The Beatles left their mark in music and in culture imprinted forever. Even towards the band’s final days, The Beatles created some hits that endured through generations to come. “Let It Be” is a song that fits the profile from 1970, and is still a fan-favorite today.
Written by Lennon-McCartney (John Lennon & Paul McCartney infusion), “Let It Be” was released as a single off of The Beatle’s twelfth and final studio album of the same name. The song was released on March 6, 1970. It was the band’s final single together before Paul McCartney announced his departure from the band.
“Let It Be” debuted at #6 on Billboard Hot 100, the highest debut for a song at the time. However, the song did reach #1 eventually. The song also reached #1 in several countries such as New Zealand, Canada, and Australia. In the home country, the song peaked at #2 on the UK Singles Chart. “Let It Be” was also a major commercial success, selling over 2 million units in the US and over 500,000 copies in the UK.
The Rolling Stone magazine ranked “Let It Be” at #20 on their ‘The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time‘ list, an honor received by The Beatles for almost two dozen of their songs.
In an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, Paul McCartney explained that the idea for “Let it be” came from a dream of his late mother;
I think I was getting, like, a little bit over the top with [the party fashion] – getting pretty tired and pretty wasted. And I went to bed one night and had a kind of restless night. But I had a dream where my mother, who had been dead at that point for about 10 years, came to me in the dream and it was as if she could see that I was troubled. And she sort of said to me, she said, ‘Let it be.’ And I remember quite clearly her saying, ‘Let it be,’ and ‘It’s going to be OK. Don’t worry.’ You know, ‘Let it be.’ I woke up and I remembered the dream, and I thought, ‘Well, that’s a great idea.’ And I then sat down and wrote the song using the feeling from that dream and of my mum coming to me in the dream.
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“Let It Be” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
Verse 1
the infamous lyrics come to life with the famous voice of Paul McCartney;
When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, “Let it be”
Paul McCartney knew the implications of capitalizing the first letter of the word ‘Mother’ when he wrote about the dream that inspired this song. Paul McCartney was singing about his own mother, Mary Patricia McCartney, who passed away from cancer in 1956 when Paul was fourteen years old. However, ‘Mother Mary’ is most commonly known to be the mother of Jesus Christ.
Paul McCartney has also spoken about people interpreting the song on a religious note; “Mother Mary makes it a quasi-religious thing, so you can take it that way. I don’t mind. I’m quite happy if people want to use it to shore up their faith. I have no problem with that. I think it’s a great thing to have faith of any sort, particularly in the world we live in.”
With this line, almost immediately, Paul McCartney unites two worlds–people of religious faith and others. This helps the song, too, which carries the sentiment that everything will be okay with time. Just let the waves carry you through.
The Beatles sing that in its hour of darkness, ‘she’ seems to appear in front of them and speak words of wisdom and make them feel okay.
Chorus
The chorus of the song is a soothing lullabye of the song title mixed with some whispers of assurances.
The lyric “let it be” carries a lot of weight and could be interpreted in many ways in many different circumstances. The gist of the phrase is that everything will be okay in the end.
You don’t have to find all the answers right now. You don’t have to fight the current. Sometimes, you cannot control everything around you. So, let the flow take you wherever. It will heal you, and make you a stronger person tomorrow.
Verse 2
In the second verse of the song, The Beatles talk directly to all the brokenhearted people in the world. A heart can break for many reasons. Could you have avoided the heartbreak? Take note of it for the future. Could you not have avoided it? Then you don’t really need to worry about it.
For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see
These lyrics specifically address people who are heartbroken over their departed loved ones. We already know that Paul McCartney can directly relate to this. He sings that there is still a chance that you get to see your departed ones even in a dream. As long as they live in your memory, you are never departed from them. Let this love be your guiding light through dark times.
The song was also written in a time when the Vietnam-American war was going on, and the song surely would have helped a lot of people to cope with the deaths of their loved ones.
You will find an answer to your questions eventually. Just let life flow until that day.
Instrumental bridge
In iconic The Beatles fashion, “Let It Be” is infused with an intrumental bridge.
Paul McCartney plays the piano, maracas, electric piano, and bass guitar, while George Harrison contributes with lead guitar, and Ringo Starr with drums.
“Let It Be” is one of the most famous Piano songs out there. Now you, too, can learn to play the song using this sheet music from Noviscore. They also offer guidance on classic compositions from the likes of Ludwig van Beethoven: click here for Moonlight Sonata (Adagio).
Verse 3
In the third verse of the song, Paul McCartney sings how even he has days of darkness and clouds. Things happen in life that can get anyone down–even people as big as The Beatles. It is the nature of life. There is no way to avoid these dark and cloudy times. But what we can do is hang on to that one thing that helps us see the light.
For Paul McCartney, his shining light was the dream of his mother telling him along the lines of ‘let it be.’ So, even if it is dark tonight, hold on until the morning. Sun will shine!
Conclusion
“Let It Be” by The Beatles is definitely one of those songs that can ease your troubled soul. The song is full of hope and love. The song has done this for decades and will do so for decades to come.
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics on Genius.