The Beatles’ song “Yesterday” started out with the working title of “Scrambled Eggs.” Although credited to Lennon/McCartney, the song was written by Paul McCartney alone. Paul is also the only Beatle performing on the record. It’s the first official recording by The Beatles that only one member of the band appeared on. A string quartet accompanies McCartney’s acoustic guitar playing and vocals.
The melody of “Yesterday” came to McCartney before any words were written, so he used substitute working lyrics until he could come up with something more suitable. A few years ago Paul said, “For me, the thing was, it’s a magic song, because I woke up one morning and I dreamed it. Then over the next couple of months, I put proper words to it, because the original words were, ‘scrambled eggs, oh my baby, how I love your legs,’ which I thought, ‘maybe not.’”
McCartney composed the melody in a dream while living with then girlfriend Jane Asher and her family. When he woke up, he hurried to a piano and played the tune to help him remember it.
“Yesterday” was originally recorded for the Beatles’ 1965 album Help!
