View source for A Day in the Life

{{Short description|1967 song by the Beatles}}
{{About|the song}}
 
{{Use British English|date=March 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox song
| name          = A Day in the Life
| cover         = "A Day in the Life" US sheet music cover.jpg
| cover_size    = 160
| alt           =
| caption       = US sheet music cover
| artist        = [[the Beatles]]
| album         = [[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]
| released      = {{Start date|1967|05|26|df=y}}{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=123|ps=. "In the United Kingdom ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' ... was rush-released six days ahead of its official date, June 1."}}
| recorded   = 19 January{{snd}}22{{nbsp}}February 1967
| studio     = [[Abbey Road Studios|EMI]], London
| genre      = 
*[[Art rock]]<ref>Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes On, Michael Campbell, page 213</ref> 
*[[psychedelic rock]]<ref name="autogenerated35">J. DeRogatis, ''Turn on Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock'' (Milwaukee, Michigan: Hal Leonard, 2003), {{ISBN|0-634-05548-8}}, p. 48.</ref> 
*[[orchestral pop]]<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wray|first1=John|title=The Return of the One-Man Band|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/magazine/18bands-t.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=18 May 2008|access-date=16 December 2016|archive-date=16 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416024407/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/magazine/18bands-t.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[experimental rock]]
| length     = 5:35
| label      = 
*[[Parlophone]] (UK)
*[[Capitol Records|Capitol]] (US)
| writer     = [[Lennon–McCartney]]
| producer   = [[George Martin]]
| misc       = {{External music video|type=song|{{YouTube|usNsCeOV4GM|"A Day in the Life"}}
 }}{{Audio sample
 | type        = song
 | file        = A Day in the Life verse - Beatles.ogg
 }}
}}

"'''A Day in the Life'''" is a song by the English rock band [[the Beatles]] that was released as the final track of their 1967 album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]''. Credited to [[Lennon–McCartney]], the opening and closing sections of the song were mainly written by [[John Lennon]], with [[Paul McCartney]] primarily contributing the song's middle section. All four Beatles shaped the final arrangement of the song.

Lennon's lyrics were mainly inspired by contemporary newspaper articles, including a report on the death of [[Guinness]] heir [[Tara Browne]]. The recording includes two passages of orchestral [[glissando]]s that were partly improvised in the [[avant-garde]] style. In the song's middle segment, McCartney recalls his younger years, which included riding the bus, smoking, and going to class. Following the second crescendo, the song ends with one of the most famous chords in popular music history, played on several keyboards, that sustains for over forty seconds.{{cn|date=December 2025}}

A reputed drug reference in the line "I'd love to turn you on" resulted in the song initially being banned from broadcast by the [[BBC]]. [[Jeff Beck]], [[Chris Cornell]], [[Barry Gibb]], [[The Fall (band)|the Fall]] and [[Phish]] are among the artists who have covered the song. The song inspired the creation of the [[Deep Note]], the audio trademark for the [[THX]] film company. It remains one of the most influential and celebrated songs in [[popular music]], appearing on many lists of the greatest songs of all time, and being commonly appraised as the Beatles' finest song.

==Background==
[[John Lennon]] wrote the melody and most of the lyrics to the verses of "A Day in the Life" in mid-January 1967.{{sfn|Hertsgaard|1996|p=2}} Soon afterwards, he presented the song to [[Paul McCartney]], who contributed a middle-eight section.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|pp=229–30}} According to Lennon, McCartney also contributed the pivotal line "I'd love to turn you on."<ref>{{Cite web |title=John Lennon Interview: ''Playboy'' 1980 (page 3) – Beatles Interviews Database |url=http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dbjypb.int3.html |access-date=2022-08-22 |website=www.beatlesinterviews.org}}</ref> In a 1970 interview, Lennon discussed their collaboration on the song:

{{quote|Paul and I were definitely working together, especially on "A Day in the Life"{{nbsp}}... The way we wrote a lot of the time: you'd write the good bit, the part that was easy, like "I read the news today" or whatever it was, then when you got stuck or whenever it got hard, instead of carrying on, you just drop it; then we would meet each other, and I would sing half, and he would be inspired to write the next bit and vice versa. He was a bit shy about it because I think he thought it's already a good song{{nbsp}}... So we were doing it in his room with the piano. He said "Should we do this?" "Yeah, let's do that."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://imaginepeace.com/archives/4385 |title=The Rolling Stone Interview: John Lennon |date=21 January 1971 |access-date=26 February 2013 |archive-date=2 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802205936/http://www.imaginepeace.com/403.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

In 1968, Lennon said, "It was a good piece of work between Paul and me. I had the 'I read the news today' bit, and it turned Paul on, because now and then we really turn each other on with a bit of song, and he just said 'yeah' – bang bang, like that."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Cott |first=Jonathan |date=1968-11-23 |title=John Lennon: The Rolling Stone Interview |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/john-lennon-the-rolling-stone-interview-186264/ |access-date=2022-08-22 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref>

According to author [[Ian MacDonald]], "A Day in the Life" was strongly informed by Lennon's [[LSD]]-inspired revelations, in that the song "concerned 'reality' only to the extent that this had been revealed by LSD to be largely in the eye of the beholder".{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=228}} Having long resisted Lennon and [[George Harrison]]'s insistence that he join them and [[Ringo Starr]] in trying LSD, McCartney took it for the first time in late 1966. This experience contributed to the Beatles' willingness to experiment on ''Sgt. Pepper'' and to Lennon and McCartney returning to a level of collaboration that had been somewhat absent.{{sfn|Gould|2007|pp=388–89}}

==Lyrics==

===Tara Browne===
Music critic [[Tim Riley (music critic)|Tim Riley]] says that in "A Day in the Life", Lennon uses the same lyrical device introduced in "[[Strawberry Fields Forever]]", whereby free-form lyrics allow a greater freedom of expression and create a "supernatural calm".{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=329}} According to Lennon, the inspiration for the first two verses was the death of [[Tara Browne]], the 21-year-old heir to the [[Guinness]] fortune who had crashed his car on 18 December 1966. Browne was a friend of Lennon and McCartney,<ref name="radio2">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/adayinthelife.shtml |publisher=BBC Radio 2 |title=Sold on Song&nbsp;—TOP 100&nbsp;– Day in the Life |access-date=31 December 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061222061531/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/adayinthelife.shtml| archive-date= 22 December 2006 | url-status=live}}</ref> and had instigated McCartney's first experience with LSD.{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=380}} Lennon adapted the song's verse lyrics from a story in the 17 January 1967 edition of the ''[[Daily Mail]]'',{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=229}} which reported the ruling on a custody action over Browne's two young children.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}

During a writing session at McCartney's house in north London, Lennon and McCartney fine-tuned the lyrics, using an approach that author [[Howard Sounes]] likens to the [[cut-up technique]] popularised by [[William S. Burroughs]].{{sfn|Sounes|2010|p=164}} "I didn't copy the accident," Lennon said. "Tara didn't blow his mind out, but it was in my mind when I was writing that verse. The details of the accident in the song{{snd}}not noticing traffic lights and a crowd forming at the scene{{snd}}were similarly part of the fiction."<ref name="The Beatles">{{Cite book|title=The Beatles |last=Davies |first=Hunter |year=1968 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=Columbus |isbn=978-0-07-015457-5 |page=357}}</ref> In 1997, McCartney expounded on the subject: "The verse about the politician blowing his mind out in a car we wrote together. It has been attributed to Tara Browne, the Guinness heir, which I don't believe is the case, certainly as we were writing it, I was not attributing it to Tara in my head. In John's head it might have been. In my head I was imagining a politician bombed out on drugs who'd stopped at some traffic lights and didn't notice that the lights had changed. The 'blew his mind' was purely a drugs reference, nothing to do with a car crash."{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=324}} But in 2021, McCartney recalled the inspiration for this part of the composition as follows: "That was around this same time, when I was twenty-something and going out on the moped from my dad's house to Betty's house. I was taking a friend, Tara Guinness. He died later in a car accident. He was a nice boy. I wrote about him in 'A Day in the Life': 'He blew his mind out in a car / He didn't notice that the lights had changed'."<ref name="The Lyrics, Volume 2">{{cite book |last1=McCartney |first1=Paul |editor-last1=Muldoon |editor-first1=Paul |date=2021 |title=The Lyrics |volume=2 |publisher=Allen Lane |page=626}}</ref>

==="4,000 holes"===
Lennon wrote the song's final verse was inspired by a ''Far & Near'' news brief, in the same 17 January edition of the ''Daily Mail'' that had inspired the first two verses.{{sfn|Riley|2011|pp=339–40}} Under the headline "The holes in our roads", the brief stated: "There are 4,000 holes in the road in Blackburn, Lancashire, or one twenty-sixth of a hole per person, according to a council survey. If Blackburn is typical, there are two million holes in Britain's roads and 300,000 in London."<ref name="Daily Mail holes">{{Cite news |newspaper=[[Daily Mail]]|title=Far & Near: The holes in our roads|date=17 January 1967|page=7|issue=21994}}</ref>

[[File:Royal Albert Hall.001 - London.JPG|thumb|In his lyrics, Lennon mentions the [[Royal Albert Hall]], a symbol of [[Victorian era|Victorian-era]] London and a concert venue usually associated with [[classical music]] performances.]]
The story had been sold to the ''Daily Mail'' in Manchester by Ron Kennedy of the Star News agency in [[Blackburn]]. Kennedy had noticed a ''[[Lancashire Evening Telegraph]]'' story about road excavations and in a telephone call to the Borough Engineer's department had checked the annual number of holes in the road.<ref name="The Harp Beat Rock Gazetteer of Great Britain">{{cite book|first=Pete |last=Frame |author-link=Pete Frame |title=The Harp Beat Rock Gazetteer of Great Britain |year=1989 |page=55 |publisher=Banyan Books |location=London |isbn=0-9506402-6-3}}</ref> Lennon had a problem with the words of the final verse, however, not being able to think of how to connect "Now they know how many holes it takes to" and "the [[Royal Albert Hall|Albert Hall]]". His friend [[Terry Doran]] suggested that the holes would "fill" the Albert Hall, and the lyric was eventually used.<ref name="Origins">{{cite web|url=http://www.applecorp.com/aditl/origins.htm |title=A Day in the Life&nbsp;– An Indepth Analysis&nbsp;– The Origins of the Song |access-date=18 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080419020720/http://www.applecorp.com/aditl/origins.htm |archive-date=19 April 2008}}</ref>

===Drug culture===
McCartney said about the line "I'd love to turn you on", which concludes both verse sections: "This was the time of [[Timothy Leary|Tim Leary]]'s '[[Turn on, tune in, drop out]]' and we wrote, 'I'd love to turn you on.' John and I gave each other a knowing look: 'Uh-huh, it's a drug song. You know that, don't you?{{' "}}{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=325}}{{refn|group=nb|While McCartney remembered writing the lyric "I'd love to turn you on" with Lennon, Lennon, in his 1980 ''[[Playboy]]'' interview with [[David Sheff]], credited it as being McCartney's alone, stating, "Paul's contribution was the beautiful little lick in the song, 'I'd love to turn you on' that he'd had floating around in his head and he couldn't use for anything. I thought it was a damn good piece of work."<ref name=sheff>{{cite book |last=Sheff |first=David |author-link=David Sheff |orig-year=1981 |year=2000 |title=All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview With John Lennon and Yoko Ono |publisher=St. Martin's Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/allwearesayingla00lenn/page/183 183–184] |isbn=0-312-25464-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/allwearesayingla00lenn/page/183 }}</ref> In a 1972 interview, he stated: "I think Paul wrote 'I'd love to turn you on.{{' "}}<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Alan|last=Smith|title=Lennon/McCartney Singalong: Who Wrote What|magazine=[[Hit Parader]]|date=February 1972}} Text available at [https://archive.org/details/JohnLennonInterview1972HitParaderMagazine Internet Archive]. Retrieved 3 February 2020.</ref>}} [[George Martin]], the Beatles' producer, commented that he had always suspected that the line "found my way upstairs and had a smoke" was a drug reference, recalling how the Beatles would "disappear and have a little puff", presumably of [[Cannabis (drug)|marijuana]], but not in front of him.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9YFvAv6GrwC&q=George+Martin+Beatles+"disappear+and+have+a+little+puff"&pg=PT347|title=The Beatles: Off the Record|last=Badman|first=Keith|year=2009|publisher=Omnibus Press|location=London|isbn=978-0-857120458|access-date=18 October 2020|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020134253/https://books.google.com/books?id=g9YFvAv6GrwC&q=George+Martin+Beatles+%22disappear+and+have+a+little+puff%22&pg=PT347|url-status=live}}</ref> "When [Martin] was doing his TV programme on Pepper", McCartney recalled later, "he asked me, 'Do you know what caused Pepper?' I said, 'In one word, George, drugs. Pot.' And George said, 'No, no. But you weren't on it all the time.' 'Yes, we were.' ''Sgt. Pepper'' was a drug album."<ref name=rollingstone100/>{{refn|group=nb|In a discussion with Harrison, Martin complained about ''Sgt. Pepper'' being deemed a "drugs album", since he himself never partook. Harrison told him that they used to spike his coffee with stimulants to ensure he stayed awake through the long, overnight sessions.<ref>{{cite book|last=O'Gorman|first=Martin|year=2002|chapter=Take 137!|title=Mojo Special Limited Edition: 1000 Days That Shook the World (The Psychedelic Beatles – April 1, 1965 to December 26, 1967)|location=London|publisher=Emap|page=88|title-link=Mojo (magazine)#Special editions}}</ref>}}

===Other reference points===
Author Neil Sinyard attributed the second-verse line "The English Army had just won the war" to Lennon's role in the film ''[[How I Won the War]]'', which he had filmed during September and October 1966. Sinyard said: "It's hard to think of [the verse] without automatically associating it with [[Richard Lester]]'s film."<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Thomson|editor1-first=Elizabeth|editor2-last=Gutman|editor2-first=David|title=The Lennon Companion: Twenty-five Years of Comment|date=2004|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=9780306812705|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dv8WYy1nuV8C|access-date=27 October 2015|archive-date=13 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513100041/https://books.google.com/books?id=Dv8WYy1nuV8C|url-status=live}}</ref>

The middle-eight provided by McCartney was written as a wistful recollection of his younger years, which included riding the 82 bus to school, smoking, and going to class.<ref>{{cite news |last=Aldridge |first=Alan |date=14 January 1968 |title=Paul McCartney's Guide to the Beatles' Songbook | work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jun/11/comment.transport|title=No change please|first=Joe|last=Moran|author-link=Joe Moran (social historian)|date=10 June 2007|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=15 April 2017|archive-date=2 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402130657/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jun/11/comment.transport|url-status=live}}</ref> This theme{{spaced en dash}} the Beatles' youth in [[Liverpool]]{{spaced en dash}} matched that of "[[Penny Lane]]" (named after [[Penny Lane, Liverpool|the street]] in Liverpool) and "Strawberry Fields Forever" (named after [[Strawberry Field|the orphanage]] near [[251 Menlove Avenue|Lennon's childhood home]] in Liverpool), two songs written for the album but instead released as a double A-side.<ref name="Illustrated Lennon">{{Cite book|title=Lennon Legend: An Illustrated Life of John Lennon |last=Henke |first=James |year=2003 |publisher=Chronicle Books |location=San Francisco |isbn=978-0-8118-3517-6 |page=29}}</ref>

