Ticket 72 Playlist: Embrace Your Mistakes

In order to better understand the influence of ideas on and by the Beatles songs are laid out in chronological order. Songs known to have an influence on the Beatles are in italics.

This page is a work in progress. Errors? Typos? Suggestions? Did I miss an example? Leave a comment below!

For more on this songwriting tip go here

1960 Mack the Knife (Ella In Berlin) - Ella Fitzgerald (1:55, 2:50, 3:44, 4:00) Ella forgets the lyrics and freestyles new verses, (3:16) Ella does an impression of Louis Armstrong.
1963 I Saw Her Standing There – The Beatles (0:00) Audible count-in.
1963 Twist And Shout – The Beatles (2:27) Cheer at the end.
1963 Louie Louie – The Kingsmen (0:53) Drummer swears. (1:56) Vocals enter early. Many later cover versions deliberately emulate this mistake.
1963 Fingertips - Part 2 - Stevie Wonder (2:22) bassist Joe Swift can be heard asking "What key?" (referenced in Shadows In The Rain – Sting (0:00)
1965 Bob Dylan's 115th Dream – Bob Dylan (0:00) False start grafted onto the beginning of the best take.
1965 My Generation – The Who (0:05, 0:16, 0:30, 0:36, 0:41, 0:45, 1:20, 1:25, 1:58, 2:04) Stuttering.
1966 Taxman – The Beatles(0:00) Two audible count-ins, coughing, tape noise.
1966 I Saw Her Again – The Mamas And The Papas (2:42) Vocals enter early.
1966 Here Today – The Beach Boys (1:51) Conversation audible under the solo.
1967 A Day In The Life - The Beatles (1:43/3:50) Mal’s 'bar count' still audible

1968 Helter Skelter - The Beatles (4:24) Ringo’s shout at the end
1968 Happiness Is A Warm Gun - The Beatles (0:57) John’s ‘down’ remains from an earlier take
1968 Revolution 1 – The Beatles (0:00) Conversation and audible count-in. (3:23) Extra beat caused by bad tape edit.
1968 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da – The Beatles (2:33) Paul gets the lyrics wrong.
1968 Hey Jude  – The Beatles (2:58) John swears.
1969 Her Majesty - The Beatles - entire song was cut from the album and ended up at the master tape by mistake
1970 The Beehive State - Harry Nilsson (0:54) Distorted sound from headphone bleed
1970 So Long Dad - Harry Nilsson (1:56) Instructions to engineer
1970 Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell (2:10) Joni laughs after switching from soprano to bass.
1971 Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin (1:32) Vocals come in four bars early on second verse.
1971 Andy Warhol – David Bowie (0:10) Bowie correcting engineer Ken Scott's pronunciation of title.
1972 C Moon - Wings (0:17) Vocals enter late "Is that the intro I should have been in"
1973 Let Me Roll It - Paul McCartney and Wings (4:22) Extra beat caused by bad tape edit.
1973 The Jean Genie - David Bowie (0:37) bass/guitar start chorus a bar early. Bowie says "get back on it" (?).
1978 Roxanne – The Police (0:03) Sting sits on piano in vocal booth and laughs.
1978 Have Thine Own Way Lord (Personal File version) – Johnny Cash (0:37) Restarts after playing in the wrong key.
1985 You're Only Human (Second Wind) - Billy Joel (3:19) Billy stutters and laughs.
1985 Paisley Park - Prince (2:44) singing start of the verse ‘who’ too early
1989 Flying In a Blue Dream – Joe Satriani (0:02) Recording picks up ghostly radio interference.
1991 Polly – Nirvana (1:55) Vocals enter early.
1994 The Man Who Sold The World (MTV Unplugged) - Nirvana (2:48) Lead guitar bum note.
1997 Little Wonder - David Bowie (0:39) Bowie says “I'm getting it”. (3:09, 3:22) Bass soundcheck used as samples for breakdown.
1997 Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) – Green Day (0:00) False start and swearing.
2001 I Do – Paul McCartney (0:46) caught his breath, fluffed vocal delivery
2002 Beautiful - Christina Aguilera (3:46) Deleted drum track audible through headphone bleed.
2005 Fine Line – Paul McCartney (0:00) warm up noises, count in (0:46) incorrect bass note.
2005 You're Beautiful - James Blunt (0:23) Vocals enter early.
2006 You're Pitiful - "Weird Al" Yankovic (0:12) Not a mistake but a spoof of the false start in James Blunt's song.
2011 Level With Yourself - David Bazan (0:53) David coughs and says “nope”.
2014 Air Conditioning – Sleaford Mods (1:00) Bass mistake.
2019 Deleted Scene (Attempted Bravery) – Matt Blick (0:08) Matt sings wrong lyrics, (0:35) Car horn outside studio.
2019 The River of Suffering – Matt Blick (3:09) Police siren outside studio.




Thanks to ‪Rob Stevens, Jonathan Nelson, ‪Andy Getch, ‪Martin Quibell, ‪Nancy Rost, ‪Rod Downburst Johnson for suggesting examples.

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70+ Songwriting Tips From The Beatles
The Be-Atletudes
About Beatles Songwriting Academy

Ticket 77 Playlist: Repeat The Final Line

In order to better understand the influence of ideas on and by the Beatles songs are laid out in chronological order.

This page is a work in progress. Errors? Typos? Suggestions? Did I miss an example? Leave a comment below!

For more on this songwriting tip go here

1962 P.S. I Love You - The Beatles (1:49)
1963 Please Please Me - The Beatles (1:39)
1963 Ask Me Why - The Beatles (2:10)
1963 I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles (2:30)
1963 She Loves You - The Beatles (1:47)
1963 All I've Got To Do - The Beatles (1:39)
1963 I Want To Hold Your Hand - The Beatles (2:08)
1964 When I Get Home - The Beatles (1:58)
1964 I'm Happy Just To Dance With You - The Beatles (1:37)
1964 What You're Doing - The Beatles (1:58)
1965 Yes It Is - The Beatles (2:26)
1965 It's Only Love - The Beatles (1:28)
1965 Nowhere Man - The Beatles (2:14)
1965 Think For Yourself - The Beatles (2:01)
1967 Your Mother Should Know - The Beatles (1:58)
1968 I Will - The Beatles (1:22)
1969 One After 909 - The Beatles (2:03)
1969 The Ballad of John and Yoko - The Beatles (2:31)
1969 Octopus's Garden - The Beatles (2:30)
1986 Earn Enough For Us – XTC (2:36)
1998 Acquiesce - Oasis (3:08)
2006 No Buses – Arctic Monkeys (2:57)

Thanks to Chris Henson, Jamie Osbourne and Tom Slatter for help with examples.

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70+ Songwriting Tips From The Beatles
The Be-Atletudes
About Beatles Songwriting Academy

Ticket 4 Playlist: Recycle Your Os

• In order to better understand the influence of ideas on and by the Beatles songs are laid out in chronological order.
• Songs written or performed by the Beatles are in bold.
• Songs covered by the Beatles, or to known to have had an influence on them, are in italics.

This page is continually being revised. Errors? Typos? Suggestions? Did I miss an example? Leave a comment below!

Read a detailed explanation of this ticket here - Plant A Chorus: Grow An Intro.

1962 P.S. I Love You - The Beatles - intro

1963 All My Loving – The Beatles - outro

1963 From Me To You - The Beatles - outro

1963 Please Please Me - The Beatles - intro
1963 She Loves You - The Beatles - intro/outro
1964 Help - The Beatles - intro
1964 Can’t Buy Me Love - The Beatles - intro/outro

1964 I'm A Loser - The Beatles - intro

1966 Dr Robert - The Beatles - outro

1968 Julia - The Beatles - intro
1968 Martha My Dear - The Beatles - solo
1968 Piggies - The Beatles - intro/outro/solo
1968 Blackbird – The Beatles - links
1969 The Long And Winding Road - The Beatles - outro
1969 Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles - outro

1977 The Modern World - The Jam - intro (0:00) from chorus (2:05)
1986 You Give Love A Bad Name - Bon Jovi - intro
1991 Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana - solo

2001 One Day - Nik Kershaw - bridge

2009 Secret Door - Arctic Monkeys - intro

2012 I Knew You Were Trouble - Taylor Swift - outro

2012 Let Her Go – Passenger - intro (0:00) from chorus
2013 Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? – Arctic Monkeys – outro (2:18) from chorus
2017 Jekyll - Plastic Inevitables - intro/outro

Thanks to Curtis Pea for examples

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

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Ticket 43 Playlist: Use The Fourths Luke!

• In order to better understand the influence of ideas on and by the Beatles songs are laid out in chronological order.
• Songs written or performed by the Beatles are in bold.
• Songs covered by the Beatles, or to known to have had an influence on them, are in italics.
• Songs written by Matt Blick can be found at www.mattblick.com/songs

This page is still under construction. Errors? Typos? Suggestions? Did I miss an example? Leave a comment below!

For more on this songwriting tip go here


1964 Can’t Buy Me Love - The Beatles
1964 Oh, Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison (1:06)
1965 Yesterday - The Beatles
1968 Honey Pie - The Beatles
1968 Rocky Raccoon - The Beatles (verse)
1969 The Long And Winding Road - The Beatles
1969 Carry That Weight - The Beatles
1969 Golden Slumbers - The Beatles
1969 You Never Give Me Your Money - The Beatles
1971 (Where Do I Begin?) Love Story - Andy Williams (1:18)
1982 Carnation - The Jam (0:25)
1985 Walls Come Tumbling Down - The Style Council (0:20)
1996 Lovefool - The Cardigans (0:05)
1996 Bluetonic - The Bluetones (1:17)
1999 Unintended - Muse (0:14)
2018 Star Overhead - the pillows (0:03)

All The Things You Are - Kern/Hammerstein
Autumn Leaves - Mercer/Prevert/Kosma
Be My Baby - Ronettes (verse)
Carrying Cathy - Ben Folds (chorus)
Dime (Feelings) - Morris Albert (bridge)
Falling In Love Again - Marlene Dietrich (bridge)
Five Foot Two, Eyes Of Blue - Henderson/Lewis/Young
Fly Me To The Moon - Bart/Howard
Glory Of Love - Peter Cetera
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
Hello - Lionel Richie
I Can Cook Too (On The Town) - Leonard Bernstein (“I'm a man's ideal...”)
I Got Rhythm - Gershwin/Gershwin (bridge)
I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
Isn't She Lovely - Stevie Wonder (verse)
Killing Me Softly With His Song - Roberta Flack
Mister Sandman - The Chordettes
My Favourite Things - Rodgers/Hammerstein
No Matter What - Badfinger (chorus)
Perfect Day – Lou Reed
Rhythm Of Life (Sweet Charity) - Sammy Davis Jr
Spinning Wheel - Blood, Sweat & Tears
Sweet Georgia Brown – Bernie/Pinkard/Casey (A section)
The Windmills of Your Mind - Legrand/Marnay/Bergman/Bergman (verse)
Those Were The Days - Mary Hopkins (chorus)
Try To Remember - Jones/Schmidt (middle 8 iii, vi, ii, V, I, IV, bVII)
You Can't Hurry Love - The Supremes (bridge)

Thanks to Curtis Pea and Rich Scott for examples

See also

Ticket 25: Transplant Cliches From Other Genres
Ticket 28: Use At Least One Out Of Key Chord 
Ticket 48: Static Melody/Changing Chords
Ticket 53: Write A 'Jazz-Style Intro' Verse
Ticket 60: Drop to the 7th Chord
Ticket 65: Build Up On The V Chord

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Further Reading:

Circle Progressions by Rich Scott


Check out music by Matt Blick

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Ticket 3 Playlist: Create Instrumental Hooks

• In order to better understand the influence of ideas on and by the Beatles songs are laid out in chronological order.
• Songs written or performed by the Beatles are in bold.
• Songs covered by the Beatles, or to known to have had an influence on them, are in italics.
• Songs written by Matt Blick can be found at www.mattblick.com/songs

Did I miss an example? Leave a comment below!

For a full discussion of this songwriting tip go here


1954 Hoochie Coochie Man - Muddy Waters (0:00)
1955 Mannish Boy - Muddy Waters (0:18**)
1959 Money (That’s What I Want) - Barrett Strong (0:00)

1963 Love Me Do - The Beatles (0:00)
1963 Please Please Me – The Beatles (0:12 and 0:19)
1963 Twist And Shout - The Beatles (0:00)
1963 Money (That’s What I Want) - The Beatles (0:00)
1964 A Hard Day’s Night - The Beatles (1:19)
1964 And I Love Her - The Beatles (0:00)
1964 I Feel Fine - The Beatles (0:06)
1964 Words Of Love - The Beatles (0:00)
1964 O, Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison (0:02)
1964 My Girl – The Temptations (0:05)
1965 Ticket To Ride - The Beatles (0:00)
1965 Help! - The Beatles (0:01)
1965 Day Tripper - The Beatles (0:00)
1965 In My Life - The Beatles (0:00 and 1:28)
1965 Michelle - The Beatles (1:25)
1965 (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones (0:00)
1966 Got To Get You Into My Life - The Beatles (0:11 and 1:05)
1966 Paperback Writer - The Beatles (0:06)
1966 And Your Bird Can Sing - The Beatles (0:51)
1966 Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles (0:04, 0:31, 1:08 and 1:21)
1966 For No One - The Beatles (0:49)
1966 I'm A Believer - The Monkees (0:00, 0:28, 0:46 and 1:37)
1966 Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys (0:25)
1966 Hold On, I'm Comin' - Sam And Dave (0:00)
1966 Get Ready - The Temptations (0:00)
1966 Gimme Some Lovin' - The Spencer Davis Group (0:00 and 0:14***)
1967 Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles (0:00 and 1:18)
1967 Penny Lane - The Beatles (1:09)
1967 Lady Madonna - The Beatles (0:00)
1967 Hey Bulldog - The Beatles (0:00)
1967 Sunshine Of Your Love - Cream (0:00)
1967 Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix (0:05)
1968 Helter Skelter - The Beatles (0:42 and 0:45)
1968 While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles (0:00)
1968 Hey Jude - The Beatles (0:51)
1968 Yer Blues - The Beatles (0:24)
1968 Birthday - The Beatles (0:02)
1968 Piggies - The Beatles (0:00 and 1:06)
1968 Martha My Dear - The Beatles (0:30, 0:57 and 1:16)
1968 Long, Long, Long - The Beatles (0:16)
1968 Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) - Jimi Hendrix (0:10)
1969 Don’t Let Me Down - The Beatles (0:00)
1969 Get Back - The Beatles (0:43*)
1969 Two Of Us - The Beatles (0:09*)
1969 Let It Be - The Beatles (1:41*)
1969 Something - The Beatles (0:01)
1969 Octopus’s Garden - The Beatles (0:00)
1969 Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles (0:23)
1969 Come Together - The Beatles (0:00)
1969 I Want You Back – The Jackson 5 (0:01)
1969 Communication Breakdown - Led Zeppelin (0:00)
1969 Heartbreaker - Led Zeppelin (0:00)
1969 Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin (0:00)

