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About This Quiz
Can you sing every Beatles song in your head, as accurately as if you wrote them? See if you can ace this quiz.
John, Paul, George and Ringo, otherwise known as The Beatles, rank as one of the most popular and influential music groups of all time. The group was formed in Liverpool, England, in 1960, and made it to this side of the pond in February 1964, via an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Few events have rocked the U.S. music scene quite as hard before or since.
Beatlemania and the British Invasion were huge in the U.S. and around the globe. The Beatles produced music that has remained popular for more than a half century. Most experts agree that the core catalog of Beatles tunes includes more than 200 songs, written mostly by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. However, if one includes the discography of each Beatle's individual recordings, the list would be much longer. The Fab Four's album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" even inspired the 1978 movie of the same name, which starred the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, Aerosmith and Alice Cooper doing covers of the original Beatles tunes.
Are you ready to see how you score on this quiz? Let's get started.
"When I find myself in times of trouble, ______________ comes to me, speaking words of wisdom: Let it be."
"Brother Ringo."
"Sister Sarah."
"Mother Mary."
"Let It Be" was released May 8, 1970, one month after the group broke up. It was recorded before Abbey Road as a return to the more simple music of the group’s earlier years.
"Father John."
"Hey, Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it ______________."
"Happier."
"Sadder."
"Better."
"Hey, Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better. Remember to let her into your heart; then you can start to make it better."
"Longer."
"Oh please, say to me you'll let me be your man. And please say to me ______________."
"You like to draw with a crayon."
"You'd like to be in my band."
"That you will understand."
"You'll let me hold your hand."
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" peaked at #1 on Billboard charts February 1, 1964. It remained on the charts for 15 weeks, a feat only topped by "Hey, Jude" and tied with "She Loves You."
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"Why she had to go, I don't know. She wouldn't say. I said something wrong. Now, I long for ________________."
"Tomorrow."
"Yesterday."
Paul McCartney began humming the tune for "Yesterday" when he woke up one morning. To remember the tune, he initially sang, "Scrambled eggs… Baby, I love scrambled eggs," until he could create more appropriate lyrics.
"Penny bay."
"You to say..."
"She says she loves you, and you know that can't be bad. Yes, she loves you, ______________."
"So why are you still mad?"
"And you know you should be glad."
"She says she loves you, and you know that can't be bad. Yes, she loves you, and you know you should be glad."
"You better go ask her dad."
"It's not some passing fad."
"He got monkey finger; he shoot _____________."
"Coca-Cola."
"He wear no shoeshine; he's got toe-jam football. He got monkey finger; he shoot Coca-Cola."
"Co-co-caine."
"Her-o-in."
"Bas-ket-ba-all."
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"Little darling, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter. Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here. ____________________."
"Little darling, let's send our story to the printer."
"Here comes the sun."
"Little darling, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter. Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here. Here comes the sun. Here comes the sun. And I say it's all right."
"Little darling, Do you know I love you, dear?"
"Light the fire, and come sit by me."
"__________________, I find the things that you do will make me feel alright."
"When you're in my arms."
"It's like a dream."
"But when I get home to you,"
An argument on Wikipedia over whether it should be "The Beatles" or "the Beatles" caused some editors to be banned from the website. The Beatles' records released before their breakup have used both, sometimes just using "Beatles" and dropping "The," but most often using all capitals: THE BEATLES.
"I don't feel too good now, but…"
"Life is very short, and there's no time ____________________."
"For optimism."
"For fussing and fighting, my friend."
"Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting, my friend. I have always thought that it's a crime. So I will ask you once again. Try to see it my way."
"For getting high."
"For speaking your mind."
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"Say you don't need no diamond ring, and I'll be satisfied. Tell me that you want the kind of thing that money just can't buy. I don't care too much for money. Money can't ______________."
"Give you talent."
"Hide the truth."
"Make world peace."
"Buy me love."
"Can't Buy Me Love" was one of the Beatles' top-selling singles in the United States. It has sold 7 million copies since its release in 1964.
"I say, 'High.' You say, 'Low.' You say, 'Why?' And I say, '________________.'"
"'I don't know."
"I say, 'High.' You say, 'Low.' You say, 'Why?' And I say, 'I don't know.'"