==Musical structure and development==

===Basic track===
The Beatles began recording the song, with a working title of "In the Life of&nbsp;...", at EMI's Studio Two on 19 January 1967.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=94}} The line-up as they rehearsed the track was Lennon on piano, McCartney on [[Hammond organ]], Harrison on acoustic guitar, and Starr on [[drums]].{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=84}} The band then taped four takes of the rhythm track, by which point Lennon had switched to acoustic guitar and McCartney to piano, with Harrison now playing [[maraca]]s.{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=84}}{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=120}}

As a link between the end of the second verse and the start of McCartney's middle-eight, the band included a 24-[[bar (music)|bar]] bridge.<ref name="Recording Beatles">{{Cite book|last1=Ryan |first1=Kevin |last2=Kehew |first2=Brian |title=Recording The Beatles |publisher=Curvebender Publishing |year=2006 |page=443 |isbn=978-0-9785200-0-7}}</ref> At first, the Beatles were not sure how to fill this link section.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=230}} At the conclusion of the session on 19 January, the transition consisted of a simple repeated piano chord and the voice of assistant [[Mal Evans]] counting out the bars. Evans' voice was treated with gradually increasing amounts of echo. The 24-bar bridge ended with the sound of an alarm clock triggered by Evans. Although the original intent was to edit out the ringing alarm clock when the section was filled in, it complemented McCartney's piece – which begins with the line "Woke up, fell out of bed" – so the decision was made to keep the sound.<ref name="Apple Corp 2">{{cite web |url=http://www.applecorp.com/aditl/notes2.htm |title=Recording 'A Day in the Life': Friday, 20&nbsp;January 1967 |last=Bona |first=Anna Mitchell-Dala |access-date=8 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220224529/http://www.applecorp.com/aditl/notes2.htm |archive-date=20 February 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|Martin later said that editing it out would have been unfeasible in any case.<ref name="Apple Corp 2"/>}} A second transition follows McCartney's final line of the [[middle eight]] ("I went into a dream") consisting of vocalised "aah"s that link to the song's final verse. (Accounts differ as to which of the Beatles sang it.)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/inside-track-sgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club-band |title=Inside Track: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band |last=Tingen |first=Paul |date=2017 |website=Sound On Sound |publisher=SOS Publications Group |access-date=26 October 2021 |quote=Paul's main vocal track is in stereo, because we gave it some spread with the Waves S1 Stereo Imaging plug-in, so it has a different sound than John's lead. We also split off two little bits to be able to pan them left and right. His fourth vocal track is the 'aaah' section, and below it is an 'Aah delay' aux track.}}</ref>{{sfn|Everett|1999|pp=117–18}}<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wheeler|first=Brad|date=2021-05-18|title=An answer we haven't known for all these years: Who sang the 'ahh' part in the Beatles song A Day in the Life?|language=en-CA|work=The Globe and Mail|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/article-an-answer-we-havent-known-for-all-these-years-who-sang-the-ahh-part-in/|access-date=2021-10-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite tweet |user=mashupmartin|number=867576504187838465|author=Giles Martin |author-link=Giles Martin|title=Is it John or Paul singing the "Aah" part in A Day In The Life?}}</ref>

The track was refined with [[remix]]ing and additional parts added on 20 January and 3 February.<ref name="Apple Corp 2"/>{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=121}} During the latter session, McCartney and Starr re-recorded their contributions on bass guitar and drums, respectively.{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=86}} Starr later highlighted his fills on the song as typical of an approach whereby "I try to become an instrument; play the mood of the song. For example, 'Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire,' – boom ba bom. I try to show that; the disenchanting mood."{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=80}} As on the 1966 track "[[Rain (Beatles song)|Rain]]", music journalist Ben Edmonds recognises Starr's playing as reflective of his empathy with Lennon's songwriting. In Edmonds' description, the drumming on "A Day in the Life" "embod[ies] psychedelic drift{{snd}}mysterious, surprising, without losing sight of its rhythmic role".{{sfn|Harris|2007|p=76}}

===Orchestra===
[[File:Edisons1969.jpg|thumb|left|The song's orchestral segments reflect the influence of [[avant-garde]] composers such as [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]] (left, at an awards ceremony in Amsterdam in October 1969).]]
The orchestral portions of "A Day in the Life" reflect Lennon and McCartney's interest in the work of [[avant-garde]] composers such as [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]], [[Luciano Berio]] and [[John Cage]].{{sfn|Sounes|2010|p=165}}{{refn|group=nb|According to [[Gene Sculatti]], writing in ''[[Jazz & Pop]]'' in 1968, the influence of [[the Beach Boys]]' "[[Good Vibrations]]", as the "ultimate in-studio production trip", was apparent in songs such as "A Day in the Life".<ref name="Scalluti1968">{{cite magazine|last=Sculatti |first=Gene |author-link=Gene Sculatti|url=http://www.teachrock.org/resources/article/villains-and-heroes-in-defense-of-the-beach-boys/ |title=Villains and Heroes: In Defense of the Beach Boys |magazine=Jazz & Pop |date=September 1968 |access-date=10 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714191639/http://www.teachrock.org/resources/article/villains-and-heroes-in-defense-of-the-beach-boys/ |archive-date=14 July 2014 }}</ref> Beatles biographer Jonathon Gould says that "of the many ambitious pop singles released during the fall of 1966, none had a stronger influence on the Beatles than the Beach Boys' 'Good Vibrations{{' "}}.{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=35}}}} To fill the empty 24-bar middle section, Lennon's request to George Martin was that the orchestra should provide "a tremendous build-up, from nothing up to something absolutely like the end of the world".{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=118}} McCartney suggested having the musicians improvise over the segment.<ref name="Apple Corp 2"/> To allay concerns that classically trained musicians would be unable to do this, Martin wrote a loose score for the section.<ref name=pc45>{{cite web|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19810/m1/|title=Show 45&nbsp;– Sergeant Pepper at the Summit: The very best of a very good year. [Part 1&#93; : UNT Digital Library|last=Gilliland|first=John|year=1969|author-link=John Gilliland|work=[[Pop Chronicles]]|publisher=Digital.library.unt.edu|format=audio|access-date=28 May 2011|archive-date=5 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005103524/http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19810/m1/|url-status=live}}</ref> Using the rhythm implied by Lennon's staggered intonation on the words "turn you on",{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=119}} the score was an extended, [[atonality|atonal]] [[Dynamics (music)|crescendo]] that encouraged the musicians to improvise within the defined framework.<ref name="Apple Corp 2"/> The orchestral part was recorded on 10 February 1967 in Studio One at EMI Studios,{{sfn|Winn|2009|pp=86–87}} with Martin and McCartney conducting a 40-piece orchestra.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=96}} The recording session was completed at a total cost of £367 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|367|1967|r=0}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} for the players, an extravagance at the time.<ref name="Apple Corp 3">{{cite web|url=http://www.applecorp.com/aditl/notes3.htm |title=Recording 'A Day in the Life':A Remarkable Session |last=Bona |first=Anda Mitchell-Dala |access-date=5 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104230914/http://www.applecorp.com/aditl/notes3.htm |archive-date=4 January 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Martin later described explaining his score to the puzzled orchestra:

{{quote|What I did there was to write&nbsp;... the lowest possible note for each of the instruments in the orchestra. At the end of the twenty-four bars, I wrote the highest note&nbsp;... near a chord of E major. Then I put a squiggly line right through the twenty-four bars, with reference points to tell them roughly what note they should have reached during each bar&nbsp;... Of course, they all looked at me as though I were completely mad.<ref name="Ears">{{Cite book|first=George |last=Martin |author-link=George Martin |title=All You Need is Ears: The Inside Personal Story of the Genius Who Created The Beatles |year=1994 |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-11482-4}}</ref>}}

McCartney had originally wanted a 90-piece orchestra, but this proved impossible. Instead, the semi-improvised segment was recorded several times, filling a separate four-track tape machine,{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=121}} and the four different recordings were overdubbed into a single massive crescendo.<ref name="Apple Corp 2"/> The results were successful; in the final edit of the song, the orchestral bridge is [[reprise]]d after the final verse.

