# The Beatles’ borrowed tunes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277 "2005-10-28T05:13:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![revolver\_4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@revolver\_4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/revolver_4)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/1 "2005-10-28T05:13:42Z")
So Paul lifted the bass riff for I Saw Her Standing There” from Chuck Berry’s “I’m Talking About You". John’s “I Feel Fine” borrowed heavily from Bobby Parker’s “Watch Your Step”. Same with George and The Chiffon’s He’s So Fine”. Are there any more Beatle songs that “borrowed” a thing or two from other tunes? ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/2 "2005-10-28T06:39:23Z")
I know the guitar rifs in “I’ll Be Back” were stolen from some country western song, but I forget which. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/3 "2005-10-28T06:41:13Z")
Sometimes Paul liked to do a Little Richard singing voice (_I’m Down_), while John pretended he was Dylan now and then (_You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away_). And the Beach Boys sound shows up in a few bars of _Back in the U.S.S.R._. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/4 "2005-10-28T12:48:19Z")
Some of the lyrics to “Come Together” were stolen from a Chuck Berry song. Berry sued, and the suit was settled out of court when John promised to play at a few concerts with Berry. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/5 "2005-10-28T12:51:46Z")
“Run for Your Life” takes its opening lyric from Elvis Presley’s “Baby Let’s Play House.” John famously borrowed from Chuck Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me” for “Come Together.” Paul swiped the lyrics for “Golden Slumbers” from a Thomas Dekker poem. The lyrics of “The Inner Light” are from the _Tao Te Ching_. Not exactly a swipe, but “Baby’s in Black” sounds suspiciously similar to “Johnny’s So Long at the Fair” (“Oh, dear, what can the matter be?”). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/6 "2005-10-28T13:01:31Z")
_All You Need Is Love_ quotes the French national anthem. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/7 "2005-10-28T13:04:11Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > _All You Need Is Love_ quotes the French national anthem. And “Greensleeves,” and “In the Mood” (which they got in a little trouble for), and the Beatles’ own “She Loves You.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/8 "2005-10-28T13:23:36Z")
Oddly enough, Paul McCartney regular ADMITS that he and John Lennon used to steal stuff directly from the likes of Chuck Berry and Little Richard. He and John went to art school, after all, and liked to quote Henri Matisse (mediocrities borrow; great artists steal"). ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/9 "2005-10-28T15:23:23Z")
George Harrison took the guitar figure of “If I Needed Someone” from the Byrds’ “Bells of Rhymney.” “Sun King” was an unapologetic ripoff of Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross.” And, in an interesting bit of self-plagiarism, John took the verse chord progression of Paul’s “Here There and Everywhere” to make the bridge of his own “Sexy Sadie.” > [@John Corrado](#): > > Some of the lyrics to “Come Together” were stolen from a Chuck Berry song. Berry sued, and the suit was settled out of court when John promised to play at a few concerts with Berry. John never played concerts with Chuck Berry. He did end up recording several tunes published by the company that owned Berry’s songs, thus making the _Rock n’ Roll_ album. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/10 "2005-10-28T15:37:26Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > John never played concerts with Chuck Berry. Not concerts per se, but they did play together on the Mike Douglas Show in 1972. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/11 "2005-10-28T17:57:47Z")
Wasn’t “Because” basically the chords from Beethoven’s “Moolight Sonata” rearranged? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/12 "2005-10-28T18:09:30Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Wasn’t “Because” basically the chords from Beethoven’s “Moolight Sonata” rearranged? Snopes says [sorta](http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/because.htm). ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/13 "2005-10-28T18:19:42Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > Paul swiped the lyrics for “Golden Slumbers” from a Thomas Dekker poem. > > The lyrics of “The Inner Light” are from the _Tao Te Ching_. Setting a poem to music is ‘swiping’? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/14 "2005-10-28T19:10:26Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > Setting a poem to music is ‘swiping’? When you don’t credit the author of the original poem, certainly it is. I’ve written songs to poems by William Blake, but I didn’t credit myself as the sole writer. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/15 "2005-10-28T19:19:00Z")
It’s not the whole tune, but the first four notes/syllables of “Frere Jacques” are used as background vocals to “Paperback Writer.” ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/16 "2005-10-28T19:30:39Z")
Well, the Beatles used the same twelve notes as Vivaldi! :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/17 "2005-10-28T20:38:51Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > When you don’t credit the author of the original poem, certainly it is. I’ve written songs to poems by William Blake, but I didn’t credit myself as the sole writer. Paul only took the [chorus](http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/dekker/golden.htm), and not even all of that. He didn’t so much set Dekker’s poem to music as use it as a starting point for a new original work, the same way Dylan builds new songs around scraps of old folk and blues lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Trillionaire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Trillionaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trillionaire)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/18 "2005-10-28T20:40:37Z")
Since this seems to be an open slather it’s probably worth pointing out that the lyrics for _Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite_ were taken almost verbatim from an 1800s circus advertisement that John “liberated” from an antique store. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/19 "2005-10-28T20:49:26Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > And the Beach Boys sound shows up in a few bars of _Back in the U.S.S.R._. This was more open parody. The joke of that song was it was a British band singing about the joys of being in the Soviet Union in the style of the Beach Boys. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277/20 "2005-10-28T23:50:34Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Paul only took the [chorus](http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/dekker/golden.htm), and not even all of that. That still leaves Paulie’s lyrical contribution to the song at one original\* line (“Once there was a way to get back homeward”), plus changing the word “wantons” to “darling.” \*And that’s giving him the benefit of the doubt. Since Paul took the lyrics from another musical setting of the poem he found in a songbook—not being able to read the music, he made up his own tune—I am assuming that “Once there was a way…” was Paul’s own idea and not part of that adaptation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-borrowed-tunes/328277.md?page=2)