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The Beatles Quotes

Browse 34 quotes about The Beatles.

The Beatles Quotes

“Relations had soured to the point that when the Beatles attempted Lennon’s song ‘Across the Universe’ Paul McCartney complained, ‘There’s an oriental influence that shouldn’t really be there’ and pretended that he was talking about music.”

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Book:You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup – The Untold Story of the Fab Four
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“In the wake of Cold Turkey’s, his debut song for Yoko’s Plastic Ono Band, dismal engagement with his listening public, Lennon prepared fresh edits of two songs he’d recorded earlier, What’s the New Mary Jane and You Know My Name, and announced that they would be rush-released as a Plastic Ono Band single. Just as quickly, the project was cancelled, with Apple explaining, ‘It was mutually decided by the Beatles that it sounded more like the Beatles themselves than the Plastic Ono Band’ – not least because both songs were indeed Beatles recordings. McCartney’s reaction to Lennon’s attempted theft can easily be imagined.”

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Book:You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup – The Untold Story of the Fab Four
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“I am always being asked: ‘What are the Beatles really like?’ I never know quite what to say because they are what they are and anyone who has ever seen or heard them either in person, or on radio or screen has, basically, as much chance as I have of knowing what they are like. I believe and I must say it, that they are quite magnificent human beings, utterly honest, often irritating but splendid citizens shining in a very ordinary, not very pleasing world.”

CharacterMusic1960sPersonalitiesThe BeatlesBrian Epstein
Book:A Cellarful of Noise: The Autobiography of the Man Who Made the Beatles With a New Companion Narrative
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“John… Paul… George. And Ringo. Collectively the four most famous names in the world. Extraordinary young men who have directly altered the lives of hundreds, even thousands of people. Who have affected the entire balance of the entertainment industry, who have kicked up so much dust that in all our lifetimes, it will not completely settle.”

Music1960sCulture QuotesThe BeatlesBrian Epstein
Book:A Cellarful of Noise: The Autobiography of the Man Who Made the Beatles With a New Companion Narrative
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“The Dead Rock Star's Bar by Stewart Stafford I went for a drink in The Dead Rock Star's Bar, Phil Lynott was drinking whiskey in the jar, Jimi Hendrix was rocking the place, Elvis Presley was stuffing his face, Sid Vicious was grumpy and gruff, Freddie Mercury strutted his stuff, Marvin Gaye had plenty of soul, Lennon and Cobain compared bullet holes, Jim Morrison declared he was The Lizard King Buddy Holly sported an aeroplane wing, Such an array of talent leaves one's mouth agape, But they're all still alive on CD and tape, Wherever you live, you don't have to travel far, To have a damn good time at The Dead Rock Star's Bar. © Stewart Stafford, 1996. All rights reserved.”

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Author:Stewart Stafford
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“The Roller Trip by Stewart Stafford A psychedelic Rolls-Royce ride, Lennons and pals giggle inside, Chauffeur whistles as secrets slip, Hourglass liquid lets sentience rip. Supplied narcotics set minds ablaze, Looping the loop in a magenta haze: "Ladies & Germs, to a scene obscene! Set sail to ecstasy we've never seen!" Wheels whirled wild in a swirling blur, Yokels mouth breathe where cows concur, Red light flare, fans storm captive glass, Mary Jane and Lucy on laughing gas. Below the speed limit, warp speed fast, Canary oil slides on a ghost ship's mast, Paisley spermatozoa in jigging fright, Tumbling back to earth as day flipped night. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”

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Author:Stewart Stafford
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“Aubergine, Auberga, Life Goes On by Stewart Stafford The Devil is in the oxtails, A foetus lacking the superb, Granny Smith or Granny Shit, Modulation without the reverb. A penguin picked up gingerly, Unaware what had hit his ice, A Matterhorn tuxedo Cha-Cha, Casinoed fits from tumbling dice. O, to have knees of broccoli! Each eye a glittering ruby grape, A peacenik parsley neck surrender, Florid garnish to an eggplant nape. Forgive me if I go daydreaming, Your déjà vu’s recurring nightmare, An offer of hunger strike insomnia, A gun-to-the-head vigil with flair. © 2026, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”

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Author:Stewart Stafford
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“And there was the time Paul McCartney serenaded my wife with “Michelle.” She laughed, a little embarrassed, as the rest of the audience applauded, and I wondered what Michelle’s parents would have said back in 1965, the year the song came out, if someone had knocked on the door of their South Side home and told them that someday the Beatle who wrote it would be singing it to their daughter from a White House stage.”

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Book:A Promised Land
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“Everybody of my generation has the same memory. We were twelve or thirteen or we were twenty-one, for that matter, and we were going to be veterinarians or we were, like Ringo, going to own a hairdresser’s parlor. We walked into the record store and saw the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. We thought together, 'Life can be other than it has been.”

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Book:Idea of Home
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“Some details in life may look insignificant but appear to be vital leitmotifs in a person's life. They may have the value of "Rosebuds" of Citizen Kane or "Madeleine cookies" of Marcel Proust or "Strawberry fields" of the Beatles. People regularly walk down the memory lane of their early youth. The paper boats of their childhood are recurrently floating on the waves of their mind and bring back the mood and the spirit of the early days. They enable us to retreat from the trivial, daily worries and can generate delightful bliss and true joy in a sometimes frantic and chaotic life. ("Paper boats forever" )”

LifeMindJoySpiritChildhoodFieldsYouthValueDetailsMoodBlissRetreatDelightfulFloatingInsignificantCookiesChaoticWavesFranticDailyWorriesThe BeatlesVitalRosebudsTrivialMarcel ProustCitizen KaneStrawberryMemory LaneMadeleinePaper BoatsWalk DownBring BackLeitmotif
Author:Erik Pevernagie
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“Wenner’s unabashed idol worship had so often embarrassed them—starfucker, they grumbled behind his back—but now here he was with an actual Beatle. And Yoko! Who could deny this? The hirsute supercouple were smaller than anybody imagined, but John Lennon still towered over Jann Wenner, who at five six so often found himself gazing up at his heroes like a boy vampire.”

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Book:Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine
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“The Beatles.” “What about The Beatles?” “They nailed it.” “Nailed what?” “Everything.” “What do you mean?” Dev takes his arm and puts it right against mine, skin to skin, sweat on sweat, touch on touch. Then he glides his hand into mine and intertwines our fingers. “This,” he says. “This is why The Beatles got it.” “I’m afraid I’m not following…” “Other bands, it’s about sex. Or pain. Or some fantasy. But The Beatles, they knew what they were doing.You know the reason The Beatles made it so big?” “What?” ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand.’ First single. Fucking brilliant. Perhaps the most fucking brilliant song ever written. Because they nailed it. That’s what everyone wants. Not 24-7 hot wet sex. Not a marriage that lasts a hundred years. Not a Porsche or a blow job or a million-dollar crib. No. They wanna hold your hand. They have such a feeling that they can’t hide. Every single successful love song of the past fifty years can be traced back to ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand.’ And every single successful love story has those unbearable and unbearably exciting moments of hand-holding.”

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Author:Rachen Cohn David Levithan
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