The Beatles hosted the orchestral session as a 1960s-style [[happening]],{{sfn|Sounes|2010|p=166}}{{sfn|Harris|2007|pp=76, 82}} with guests including [[Mick Jagger]], [[Marianne Faithfull]], [[Keith Richards]], [[Brian Jones]], [[Donovan]], [[Pattie Boyd]], [[Michael Nesmith]], and members of the psychedelic design collective [[The Fool (design collective)|the Fool]].{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=96}} Overseen by Tony Bramwell of NEMS Enterprises, the event was filmed for use in a projected television special that never materialised.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=96}}{{refn|group=nb|Although the special did not take place, portions of the film appear on the ''[[The Beatles Anthology (documentary)|Beatles Anthology]]'' DVD{{sfn|Harris|2007|p=82}} and in the "A Day in the Life" music video included in the deluxe version of the Beatles compilation ''[[1 (Beatles album)|1]]'', titled ''1+''.<ref name="Donovan">{{cite web|url=http://www.sabotage.demon.co.uk/donovan/session.htm |title=Donovan Sessionography |last1=Mironneau |first1=Serge |first2=Ade |last2=Macrow |access-date=8 April 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080415224654/http://www.sabotage.demon.co.uk/donovan/session.htm| archive-date= 15 April 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first= Matt |last= Rowe |title= The Beatles 1 To Be Reissued With New Audio Remixes... And Videos |work= The Morton Report |date= 18 September 2015 |access-date= 9 January 2016 |url= http://www.themortonreport.com/entertainment/music/the-beatles-1-to-be-reissued-with-new-audio-remixesand-videos |archive-date= 29 December 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151229085947/http://www.themortonreport.com/entertainment/music/the-beatles-1-to-be-reissued-with-new-audio-remixesand-videos/ |url-status= live }}</ref>}} Reflecting the Beatles' taste for experimentation and the avant garde, the orchestra players were asked to wear formal dress and then given a costume piece as a contrast with this attire.{{sfn|Gould|2007|pp=387–88}} This resulted in different players wearing anything from fake noses to fake stick-on nipples. Martin recalled that the lead violinist performed wearing a [[gorilla]] paw, while a [[bassoon]] player placed a [[balloon]] on the end of his instrument.<ref name="Apple Corp 3"/>

At the end of the night, the four Beatles and some of their guests overdubbed an extended humming sound to close the song{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=97}} – an idea that they later discarded.{{sfn|Riley|2011|p=343}} According to Beatles historian [[Mark Lewisohn]], the tapes from this 10 February orchestral session recorded the guests breaking into loud applause following the second orchestral passage.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=97}} Among the EMI staff attending the event, one recalled how [[Ron Richards (producer)|Ron Richards]], [[the Hollies]]' producer, was stunned by the music he had heard; in Lewisohn's description, Richards "[sat] with his head in his hands, saying 'I just can't believe it{{nbsp}}... I give up.{{' "}}{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=96}} Martin later offered his own opinion of the orchestral session: "part of me said 'We're being a bit self-indulgent here.' The other part of me said 'It's bloody {{em|marvellous}}!{{' "}}{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=97}}

===Final chord and completion===
[[File:Abbeyroadtomswain.jpg|thumb|alt=Studio Two, Abbey Road Studios|A [[grand piano]] in EMI's Studio Two, where the closing piano chord was recorded on 22 February 1967]]

Following the final orchestral crescendo, the song ends with one of the most famous final [[chord (music)|chords]] in music history.<ref name="Apple Corp 3" /><ref name="allmusic">{{AllMusic|class=song|id=mt0010100290|title=The Beatles 'A Day in the Life'|last=Unterberger|first=Richie}}</ref> Overdubbed in place of the vocal experiment from 10 February, this chord was added during a session at EMI's Studio Two on 22 February.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|pp=97, 99}} Lennon, McCartney, Starr and Evans shared three different pianos, with Martin on a [[harmonium]], and all played an E-major chord simultaneously. The chord was made to ring out for over forty seconds by increasing the recording sound level as the vibration faded out. Towards the end of the chord the recording level was so high that listeners can hear the sounds of the studio, including rustling papers and a squeaking chair.<ref name="Apple Corp 4">{{cite web|url=http://www.applecorp.com/aditl/notes4.htm |title=A Day in the Life&nbsp;– An Indepth Analysis&nbsp;– Recording the Song |access-date=18 September 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080222092711/http://www.applecorp.com/aditl/notes4.htm |archive-date = 22 February 2008}}</ref> In author Jonathan Gould's commentary on "A Day in the Life", he describes the final chord as "a forty-second meditation on finality that leaves each member of the audience listening with a new kind of attention and awareness to the sound of nothing at all".{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=417}}

One of the first outsiders to hear the completed recording was [[the Byrds]]' [[David Crosby]]{{sfn|Harris|2007|p=83}} when he visited the Beatles during their 24 February overdubbing session for "[[Lovely Rita]]".{{sfn|Lavezzoli|2006|pp=153–54}} He recalled his reaction to the song: "Man, I was a {{em|dish-rag}}. I was floored. It took me several minutes to be able to talk after that."{{sfn|Harris|2007|p=83}} Due to the many takes required to perfect the orchestral cacophony and the final chord, the total time spent recording "A Day in the Life" was 34&nbsp;hours.<ref name="Ledger">{{Cite news |url=http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/FEAT05/802030320/1023 |title='A Day in the Life': Story of Beatles' song fascinating |last=Vaughn |first=Don R. |work=The Clarion-Ledger |date=3 February 2008 |access-date=2 January 2015 |url-access=subscription }}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> By contrast, the Beatles' debut album, ''[[Please Please Me]]'', had been recorded in its entirety in only 15&nbsp;hours, 45&nbsp;minutes.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=20–24}}

===High-pitched tone and run-out groove===
Following "A Day in the Life" on the ''Sgt. Pepper'' album (as first released on LP in the UK and years later worldwide on CD) is a high-frequency 15-[[kilohertz]] tone and some randomly spliced studio chatter. The tone is the same pitch as a [[dog whistle]], at the upper limit of human hearing, but within the range that dogs and cats can hear.{{sfn|Howlett|2017|p=83}} This addition was part of the Beatles' humour and was suggested by Lennon.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=109}}{{refn|group=nb|McCartney would recall how the Beatles thought: "Imagine there are people sitting around and they think the album's finished and then suddenly the dog starts barking and no one will know what the heck's happened."{{sfn|Howlett|2017|p=83}}}} The studio babble, titled in the session notes "Edit for LP End" and recorded on 21 April 1967, two months after the mono and stereo masters for "A Day in the Life" had been finalised, was added to the run-out groove of the initial British pressing.{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=103}} The two or three seconds of gibberish looped back into itself endlessly on any record player not equipped with an automatic phonograph arm return.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=109}}{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=122}} Some listeners discerned words among the vocal gibberish,{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=103}} including Lennon saying "Been so high", followed by McCartney's response: "Never could be any other way."{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=122}} or "That’s all for now. Thanks for listening. Please come back to our next LP."{{sfn|Rombeck|Neumann|1977|p=99}} US copies of the album lacked the high-pitched tone and the studio babble.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}

