Author
Howard Gensler is a veteran journalist who’s worked at the Philadelphia Daily News, TV Guide and the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a founding editor of bettorsinsider.com.
What Are Pennsylvanians’ Favorite Songs by The Beatles?
Global Beatles Day is June 25, so PennStakes.com decided to take a break from monitoring PA online casinos and look at Pennsylvania’s favorite songs from the Fab Four.
What’s amazing is that all these songs are more than 50 years old and still resonate with audiences of all ages. It would be like asking people during the heart of 1960s Beatlemania what their favorite Van & Schenk songs were from the 1910s. Who were Van & Schenk? Exactly.
But everybody still knows the Beatles.
To rank Beatles songs, we utilized Google Trends to determine the most searched song by the Beatles in each state of the United States. After completing the trends over the past 12 months (from June 15th, 2022, to June 15th, 2023), we were able to find results to get the top Beatles songs for the state of Pennsylvania.
Bonus Bets Expire in 7 Days. One New Customer Offer Only. Must be 21+ to participate & present in PA. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms & Conditions. US promotional offers not available in NY, NV, or Puerto Rico.
Favorite Beatles Songs in PA
Pennsylvanians ‘Let It Be’
And the most popular Beatles song in the Keystone State is 1970’s “Let It Be,” off the album of the same name. It’s especially memorable to multiple generations because Paul McCartney has been performing it live in concert for more than five decades. The original single version of the song, produced by George Martin, is a little more low-key than the album version produced by Phil Spector. The lyric “Mother Mary” refers to McCartney’s own mother, Mary Patricia McCartney, although many analyses of the song give it more religious significance. The song also features the only appearance on a Beatles record by Paul’s wife, Linda, who sang backing vocals. “Let It Be” reached No. 1 on the U.S. charts but peaked at No. 2 in the UK. The single was released shortly before McCartney announced he was leaving the band and was the group’s second-to-last single – the last one being “The Long and Winding Road.”
Coming in at No. 2 is 1969’s “Something,” composed by George Harrison for the “Abbey Road” album. Even though he had been writing Beatles songs for a few years, “Something” was Harrison’ first composition released as an A-side single. It was paired with “Come Together,” which was also a hit. Along with McCartney’s “Yesterday,” released a few years earlier, “Something” is the band’s greatest ballad, and has been recorded by hundreds of artists, including Shirley Bassey and Frank Sinatra. The song is alleged to have been written for Harrison’s first wife, Pattie, who nearly a decade later would leave him for Eric Clapton.
In third place is the trippy “Strawberry Fields Forever,” from 1967, written by John Lennon, and sharing a single with McCartney’s “Penny Lane.” The song was released between the “Revolver” and “Sgt. Pepper” albums, and later included on the “Magical Mystery Tour” album. It offers the very Lennon-esque lyric, “Living is easy with eyes closed/
Misunderstanding all you see,” and Lennon said the song was influenced both by his childhood playing in Liverpool’s Strawberry Field, and by his adult life playing with LSD. After Lennon was murdered in New York City in 1980, a portion of Central Park near his apartment in the Dakota, was renamed Strawberry Fields.
Cited by leading media organizations, such as:
