Yesterday (song)

"Yesterday" is a pop song originally recorded by The Beatles for their album Help! (1965). According to the Guinness Book of Records, "Yesterday" has the most cover versions of any song ever written (although there is strong evidence to suggest that Gershwin's aria "Summertime" is in fact that most widely covered song, with in excess of seven thousand recorded covers in existence). In defense of the "Yesterday" claim, however, BMI asserts that it was performed over seven million times in the 20th century alone, probably cementing the song as the most performed composition of all time. The song remains popular today with more than 3000 recorded cover versions, the first hitting the United Kingdom top 10 three months after the release of Help!.

"Yesterday" takes the form of an acoustic ballad about a lost loved one. It was the first official recording by The Beatles that relied upon a performance by a single member of the band: McCartney was accompanied solely by a string quartet. The final recording differed so greatly from other works by The Beatles that the other three members of the band vetoed the song's release as a single in the United Kingdom. Although credited to "Lennon/McCartney", as were all Beatles songs written by either member of the pair, the song was written solely by McCartney.