A Day in the Life

Lennon wrote the opening and closing sections and McCartney the middle. Lennon described it as a crash and its victim, and said he had been reading the paper one day and noticed two stories. Among them was the death of Tara Browne. It was recorded between 19 January and 22 February 1967 at EMI, with Martin arranging the orchestra. The whole job took 34 hours, against 15 hours 45 minutes for the entire Please Please Me.

Lennon sang, played acoustic guitar and piano, and McCartney sang the middle section and played bass. Harrison played maracas, Starr drums and congas, and Mal Evans supplied the alarm clock and the counting. The final chord was played by Lennon, Starr, McCartney and Evans on three pianos plus a harmonium, with the level raised as it faded. The orchestra cost 367 pounds.

Afterlife

The BBC banned it over the line about turning you on, and lifted the ban on 13 March 1972. Lennon's handwritten lyrics sold for 1.2 million dollars in 2010. Mojo placed it first in its 101 Greatest Beatles Songs, and Rolling Stone ranked it 28th in 2004 and 24th in 2021. McCartney has played it live since 2008 in a medley with "Give Peace a Chance".