"Because I love you so."
"I wish you would go."
"It looks like snow."
"Well, work it on out, honey (work it on out). You know you ____________________."
"Want my money now, (want my cash)."
"Look so good (look so good)."
"Well, work it on out, honey (work it on out). You know you look so good (look so good). You know you got me goin', now (got me goin'). Just like I knew you would (like I knew you would)."
"Got bad gout (got bad gout)."
"Want to go out (want to go out)."
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"And now, my life has changed in, oh, so many ways. ________________ seems to vanish in the haze."
"Your beautiful face…"
"That special memory…
"My independence…
"Help!" shared its title with the second Beatles' movie. In the movie, cult members and evil scientists want a ring worn by Ringo.
"The will to fight…"
"All you need is ______________ is all you need."
"Girls, girls. Girls."
"A friend, friend. A friend."
"Love, love. Love."
"All you need is love, love. Love is all you need."
"Gold, gold. Gold."
"Let me take you down 'cause I'm going to _________________."
"Funky town."
"Camden Town."
"Brooklyn."
"Strawberry Fields."
John Lennon's Aunt Mimi and Uncle George raised him near Woolton, England. Strawberry Fields was a Salvation Army orphanage and its grounds, which John liked to explore as a child.
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"Someone to love, somebody new, someone to love, someone like you—_______________."
"Love, love me do."
"Someone to love, somebody new, someone to love, someone like you—Love, love me do."
"Eleanor Rigby."
"Don't let me down."
"In my life."
"She's telling all the world that her baby buys her things, you know. He buys her _______________, you know."
"Needful things."
"Diamond rings."
"I'm so glad that she's my little girl. She's so glad, she's telling all the world that her baby buys her things, you know. He buys her diamond rings, you know. She said so. She's in love with me, and I feel fine."
"Lots of bling."
"One last fling."
"I don't know why she's _____________. She ought to think twice. She ought to do right by me."
"Over there."
"A Russian scientist."
"Ridin' so high.
Ringo Starr's (born July 7, 1940) real name is Richard Starkey. He doesn't like shaking hands, so he bumps elbows instead.
"Got long hair."
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"So we sailed up to the sun till we found the sea of green. And we lived beneath the waves in our ____________."
"Purple spaceship."
"Yellow submarine."
"So we sailed up to the sun till we found the sea of green. And we lived beneath the waves in our yellow submarine."
"Tangerine submarine."
"Coral seashell."
"But if you go carrying pictures of __________________, you ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow."
"A prostitute."
"Trees."
"Chairman Mao."
Although Mao Zedong (Chairman Mao) is credited with uniting China and ending years of Civil War, millions of people died under his policies. Major debates exist about the exact number of deaths caused by his revolution and his policies, as well as how aware he was that his mandates were killing people.
"JFK."
"Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona for ________________."
"Some California grass."
"Jojo was a man who thought he was a loner, but he knew it wouldn't last. Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona for some California grass."
"A pretty little lass."
"Some deep sea fishing bass."
"Father Pedro's mass."
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"I don't want to sound complaining, but you know there's always __________. I do all the pleasing with you. It's so hard to reason with you."
"Ice in your eyes (in your eyes)."
"Rain in my heart (in my heart)."
"Please, Please Me" was the first album released by the Beatles, March 22, 1963. It was rushed out after the singles "Love Me Do" and "Please, Please Me" did well on the charts. The album went platinum in the United States, and gold in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.
"Wind in your kiss (in your kiss)."
"Indigestion when you’re cooking (when you’re cooking)."
"Hold me; love me; I ain't got nothing but love, babe, ___________ a week."
"Eight days."
"Hold me; love me; I ain't got nothing but love, babe, eight days a week."
"Seven days."
"Six days."
"Three days."
"Sitting on _____________ waiting for the van to come."
"The curb."
"A tack."
"The pull."
"A cornflake."
"I Am the Walrus" was banned by the BBC for its lyrics, "let your knickers down" and "pornographic priestesses." George Harrison was upset and commented to later interviewers that he believed sex eventually would become part of song lyrics, and it would be acceptable.
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"What would you think ______________?"