==Variations==
On the ''Sgt. Pepper'' album, the start of "A Day in the Life" is [[Cross-fader|cross-faded]] with the applause at the end of the previous track, "[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (song)|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)]]". On the Beatles' ''[[1967–1970]]'' compilation LP, the crossfade is cut off, and the track begins abruptly after the start of the original recording, but on the soundtrack album ''[[Imagine: John Lennon (soundtrack)|Imagine: John Lennon]]'' and the CD versions of ''1967–1970'', the song starts cleanly, with no applause effects.<ref name="4sides">{{cite web|url=http://uk.geocities.com/andrewpwild/4sides/four_sides_of_the_circle__d.htm |title=An A-Z of Beatles Songs |last=Wild |first=Andrew |access-date=31 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026193721/http://uk.geocities.com/andrewpwild/4sides/four_sides_of_the_circle__d.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 October 2009}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=August 2025}}<ref name="brennan">{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beatles/var-1967.html |title=The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations |last=Brennan |first=Joseph |access-date=31 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090101104150/http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beatles/var-1967.html |archive-date= 1 January 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=91}}

The ''[[Anthology 2]]'' album, released in 1996, featured a composite remix of "A Day in the Life", including elements from the first two takes, representing the song at its early, pre-orchestral stage,{{sfn|Howlett|2017|p=81}} while ''[[Anthology 3]]'', the last in a trilogy of albums with ''[[Anthology 1]]'' and ''Anthology 2'', all of which tie in with the televised special ''[[The Beatles Anthology (documentary)|The Beatles Anthology]]'', included a version of "[[The End (The Beatles song)|The End]]", the last track of the album that signifies the end of The Beatles Anthology by having the last note fade into the final chord of "A Day in the Life" (reversed, then played forwards).<ref name="Graham">{{cite web|url=http://www.jpgr.co.uk/pcsp729.html |title=Anthology |last=Calkin |first=Graham |access-date=8 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080419085259/http://www.jpgr.co.uk/pcsp729.html |archive-date=19 April 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> The version on the 2006 soundtrack remix album ''[[Love (The Beatles album)|Love]]'' has the song starting with Lennon's intro of "sugar plum fairy", with the strings being more prominent during the crescendos.{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=84}} In 2017, a handful of outtakes from the recording sessions, including the first take, were included on the two-disc and six-disc versions of the 50th-anniversary edition of ''Sgt. Pepper''.{{sfn|Howlett|2017|p=81}} The six-disc version of that edition also included, on a disc of mono mixes, a previously unreleased early mix of the song in its pre-orchestral stage, as of 30 January.<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Super Deluxe Edition |title-link=Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band |year=2017 |others=[[The Beatles]]|author=Anon.|type=CD sleeve |publisher=[[Apple Records]]}}</ref>

==BBC radio ban==
The song became controversial for its supposed references to [[recreational drug use|drugs]]. On 20 May 1967, during the [[BBC Light Programme]]'s preview of the ''Sgt. Pepper'' album, disc jockey [[Kenny Everett]] was prevented from playing "A Day in the Life".{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=265}} The BBC announced that it would not broadcast the song due to the line "I'd love to turn you on", which, according to the corporation, advocated drug use.<ref name="radio2"/><ref name="ezard">{{cite news |first=John|last=Ezard|title=BBC and Film Board give order to play down on drug scenes |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|page=3 |date=29 December 1967}}</ref> Other lyrics allegedly referring to drugs include "found my way upstairs and had a smoke / somebody spoke and I went into a dream". A spokesman for the BBC stated: "We have listened to this song over and over again. And we have decided that it appears to go just a little too far, and could encourage a permissive attitude to drug-taking."<ref name="Nasty">{{cite news|url=http://beatles.ncf.ca/a_day_in_the_life.html |title=Beatles' Song Nasty |agency=Associated Press |date=8 June 1967 |access-date=14 April 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080331120907/http://beatles.ncf.ca/a_day_in_the_life.html| archive-date= 31 March 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|According to Tony Bramwell, the BBC ban also led to the film from the orchestral session never being completed.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=96}} The party aspect of that session was soon reprised by the Beatles when they filmed their performance of "[[All You Need Is Love]]" for the ''[[Our World (TV special)|Our World]]'' satellite broadcast.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=96}}{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=427}}}}

At the time, Lennon and McCartney denied that there were drug references in "A Day in the Life" and publicly complained about the ban at a dinner party at the home of their manager, [[Brian Epstein]], celebrating their album's release. Lennon said that the song was simply about "a crash and its victim", and called the line in question "the most innocent of phrases".<ref name="Nasty"/> McCartney later said: "This was the only one in the album written as a deliberate provocation. A stick-that-in-your-pipe&nbsp;... But what we want is to turn you on to the truth rather than pot."<ref>"Paul McCartney's Guide to the Beatles' Songbook" ''Los Angeles Times'' 14 January 1968: B19.</ref> The Beatles nevertheless aligned themselves with the drug culture in Britain by paying for (at McCartney's instigation) a full-page advertisement in ''[[The Times]]'', in which, along with 60 other signatories, they and Epstein denounced the law against marijuana as "immoral in principle and unworkable in practice".{{sfn|Miles|2001|pp=269, 273}} In addition, on 19 June, McCartney confirmed to an [[ITN]] reporter, further to his statement in a recent ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine interview, that he had taken LSD.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=270}} Described by MacDonald as a "careless admission", it led to condemnation of McCartney in the British press, recalling the outcry caused by the publication of Lennon's "[[More popular than Jesus]]" remark in the US in 1966.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=22}}{{sfn|Norman|2016|pp=280–81}} The BBC ban on the song was eventually lifted on 13 March 1972.<ref name=Diary>{{cite book |editor=Miles, Barry |editor2=Badman, Keith |title=The Beatles Diary After the Break-Up: 1970–2001 |year=2001 |publisher=Music Sales Group |location=London |isbn=978-0-7119-8307-6}}</ref>{{refn|group=nb|When EMI issued ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' in Southeast Asia, "A Day in the Life" "[[With a Little Help from My Friends]]" and "[[Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds]]" were excluded because of supposed drug references.<ref>{{cite web|first=Bryan|last=Wawzenek|title=50 Years Ago: The Beatles Experience an Amazing Series of Pre-'Sgt. Pepper' Highs and Lows – All on a Single Day|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/beatles-sgt-pepper-bbc/|website=[[Ultimate Classic Rock]]|date=19 May 2017|access-date=2 July 2020|archive-date=16 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716001141/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/beatles-sgt-pepper-bbc/|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

==Recognition and reception==
Recalling the release of ''Sgt. Pepper'' in his 1977 book ''The Beatles Forever'', [[Nicholas Schaffner]] wrote that "Nothing quite like 'A Day in the Life' had been attempted before in so-called popular music" in terms of the song's "use of dynamics and tricks of rhythm, and of space and stereo effect, and its deft intermingling of scenes from dream, reality, and shades in between". Schaffner said that in the context of 1967, the track "was so visually evocative it seemed more like a film than a mere song. Except that the pictures were all in our heads."{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|pp=80–81}} Having been given a tape of "A Day in the Life" by Harrison before leaving London, David Crosby proselytised strongly about ''Sgt. Pepper'' to his circle in Los Angeles,{{sfn|Harris|2007|p=87}} sharing the recording with his Byrds bandmates and [[Graham Nash]].{{sfn|Lavezzoli|2006|p=154}} Crosby later expressed surprise that by 1970 the album's powerful sentiments had not been enough to stop the Vietnam War.{{sfn|Doggett|2015|p=401}}

