Self reflection

The songwriter reflects on their own identity, life, or creative process

songs

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The Self reflection motif is on 8 of the 35 songs the Beatles released in 1964, and 9 of 16 by 1966.

1964 1966

Analysis

By Year

Song count per year

By Songwriter

% of each member's catalogue with this tag (by writing credit)

By Era

Early14 · 19%

Mid-period34 · 47%

Late24 · 33%

By Album

Past Masters12

Rubber Soul10

The Beatles (The White Album)9

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band4

A Hard Day's Night3

Magical Mystery Tour3

Songs(74 of 76)

Year

Album

Writer

Lead vocal(s)

#	Title	Year	Album	Lead Vocal(s)	Notes
1	Ask Me Why	1963	Please Please Me	John	Understand, thinking
2	There's a Place	1963	Please Please Me	John, Paul	Mind as refuge from sadness
3	I'll Get You	1963	Past Masters	John, Paul	Think, mind
4	She Loves You	1963	Past Masters	Paul, John	Think, thinking, mind
5	Not a Second Time	1963	With The Beatles	John	Wondering, mind
6	I Want to Hold Your Hand	1963	Past Masters	John, Paul	Think, understand, inside
7	I Call Your Name	1964	Past Masters	John	'Was I to blame for being unfair?'
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8	You Can't Do That	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	Think, mind
9	I'm Happy Just to Dance with You	1964	A Hard Day's Night	George	Think, understand
10	I'll Cry Instead	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	Examines his own shyness and bitterness
11	I'm a Loser	1964	Beatles For Sale	John	Narrator examines own failure and facade
12	I Don't Want to Spoil the Party	1964	Beatles For Sale	John	Narrator examines his disappointment and resolves to leave
13	Eight Days a Week	1964	Beatles For Sale	John	Mind
14	What You're Doing	1964	Beatles For Sale	Paul	Wondering
15	Ticket to Ride	1965	Help!	John	Think
16	Help!	1965	Help!	John	Compares present insecurity to younger self-assurance
17	I Need You	1965	Help!	George	Realize
18	The Night Before	1965	Help!	Paul	Mind, think
19	You've Got to Hide Your Love Away	1965	Help!	John	Inward examination of humiliation
20	It's Only Love	1965	Help!	John	Questions his own shyness and feelings
21	You're Going to Lose That Girl	1965	Help!	John	Mind
22	What Goes On	1965	Rubber Soul	Ringo	Mind, think
23	The Word	1965	Rubber Soul	John, Paul	Narrator's conversion to the message
24	Girl	1965	Rubber Soul	John	Think, understand
25	Michelle	1965	Rubber Soul	Paul	Understand, think
26	Run for Your Life	1965	Rubber Soul	John	'I'm a wicked guy... born with a jealous mind'
27	I'm Looking Through You	1965	Rubber Soul	Paul	'What did I know?' – questions own judgment
28	In My Life	1965	Rubber Soul	John	Stocktake of the narrator's life
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29	We Can Work It Out	1965	Past Masters	Paul, John	Think, thought
30	Nowhere Man	1965	Rubber Soul	John	Lennon writing about himself
31	Think for Yourself	1965	Rubber Soul	George	Think, mind, thinking
32	You Won't See Me	1965	Rubber Soul	Paul	Mind
33	Rain	1966	Past Masters	John	Mind
34	And Your Bird Can Sing	1966	Revolver	John	Narrator positions himself as the truer voice
35	I'm Only Sleeping	1966	Revolver	John	Think
36	I Want to Tell You	1966	Revolver	George	Narrator examines his own mental block
37	She Said She Said	1966	Revolver	John	Understand
38	Got to Get You into My Life	1966	Revolver	Paul	Mind
39	For No One	1966	Revolver	Paul	Narrator forecasts protagonist's future grief
40	Tomorrow Never Knows	1966	Revolver	John	Mind, thoughts, within
41	Doctor Robert	1966	Revolver	John	Understand
42	Strawberry Fields Forever	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	John	Doubt about own perception
43	Fixing a Hole	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Paul	Mind wandering, where it will go
44	Getting Better	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Paul	Narrator reviews own past behavior
45	Within You Without You	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	George	Within, soul, mind
46	Good Morning Good Morning	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	John	Narrator drifts through empty day
47	Baby, You're a Rich Man	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	John	Inside
48	The Fool on the Hill	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	Paul	Implicit self-portrait of McCartney
49	Lady Madonna	1968	Past Masters	Paul	Wonder, think
50	The Inner Light	1968	Past Masters	George	Knowing without travelling
51	Glass Onion	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	Lennon teasing fans who over-interpret
52	I'm So Tired	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	Internal monologue of exhaustion
53	Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	Inside
54	Don't Pass Me By	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Ringo	Myself, wonder
55	Long, Long, Long	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	George	Narrator reckons with his searching and loss
56	Yer Blues	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	Narrator's inner anguish dominates
57	While My Guitar Gently Weeps	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	George	Narrator observes self and world
58	Mother Nature's Son	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	Narrator identifies as nature's son
59	Sexy Sadie	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	Think
60	Hey Bulldog	1969	Yellow Submarine	John	Think
61	Only a Northern Song	1969	Yellow Submarine	George	Narrator critiques his own song
62	It's All Too Much	1969	Yellow Submarine	George	'The more I learn, the less I know'
63	Get Back	1969	Let It Be	Paul	Thought
64	The Ballad of John and Yoko	1969	Past Masters	John	Soul, think
65	Old Brown Shoe	1969	Past Masters	George	'I may appear to be imperfect'
66	Something	1969	Abbey Road	George	Bridge questions whether love will grow
67	She Came in Through the Bathroom Window	1969	Abbey Road	Paul	Thought, myself
68	Across the Universe (Wildlife version)	1969	Past Masters	John	Inner mind imagery throughout
69	I Me Mine	1970	Let It Be	George	–
70	I've Got a Feeling	1970	Let It Be	Paul, John	John's year-in-review section
71	The Long and Winding Road	1970	Let It Be	Paul	Recounts past tries and tears
72	Across the Universe	1970	Let It Be	John	'My opened mind', 'opened ears'
73	Free as a Bird	1995	Reunion singles	John, Paul, George	Narrator examines lost touch
74	Real Love	1996	Reunion singles	John	Re-evaluating past plans and schemes