhood/teenage years. The original version of the lyrics was based on a bus route he used to take in Liverpool, naming various sites seen along the way, including Penny Lane and Strawberry Field.However, Lennon found it to be more "ridiculous" and called it "the most boring sort of 'What I Did On My Holidays Bus Trip' song" and reworked the words with Paul McCartney, replacing the specific memories with a generalized meditation on his past. "Very few lines" of the original version remain in the finished song.Lennon's friend and biographer Peter Shotton related in his book (titled John Lennon "In My Life") that Lennon told him 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.As for the music though, Lennon claimed in 1980 that McCartney's contribution was supplying the harmony and the "middle eight" or bridge section of the song (there is no middle eight in this song, though there is a bridge section). Describing "If I Fell", which he had written, Lennon said it was more a precursor to "In My Life" and used the same chord sequences.(Although, McCartney also claims to have co-written 'If I Fell' with Lennon.)McCartney claimed he set Lennon's lyrics to music from beginning to end, claiming that he wrote the whole melody, but taking inspiration from songs by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. Of the disagreement, McCartney said, "I find it very gratifying that out of everything we wrote, we only appear to disagree over two songs." (The other song in question is "Eleanor Rigby".)RecordingThe song was recorded on 18 October 1965 and was complete except for a "hole" which was left for an instrumental bridge between verses. At that time, Lennon had not decided what instrument to use, but he subsequently asked George Martin to play a piano solo, and "play it like Bach". Martin wrote a Baroque-styled piece that he could not play at the song's tempo. On 22 October, the solo was recorded at half-tempo (one octave lower) and all the tape speed was doubled for the final recording, which solved the performance challenge and gave the piano solo a unique, harpsichord-like timbre.Cover versions and cultural referencesThe song has been covered by a number of artists, including Mary Hopkin, Judy Collins,Dave Matthews Band Crosby, Stills & Nash, Selah, Jose Feliciano, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne (Under Cover), Marie Osmond, Keith Moon (Two Sides of the Moon), Kippington Lodge, Astrud Gilberto, Allison Crowe and Johnny Cash (American IV: The Man Comes Around).The song was played at Kurt Cobain's memorial. Cobain was an avid Beatles fan.Lyrics: There are places I remember All my life, though some have changed Some forever not for better Some have gone and some remain All these places had 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 But of all these friends and lovers there is no one compares with you And these memories lose their meaning When I think of love as something new 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 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 In my life I love you more