Beatles - Yesterday - Lyrics Meaning

`Most covered song of all time', `Most played song of all time' these are accolades you might attribute with hard work and years or tweaking but apparently not according to Paul McCartney. Of course we are talking about `Yesterday'.

McCartney got out of bed in May 1965 and played the song to Bruce Welch claiming it came to him a few days ago. It was also the first of the Beatles songs to be composed and written by solely one member, marking the beginnings of tensions within the group.

The song touches on familiar themes of depression and a longing for better times. This is evidenced in the opening verse, `Yesterday, All my troubles seemed so far away, `.

As the song unfolds over a melancholy melody the lyrics expand on the multiple causes for this depression. When Paul's mother died he said `Whose going to make the money now?' because his dad was unemployed and deeply regrets this by his own admission.

`I said, Something wrong, now I long for yesterday. ` Refers directly to this event and the song later moves on to the loss of his lover.

All of these musings converge into one of the most accessible and simple songs ever written.