McCartney Times

The well from which The Beatles drew their inspiration had constantly fluctuating levels and different mineral content at almost every single draw. The band, and their principal songwriters, the skilled and talented John Lennon and Paul McCartney, made their names by turning pop music into something self-reflective, personal and vulnerable—it was a very modern way of working.

However, that didn’t stop the band from being inspired by the past. While nicking Chuck Berry riffs was somewhat commonplace, one song from the band’s album Abbey Road was inspired by something a little grander, like the greatest composer of all time, the inimitable Ludwig Van Beethoven.

“I’ve just written a song called ‘Because.’ Yoko was playing some classical bit, and I said ‘Play that backwards,’ and we had a tune. We’ll probably write a lot more in the future,” retold John Lennon in 1969 as he looked ahead to the release of his new song.

Beethoven inspired Lennon after listening to him with his wife Yoko Ono as she played Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’, and the Beatle became overawed by the sound. It was enough to send him on his way writing the Abbey Road song, ‘Because’. The track remains a vital part of their catalogue to this day.

The track was the final song recorded for The Beatles 1969 album, one of the final recording moments, and sees Lennon not only take inspiration from the past in the form of legendary composer Beethoven but also this little known band called The Beatles, as the singer suggested a three-part harmony, a la Beatles of old, may be the most fitting way to accent the track. But, let’s get back to the inspiration.

As well as being an avant-garde artistic agitator, the kind only a few rockers can match, Yoko Ono was also a classically trained pianist. As Lennon lay back in their home, drifting between thoughts, Ono sat down at the piano and played Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 – the Moonlight Sonata. It sparked something in Lennon.

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Source: Lennon inspired by Beethoven to write this Beatles song