[[Richard Goldstein (writer born 1944)|Richard Goldstein]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called the song "a deadly earnest excursion in emotive music with a chilling lyric" and said that it "stands as one of the most important Lennon–McCartney compositions&nbsp;... [and] an historic Pop event".<ref name=Goldstein>{{cite news |first=Richard |last=Goldstein |title=We Still Need the Beatles, but&nbsp;... |date=18 June 1967 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=II 24}}</ref>{{sfn|Womack|2014|p=818}} In his praise for the track, he drew comparisons between its lyrics and the work of [[T. S. Eliot]] and likened its music to [[Wagner]].{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=422}} In a contemporary music critics' poll published by ''[[Jazz & Pop]]'' magazine, "A Day in the Life" won in the categories of Best Pop Song and Best Pop Arrangement.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://rockcritics.com/2014/03/14/1967-jazz-pop-results/ |author=Rock Critics admin |title=1967 Jazz & Pop Results |publisher=rockcritics.com |date=14 March 2014 |access-date=23 February 2017 |archive-date=21 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121110135/https://rockcritics.com/2014/03/14/1967-jazz-pop-results/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In his appraisal of the song, musicologist [[Walter Everett (musicologist)|Walter Everett]] states that, as on the band's ''[[Revolver (Beatles album)|Revolver]]'' album, "the most monumental piece on ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' was Lennon's". He identifies the track's most striking feature as "its mysterious and poetic approach to serious topics that come together in a larger, direct message to its listeners, an embodiment of the central ideal for which the Beatles stood: that a truly meaningful life can be had only when one is aware of one's self and one's surroundings and overcomes the status quo."{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=116}} Beatles biographer [[Philip Norman (author)|Philip Norman]] describes "A Day in the Life" as a "masterpiece" and cites it as an example of how ''Sgt. Pepper'' "certainly was John's ''Freak Out!''", referring to the [[Freak Out!|1966 album]] by [[the Mothers of Invention]].{{sfn|Norman|2016|pp=261–62}} As the closing track on ''Sgt. Pepper'', the song was the object of intense scrutiny and commentary. In Ian MacDonald's description, it has been interpreted "as a sober return to the real world after the drunken fantasy of 'Pepperland'; as a conceptual statement about the structure of the pop album (or the artifice of the studio, or the falsity of recorded performance); as an evocation of a bad [LSD] trip; as a 'pop ''[[The Waste Land|Waste Land]]''{{'}}; even as a morbid celebration of death".{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=228}}{{refn|group=nb|According to MacDonald, such interpretations are "nonsense", since they fail to take into account that, contrary to its sequencing at the end of side two, the song was recorded before most of the rest of the album.{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=228}}}}

"A Day in the Life" became one of the Beatles' most influential songs, and many now consider it to be the band's greatest work. Paul Grushkin, in his book ''Rockin' Down the Highway: The Cars and People That Made Rock Roll'', called the track "one of the most ambitious, influential, and groundbreaking works in pop music history".<ref name="Cars and Rock">{{cite book |last=Grushkin |first=Paul R |title=Rockin' Down the Highway: The Cars and People That Made Rock Roll |publisher=MBI Publishing Company |year=2008 |page=135 |isbn=978-0-7603-2292-5}}</ref> According to musicologist John Covach, {{" '}}A Day in the Life' is perhaps one of the most important single tracks in the history of rock music; clocking in at only four minutes and forty-five seconds, it must surely be among the shortest epic pieces in rock."<ref name="Reading Beatles">{{cite book |first=John |last=Covach |chapter=From 'Craft' to 'Art': Formal Structure in the Music of the Beatles |editor1-last=Womack |editor1-first=Kenneth|editor1-link=Kenneth Womack|editor2-last=Davis |editor2-first=Todd F.|editor2-link=Todd F. Davis|title=Reading the Beatles: Cultural Studies, Literary Criticism, and the Fab Four |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2006 |page=48 |isbn=978-0-7914-6715-2}}</ref> In his review of the 50th anniversary edition of ''Sgt. Pepper'' for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', [[Mikal Gilmore]] says that "A Day in the Life" and Harrison's "[[Within You Without You]]" are the only songs on the album that transcend its legacy as "a gestalt: a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/review-the-beatles-sgt-peppers-anniversary-editions-w484397 |first=Mikal |last=Gilmore |author-link=Mikal Gilmore |title=Review: The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's' Anniversary Editions Reveal Wonders |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=26 May 2017 |access-date=2 June 2017 |archive-date=3 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170603150147/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/review-the-beatles-sgt-peppers-anniversary-editions-w484397 |url-status=live}}</ref> In a 2017 article for ''[[Newsweek]]'', [[Tim de Lisle]] cited Chris Smith's recollection of him and fellow art student [[Freddie Mercury]] "writ[ing] little bits of songs which we linked together, like 'A Day in the Life{{' "}}, as evidence to show that "No ''Pepper'', no '[[Bohemian Rhapsody]]'."<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Tim |last=De Lisle |author-link=Tim de Lisle |title=The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' at 50: Why It's Still Worth Celebrating |url=https://www.newsweek.com/2017/05/26/beatles-sgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club-band-paul-mccartney-john-lennon-george-608717.html |magazine=[[Newsweek]] |date=14 May 2017 |access-date=2 July 2020 |archive-date=19 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519010503/https://www.newsweek.com/2017/05/26/beatles-sgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club-band-paul-mccartney-john-lennon-george-608717.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[James A. Moorer]] has said that both "A Day in the Life" and a [[fugue]] in [[B minor]] by [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]] were his sources of inspiration for [[Deep Note]], the audio trademark he created for the [[THX]] film company.<ref>{{cite news |last=Murphy |first=Mekado |title=As THX Gets a New Trailer, an Interview With Its Composer |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/as-thx-gets-a-new-trailer-an-interview-with-its-composer/?_r=0 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=17 April 2015 |access-date=8 August 2018 |archive-date=5 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105011554/https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/as-thx-gets-a-new-trailer-an-interview-with-its-composer/?_r=0 |url-status=live}}</ref> The song's final chord inspired Apple sound designer [[Jim Reekes]] in creating the start-up chime of the [[Apple Macintosh]] featured on [[Macintosh Quadra]] computers. Reekes said he used "a C Major chord, played with both hands stretched out as wide as possible", played on a [[Korg Wavestation|Korg Wavestation EX]].<ref name="JRStartup">{{cite web |last=Whitwell |first=Tom |date=26 May 2005 |url=http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/05/tiny-music-makers-pt-4-mac-startup.html |title=Tiny Music Makers: Pt 4: The Mac Startup Sound |work=Music Thing |access-date=24 March 2018 |archive-date=30 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830204621/https://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/05/tiny-music-makers-pt-4-mac-startup.html |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=August 2025}}

