In My Life

(I hope you will turn up your sound and enjoy the melody.)

"In My Life" is one of my favorite Beatles songs, and not just because my nephew sang it at my son's wedding. The lyrics were written by John Lennon, inspired by Kenneth Allsop's remark that Lennon should inject more of his own life into the music he wrote. Apparently, the journalist had learned more about John from reading "In His Own Write" than from any of his lyrics.

With that in mind, "In My Life" began as a self-described rambling poem where the composer sort of took a bus ride through his childhood haunts, including Penny Lane and Strawberry Field. Lennon was not happy with the result, calling it "the most boring sort of 'What I Did on my Holidays Bus Trip' song." He reworked the lyrics into a much more generalized reflection on his past, and very few of the original lines remain.

While the lyric was written entirely by Lennon, the music was a collaboration with McCartney, and George Martin wrote the bridge. Released on the Rubber Soul album in 1965, In My Life is ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, as well as fifth on their list of The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs. It also placed second on CBC's 50 Tracks, and Mojo magazine named it the best song of all time in 2000.

As for me, I will never forget the sound of my nephew accompanying himself on the piano as he sang this beautiful song to my son and daughter-in-law at their wedding dinner in 1999. (And they have been making beautiful music together ever since!)

There are places I’ll remember

All my life, though some have changed.

Some forever, not for better;

Some have gone and some remain.

All these places have their moments

With lovers and friends I still can recall.

Some are dead, and some are living.

In my life, I’ve loved them all.

But of all these friends and lovers,

There is no one compares with you.

And these memories lose their meaning,

When I think of love as something new.

Though I know I’ll never lose affection

For people and things that went before;

I know I’ll often stop and think about them.

In my life, I love you more.

Though I know I’ll never lose affection

For people and things that went before;

I know I’ll often stop and think about them.

In my life, I love you more.

-John Lennon

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