Text · Motif

Sunshine

Sun, warmth, or bright daylight as central imagery.

songs

It turns up in 30 of their lyrics, from 1963 to 1970, almost the whole of the writing. 'Till There Was You' opens the run and 'Two of Us' closes it. More of them come from 1967 on than from the first four years, nineteen against eight. John sings lead on eleven of them, Paul on ten, Ringo on three and George on two. It sits on much the same share of each man's songs, 14% of McCartney's and 14% of Lennon's. On 'Mr. Moonlight': celestial-light motif (moon counterpart). On 'I'll Follow the Sun': sun as destination/freedom. Among them, 'And I Love Her' carries claves as well, which only four of their recordings do.

#	Title	Year	Album	Lead Vocal(s)	Notes
1	And I Love Her	1964	A Hard Day's Night	Paul	Bright
2	Any Time at All	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	Sun
3	I'll Follow the Sun	1964	Beatles For Sale	Paul	Sun as destination/freedom
4	Tell Me What You See	1965	Help!	John, Paul	Bright
5	It's Only Love	1965	Help!	John	Bright
6	The Word	1965	Rubber Soul	John, Paul	'It's so fine, it's sunshine'
7	Rain	1966	Past Masters	John	-

8	Yellow Submarine	1966	Revolver	Ringo	Sun
9	Good Day Sunshine	1966	Revolver	Paul	'Good day sunshine'
10	Penny Lane	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	Paul	'Blue suburban skies'
11	Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	John	Sun
12	I Am the Walrus	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	John	Sun
13	The Fool on the Hill	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	Paul	Sun
14	Good Night	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Ringo	Sun
15	Mother Nature's Son	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	'Beneath the sun'
16	Julia	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	Sun
17	Back in the U.S.S.R.	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	Warm
18	Sexy Sadie	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	Sunny
19	Dear Prudence	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	'The sun is up'
20	Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	Golden
21	Happiness Is a Warm Gun	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	Warm
22	It's All Too Much	1969	Yellow Submarine	George	Sun
23	Golden Slumbers	1969	Abbey Road	Paul	Golden
24	Octopus's Garden	1969	Abbey Road	Ringo	Warm
25	Sun King	1969	Abbey Road	John	The 'sun king' arrives
26	Here Comes the Sun	1969	Abbey Road	George	'Here comes the sun'
27	I've Got a Feeling	1970	Let It Be	Paul, John	-
28	Two of Us	1970	Let It Be	Paul, John	Sun

Sunshine

Analysis

By Year

By Songwriter

By Era

By Album

You might also like

Songs(28 of 30)

And I Love Her

Any Time at All

I'll Follow the Sun

Tell Me What You See

It's Only Love

The Word

Rain

Yellow Submarine

Good Day Sunshine

Penny Lane

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

I Am the Walrus

The Fool on the Hill

Good Night

Mother Nature's Son

Julia

Back in the U.S.S.R.

Sexy Sadie

Dear Prudence

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

Happiness Is a Warm Gun

It's All Too Much

Golden Slumbers

Octopus's Garden

Sun King

Here Comes the Sun

I've Got a Feeling

Two of Us