"A Day in the Life" appears on many top songs lists. It placed twelfth on [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]'s [[50 Tracks]], the second highest Beatles song on the list after "[[In My Life]]".<ref name="50 Tracks">{{cite web |url=http://www.jian.ca/?section=fiftyTracks |title=50 Tracks |last=Jian |first=Ghomeshi |date=January 2007 |access-date=14 April 2008 |archive-date=27 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827074728/http://jian.ca/?section=fiftyTracks |url-status=live}}</ref> It placed first in ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' magazine's list of the 50 greatest British songs of all time, and was at the top of ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]''{{'s}} 101 Greatest Beatles' Songs, as decided by a panel of musicians and journalists.<ref name="Top Ten">{{cite web |url=http://www.top-ten-10.com/arts/music/uk_songs.htm |title=Top Ten British Songs of All Time |publisher=Top-Ten-10.com |access-date=14 April 2008 |archive-date=25 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225190736/http://www.top-ten-10.com/arts/music/uk_songs.htm |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Mojo Filter">{{cite web |url=http://beatle.wordpress.com/2006/06/05/he-one-mojo-filter/ |title=He One Mojo Filter |date=5 June 2006 |access-date=14 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080328170952/http://beatle.wordpress.com/2006/06/05/he-one-mojo-filter/ |archive-date=28 March 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BBCQMagazine">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4235010.stm |title=Beatles hailed 'best of British' |publisher=BBC News |date=11 September 2005 |access-date=20 April 2008 |archive-date=14 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214233552/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4235010.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> "A Day in the Life" was also nominated for a [[Grammy Award|Grammy]] in 1967 for [[Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)|Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist or Instrumentalist]].<ref name="Grammy">{{cite web |url=http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/grammy.htm |title=The Beatles' Grammy and Academy Awards and Emmy Awards Nominations |date=11 February 2008 |access-date=19 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517054328/http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/grammy.htm |archive-date=17 May 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it at number 28 on the magazine's list of "[[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time]]",<ref>{{cite web |title=500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2004) |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-151127/the-beatles-a-day-in-the-life-56366/ |website=The Rolling Stone|date=11 December 2003 }}</ref> number 28 on a revised list in 2011,<ref name=rolling>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407/the-beatles-a-day-in-the-life-20110525 |title=28: The Beatles, 'A Day in the Life' |magazine=Rolling Stone |year=2013 |access-date=7 April 2013 |archive-date=5 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605134430/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-500-greatest-songs-of-all-time-20110407/the-beatles-a-day-in-the-life-20110525 |url-status=live}}</ref> number 24 on a revised list on 2021,<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/the-beatles-a-day-in-the-life-4-1225314/|title=A Day in the Life ranked #24 on Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs List|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=15 September 2021|access-date=16 September 2021|archive-date=16 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916063346/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/the-beatles-a-day-in-the-life-4-1225314/|url-status=live}}</ref> and in 2010, deemed it to be the Beatles' greatest song.<ref name=rollingstone100>{{cite magazine |title=100 Greatest Beatles Songs &ndash; 1: A Day in the Life |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-beatles-songs-20110919/a-day-in-the-life-19691231 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=21 May 2013 |archive-date=8 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120408140520/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-beatles-songs-20110919/a-day-in-the-life-19691231 |url-status=live}}</ref> It is listed at number 5 on ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''{{'s}} list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s".<ref>{{cite web |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |last=Linhardt |first=Alex |url=http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/6405-the-200-greatest-songs-of-the-1960s/2/ |title=The Greatest Songs of the 1960s |date=18 August 2006 |access-date=10 July 2009 |archive-date=17 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317232807/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/6405-the-200-greatest-songs-of-the-1960s/2/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Certifications==
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|artist=Beatles|title=A Day in the Life|award=Gold|certyear=2025|source=radioscope}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Beatles|title=A Day in the Life|award=Silver|relyear=2010|certyear=2022|id=17935-1786-1|access-date=13 March 2022}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|noshipments=true|nosales=true|streaming=true}}

==Legacy==
On 27 August 1992 Lennon's handwritten lyrics were sold by the estate of [[Mal Evans]] in an auction at [[Sotheby's]] London for $100,000 ([[Pound sterling|£]]56,600) to Joseph Reynoso, an American from Chicago.<ref name="Lennon lyrics">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4623524.stm |title=Lennon Original Lyrics for Sale |work=BBC News |date=18 January 2006 |access-date=14 April 2008 |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224144815/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4623524.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The lyrics were put up for sale again in March 2006 by [[Bonhams]] in New York. Sealed bids were opened on 7 March 2006 and offers started at about $2 million.<ref name="LyricsSale">{{cite web |url=http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=USA&screen=adayinthelife# |title='A Day in the Life': The Autograph Manuscript of John Lennon |publisher=Bonhams |access-date=20 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202024841/http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=USA&screen=adayinthelife |archive-date=2 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="TwoMillion">{{cite web |first=Stuart |last=Heritage |url=http://www.hecklerspray.com/buy-lennons-a-day-in-the-life-lyrics-for-2-million/20062025.php |title=Buy Lennon's 'A Day in The Life' Lyrics for $2 Million |publisher=Hecklerspray |date=18 January 2006 |access-date=20 April 2008 |archive-date=14 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214233551/http://www.hecklerspray.com/buy-lennons-a-day-in-the-life-lyrics-for-2-million/20062025.php |url-status=live }}</ref> The lyric sheet was auctioned again by Sotheby's in June 2010. It was purchased by an anonymous American buyer who paid $1,200,000 (£810,000).<ref name="2010Sale">{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8749106.stm |title=John Lennon's A Day in the Life lyrics sell for $1.2m |date=18 June 2010 |work=BBC News |access-date=18 June 2010 |archive-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301025829/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8749106.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

McCartney has performed the song in some of his live shows since his 2008 tour. It is played in a medley with "[[Give Peace a Chance]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/mccartney-has-only-saif-to-convince|title=McCartney live at 3rd Abu Dhabi Grand Prix|access-date=14 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117015110/http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/mccartney-has-only-saif-to-convince|archive-date=17 November 2011|url-status=dead|author-last1=Saeed|author-first1=Saeed}}</ref> On 11 March 2022, the song was certified silver by the [[British Phonographic Industry]] (BPI) for sales and streams exceeding 200,000 units.<ref>{{cite certification|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Beatles|title=A Day in the Life|award=Silver|certyear=2022|id=17935-1786-1|access-date=11 March 2022}}</ref>

===Cover versions===
The song has been recorded by many other artists, notably by [[Jeff Beck]] on the 1998 George Martin album ''[[In My Life (George Martin album)|In My Life]]'', which was used in the film ''[[Across the Universe (film)|Across the Universe]]'', and on Beck's 2008 album ''Performing This Week: Live at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club'',<ref>
{{AllMusic|last=Horowitz |first=Hal|class=album|id=mw0000803384|title=Review of ''Performing This Week: Live at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club''}}</ref> which won Beck the [[52nd Grammy Awards|2010 Grammy Award]] for [[Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance|Best Rock Instrumental Performance]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees?category=85#best-rock-instrumental-performance |title=52nd Annual Grammy Awards: Nominees |publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |access-date=1 February 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100128041018/http://www.grammy.com/nominees?category=85| archive-date= 28 January 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref>

English group [[The Fall (band)|The Fall]] recorded a version for the [[NME]] compilation ''[[Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father]]''.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}

Jazz guitarist [[Wes Montgomery]] released a [[smooth jazz]] version of the song, in his recognisable octave style with string accompaniment, on his 1967 album ''[[A Day in the Life (Wes Montgomery album)|A Day in the Life]]''.<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000199509|last = Yanow| first = Scott| title = Wes Montgomery: ''A Day in the Life''{{snd}}Review}}</ref> The album also included the guitarist's version of the Beatles' "[[Eleanor Rigby]]". The recording is one of Montgomery's popular song adaptations, made after his shift from the [[hardbop]] and [[postbop]] [[Riverside Records]] sound to smooth jazz, [[A&M records|A&M]] period records that were targeted at popular audiences.<ref>{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0000248392|tab=biography| last = Yanow| first = Scott| title = Wes Montgomery: Biography}}</ref> The album reached number 13, Montgomery's highest showing on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] album chart.<ref>{{cite magazine| url = https://www.billboard.com/artist/wes-montgomery/chart-history/tlp/| title = Chart History: Wes Montgomery{{snd}}Billboard 200| magazine = [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]| access-date = 23 March 2020| archive-date = 10 August 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200810092420/https://www.billboard.com/music/wes-montgomery/chart-history/TLP| url-status = live}}</ref>

The [[London Symphony Orchestra]] released an orchestral cover of the song in 1978 on ''Classic Rock: The Second Movement''.<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000190829|title=Classic Rock, the Second Movement – London Symphony Orchestra}}</ref> It was also covered by the [[Bee Gees]] for the 1978 film ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (film)|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' and was included on the [[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (soundtrack)|soundtrack of the same name]], produced by Martin.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/article170963202.html|title=This movie is considered the worst. Here's why you should watch it on Blu-ray|last=Cohen|first=Howard|newspaper=[[Miami Herald]]|date=5 September 2017|access-date=23 March 2020|archive-date=20 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820215759/https://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/article170963202.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Credited to [[Barry Gibb]], this version was released as a single, backed by "[[Nowhere Man (song)|Nowhere Man]]", which he also recorded for the film.{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}}