"I would do at this moment."
"If I danced in the rain."
"If I sang out of tune."
"What would you think if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me? Lend me your ears, and I'll sing you a song. And I'll try not to sing out of key."
"If I said that I loved you."
"Desmond takes the trolley to the jeweler's store; buys a twenty carat golden ring; takes it back to Molly waiting at the door, and as he gives it to her she begins to sing, _______________________."
"Ob-la-di-ob-la-da, life goes on, whoa, la-la how their life goes on."
"Desmond takes the trolley to the jeweler's store; buys a twenty-karat golden ring; takes it back to Molly waiting at the door, and as he gives it to her she begins to sing, 'ob-la-di-ob-la-da, life goes on, whoa, la-la how their life goes on.'"
"Once upon a time I lived a fairy tale."
"Sha-na-na-na-na Boom-sha-boom."
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star."
"The news people said, 'Say what you doing in bed?' I said, '______________________.'"
"I get down, sometimes, and need a soft place to crawl."
"The bed never asks stupid questions."
"'We're only trying to get us some peace."
John Lennon and Yoko Ono were married at the British Consulate in Gibraltar. They embarked on a series of "bed-ins," one in Amsterdam, one less publicized in the Bahamas, and one in Montreal, where "Give Peace a Chance" was first recorded.
"I don't feel like doing anything."
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"They say it's your birthday. It's _______________, yeah."
"The best day of the year."
"My birthday, too."
"They say it's your birthday. It's my birthday, too, yeah."
"Too bad the world is so wrong."
"Time to party like it's 1999."
"Picture yourself in a boat on a river ________________________."
"Floating gently toward the sea."
"With daisies in your hair."
"Drinkin' like a fish 'though its bad for your liver."
"With tangerine trees and marmalade skies."
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is noted by critics to have the letters "L" "S" "D" in its title. Although the Beatles did not hide their drug use, Lennon said the song came from his son, who drew a picture of a friend named Lucy Vodden when he was four and showed it to his dad.
"____________ picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been."
"Bungalow Bill."
"Eleanor Rigby."
"Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been, lives in a dream, waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door, Who is it for?"
"Lady Madonna."
"My monkey."
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"Somewhere in her smile she knows that I don't need ______________."
"No other lover."
The first drummer for the Beatles was Peter Best, but Epstein sacked him while they were recording their first record. No one has definitively explained why he was let go, but theories include that the others were jealous of his good looks and that he didn't do Preludin like the others and was, therefore, too tired on tour. He can be heard playing on some of the Anthology I songs.
"No more money."
"No toss in the hay."
"No home-cooked meal."
"P. C. Thirty-one said, 'We caught a dirty one.' ______________ stands alone, painting testimonial pictures."
"Mr. Kite."
"Jude."
"Eleanor Rigby."
"Maxwell."
All the Beatles, except for writer, Paul, hated "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" mainly because it was recorded at a time when internal conflicts were already tearing the group apart, and it took three days (and 21 takes) to record. Paul said "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" was an analogy for that thing that ruins times in life that are going well.
"I've known the secret for a week or two. Nobody knows—____________."
"Why I'm so blue."
"Just we two."
John Lennon married Cynthia Powell August 23, 1962, but they were instructed to keep their marriage secret by manager Brian Epstein. "Do You Want to Know a Secret" was based partially on Epstein's secret tryst apartment that he loaned them to live in and partially on "Wishing Well" (Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs").
"They haven't a clue."
"I bought new shoes."
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"And Moscow girls make me sing and shout that _________________."
"There's a revolution coming."
"I want to hold their hands."
"I'm a fool for them."
"Georgia's always on my mind."
"Back in the U. S. S. R." was conceived as how a spy would feel upon returning to the U. S. S. R. after being away a while. It was supposed to be a twist on Chuck Berry's "Back in the U. S. A."
"Got a good reason for taking the easy way out now. She was a ___________. Yeah, it took me so long to find out."
"Walrus on the beach of life."
"Long way from home."
"Day tripper—one-way ticket."
"Got a good reason for taking the easy way out now. She was a day tripper—one-way ticket. Yeah, it took me so long to find out."
"Wild honey pie, I hunted like a bee."
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