[[David Bowie]] used the lyric "I heard the news today—oh, boy!" in his 1975 song "[[Young Americans (song)|Young Americans]]". Lennon appeared twice on Bowie's album ''[[Young Americans]]'', providing guitar and backing vocals.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gavilá|first=Ana|title=David Bowie, Young Americans|journal=Enchanting David Bowie|date=January 2016|url=https://www.academia.edu/15402858|language=en|access-date=22 December 2020|archive-date=27 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627162420/https://www.academia.edu/15402858|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Bob Dylan]] included the same line in his tribute song to Lennon, "[[Roll on John]]", on the 2012 album [[Tempest (Bob Dylan album)|''Tempest'']].{{sfn|Womack|2014|p=217}}

[[Phish]] has covered the song more than 75 times since debuting it on 10 June 1995, often as an encore selection. [[Page McConnell]] and [[Trey Anastasio]] have split vocal duties for the Lennon/McCartney sections respectively.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}}

A live version by [[Sting (musician)|Sting]] can be found on the EP ''[[Demolition Man (album)|Demolition Man]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,308551,00.html|title=Demolition Man|last=Browne|first=David|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=1993-10-29|access-date=2018-11-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510003723/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,308551,00.html|archive-date=2008-05-10|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Personnel==
{|
|- valign="top"
| style="width:50%" |
'''The Beatles'''
* [[John Lennon]] – lead vocal (verses), acoustic guitar, piano (final chord)
* [[Paul McCartney]] – lead vocal (middle-eight), piano (throughout and final chord), bass guitar
* [[George Harrison]] – [[maraca]]s
* [[Ringo Starr]] – drums, [[conga]]s, piano (final chord)

'''Additional musicians'''
* [[Mal Evans]] – [[alarm clock]], counting, piano (final chord)
* [[George Martin]] – orchestral arrangement, [[Pump organ|harmonium]] (final chord)
* [[Erich Gruenberg]], Granville Jones, Bill Monro, Jurgen Hess, Hans Geiger, D. Bradley, Lionel Bentley, [[David McCallum Sr.|David McCallum]], Donald Weekes, Henry Datyner, [[Sidney Sax]], Ernest Scott, Carlos Villa – violin
| style="width:50%" |
* John Underwood, Gwynne Edwards, Bernard Davis, John Meek – viola
* Francisco Gabarro, Dennis Vigay, Alan Delziel, Alex Nifosi – cello
* Cyril Mac Arther, Gordon Pearce – double bass
* John Marson – [[harp]]
* Roger Lord – oboe
* Basil Tschaikov, [[Jack Brymer]] – clarinet
* N. Fawcett, Alfred Waters – bassoon
* Clifford Seville, David Sandeman – flute
* [[Alan Civil]], Neil Sanders – French horn
* [[David Mason (trumpeter)|David Mason]], Monty Montgomery, Harold Jackson – trumpet
* Raymond Brown, [[Raymond Premru]], T. Moore – trombone
* Michael Barnes – tuba
* [[Tristan Fry]] – timpani<ref name="Musicians">{{cite web|url=http://www.applecorp.com/aditl/musicians.htm |title=A Day in the Life – An Indepth Analysis – The Musicians |access-date=18 September 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080616200942/http://www.applecorp.com/aditl/musicians.htm |archive-date = 16 June 2008}}</ref>
* [[The Fool (design collective)|Marijke Koger]] – tambourine{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=96}}
|}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=nb}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book|last=The Beatles|title=The Beatles Anthology|publisher=Chronicle Books|location=San Francisco, California|year=2000|isbn=0-8118-2684-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/beatlesanthology0000unse}}
* {{cite book|last=Doggett|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Doggett|year=2015|title=Electric Shock: From the Gramophone to the iPhone – 125 Years of Pop Music|publisher=The Bodley Head|location=London|isbn=978-1-84792-218-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Everett|first=Walter|year=1999|title=The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-512941-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eTkHAldi4bEC&q=editions:O37AzrsjAcwC|access-date=18 October 2020|archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204155619/https://books.google.com/books?id=eTkHAldi4bEC|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book|last=Gould|first=Jonathan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1BMCBQAAQBAJ|title=Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain and America|publisher=Piatkus|location=London|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7499-2988-6|access-date=13 September 2020|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020134246/https://books.google.com/books?id=1BMCBQAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}
* {{cite magazine|last=Harris|first=John |date=March 2007|title=The Day the World Turned Day-glo! |magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]] |pages=72–89}}
* {{cite book|last=Hertsgaard|first=Mark|title=A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles|publisher= Pan Books|location=London|year=1996|isbn=0-330-33891-9}}
* {{cite AV media notes|title=Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Super Deluxe Edition |title-link=Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band|last=Howlett|first=Kevin|year=2017|others=[[The Beatles]]|type=CD booklet|publisher=[[Apple Records]]}}
* {{cite book|last=Lavezzoli|first=Peter|title=The Dawn of Indian Music in the West|publisher=Continuum|location=New York|year=2006|isbn=0-8264-2819-3}}
* {{cite book|first=Mark|last=Lewisohn|title=The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962–1970|publisher=Bounty Books|location=London|year=2005|orig-year=1988|isbn=978-0-7537-2545-0}}
* {{Cite book|last=MacDonald|first=Ian|year=2005|author-link=Ian MacDonald|title=Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties|edition=3rd|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=978-1-55652-733-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YJUWJhIbkccC|access-date=18 June 2015|archive-date=22 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222015751/https://books.google.com/books?id=YJUWJhIbkccC|url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Miles |first=Barry |author-link=Barry Miles |title=Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now |year=1997 |publisher=Henry Holt & Company |location=New York|isbn=0-8050-5249-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/paulmccartneyman00mile }}
* {{cite book|last=Miles|first=Barry|author-link=Barry Miles|title=The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years|year=2001|publisher=Omnibus Press|location=London|isbn=0-7119-8308-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Norman|first=Philip|title=Paul McCartney: The Biography|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|location=New York|year=2016|isbn=978-0-316-32796-1}}
*{{cite book|first=Tim|last=Riley|year=2011|title=Lennon: The Man, the Myth, the Music – The Definitive Life|publisher=Random House|location=London|isbn=978-0-7535-4020-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Schaffner|first=Nicholas|title=The Beatles Forever|publisher=McGraw-Hill|location=New York|year=1978|isbn=0-07-055087-5|url=https://archive.org/details/beatlesforever00scha}}
* {{cite book|last=Sounes|first=Howard|title=Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney|publisher=HarperCollins|location=London|year=2010|isbn=978-0-00-723705-0}}
* {{cite book| last=Winn| first=John C.| year=2009| title=That Magic Feeling: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume Two, 1966–1970| publisher=Three Rivers Press|location=New York| isbn=978-0-307-45239-9}}
* {{cite book|last= Womack |first= Kenneth|author-link=Kenneth Womack|year= 2014 |title=The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, California|isbn= 978-0-313-39171-2 }}
* {{cite book|last1= Rombeck |first1= Hans|last2= Neumann |first2= Wolfgang|year= 1977|title=Die Beatles: Ihre Karriere, ihre Musik, ihre Erfolge |language=de | publisher=Bastei-Lübbe |isbn= 978-3-404-00588-8}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last= Womack |first= Kenneth|author-link=Kenneth Womack|year= 2007 | title = Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of the Beatles|publisher= Continuum |isbn= 978-0-8264-1746-6|ref=none}}

== External links ==
* {{Notes on|http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/aditl.shtml#q2}}

{{The Beatles singles}}
{{Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Day In The Life, A}}
[[Category:1967 songs]]
[[Category:The Beatles songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Lennon–McCartney]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by George Martin]]
[[Category:Songs published by Northern Songs]]
[[Category:Songs banned by the BBC]]
[[Category:Songs inspired by deaths]]
[[Category:Songs about cannabis]]
[[Category:British psychedelic rock songs]]
[[Category:Art rock songs]]
[[Category:Orchestral pop songs]]
[[Category:1978 singles]]
[[Category:Barry Gibb songs]]
[[Category:RSO Records singles]]
[[Category:Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance]]
[[Category:Songs based on actual events]]