1970 Layla - Derek And The Dominos (0:00)
1970 Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin (0:01)
1970 Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (0:37)
1970 War Pigs - Black Sabbath (0:51)
1970 Paranoid - Black Sabbath (0:00)
1970 All Right Now - Free (0:00)
1970 Iron Man - Black Sabbath (0:27 and 1:13)
1971 Sweet Leaf - Black Sabbath (0:03)
1971 Children Of The Grave - Black Sabbath (0:13 and 2:08)
1971 Black Dog - Led Zeppelin (0:12)
1972 Superstition - Stevie Wonder (0:00 and 0:09)
1972 Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple (0:00)
1972 Supernaut - Black Sabbath (0:03)
1973 Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - Black Sabbath (0:00)
1973 A National Acrobat - Black Sabbath (0:00)
1973 Papa Was A Rollin' Stone – The Temptations (0:00)
1973 The Ocean - Led Zeppelin (0:08)
1973 Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) - The Rolling Stones (1:10)
1975 Walk This Way - Aerosmith (0:00 and 0:03)
1975 Jive Talkin' - Bee Gees (1:17)
1975 It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll) – AC/DC (0:00)
1975 Kashmir - Led Zeppelin (0:00)
1975 Symptom Of The Universe - Black Sabbath (0:00)
1976 Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – AC/DC (0:00)
1976 Nobody’s Fault But Mine - Led Zeppelin (0:00)
1976 Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Öyster Cult (0:00)
1976 Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton (0:01)
1976 Sir Duke – Stevie Wonder (0:00 and 1:04)
1976 The Ripper - Judas Priest (0:45 and 1:32)
1977 We Will Rock You - Queen (0:00)
1977 Whole Lotta Rosie – AC/DC (0:00)
1977 Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be – AC/DC (0:34)
1978 Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty (0:23)
1978 Riff Raff – AC/DC (0:45)
1978 Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love - Van Halen (0:00)
1979 Highway To Hell – AC/DC (0:00)
1979 Girls Got Rhythm – AC/DC (0:00)
1979 Beating Around The Bush – AC/DC (0:07)
1979 Parisienne Walkways - Gary Moore (0:03)
1979 My Sharona - The Knack (0:00 and 0:07)
1979 Good Times - Chic (0:01)

1980 Another One Bites The Dust - Queen (0:00)
1980 Hells Bells – AC/DC (0:19 and 1:18)
1980 You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC (0:00 and 0:16)
1980 Back In Black – AC/DC (0:00 and 2:49)
1980 Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne 0:17)
1980 Mr Crowley - Ozzy Osbourne (3:19)
1980 Heaven And Hell - Black Sabbath (0:00)
1980 Breaking The Law - Judas Priest (0:00)
1980 The Rage - Judas Priest (0:00)
1981 The Sign Of The Southern Cross - Black Sabbath (1:17)
1981 For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) - AC/DC (0:00 and 0:16)
1981 Under Pressure - Queen and David Bowie (0:00)
1981 Tainted Love - Soft Cell (0:03)
1981 In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins (3:40)
1981 Under Pressure - Queen And David Bowie (0:00)
1982 My Face Is On Fire - Felt (0:01)
1982 Run To The Hills - Iron Maiden (0:00 and 0:07)
1982 Hallowed Be Thy Name - Iron Maiden (0:00 and 0:59)
1982 Mickey - Toni Basil (0:00)
1983 The Trooper - Iron Maiden (0:00 and 0:12)
1983 Waiting For Darkness - Ozzy Osbourne (0:26)
1983 Blister In The Sun - Violent Femmes (0:00)
1983 Little Red Corvette - Prince (0:50)
1983 Holy Diver - Dio (1:13)
1983 Blue Monday - New Order (0:00 and 1:18 ****)
1984 I Want A New Drug - Huey Lewis And The News (0:01)
1984 Ghostbusters – Ray Parker Jr. (0:13, 0:21, 0:46 and 2:01)
1986 You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon (0:00)
1986 The Final Countdown - Europe (0:13)

1991 Enter Sandman - Metallica (0:00)
1991 Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana (0:00)
1991 Come As You Are – Nirvana (0:00)
1993 Loser - Beck (0:00)
1994 Whatever - Oasis (0:11)
1997 Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve (0:17)

2000 Go - The Apples In Stereo (0:01 and 0:10)
2000 The Real Slim Shady - Eminem (0:00)
2001 Plug In Baby - Muse (0:05)
2002 Lose Yourself - Eminem (0:31)
2002 Cleanin' Out My Closet - Eminem (0:06)
2002 Business - Eminem (0:08 and 0:18)
2003 Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes (0:00)

2014 Fancy - Iggy Azalea (0:00)
2016 Fingernails - Matt Blick (0:00)

Notes

*Original Let It Be album version
** Original single (with 2:58 run time and female BVs)
***US single (with piano and cowbell)
****2011 Total Version

Thanks to Pete Murphy, Nancy Rost, Curtis Pea, Gary Horn, Ben Spencer, Bert Zoetemeyer, Luke Seagrave, Martin Quibell, Scott Lake, Patrick Bonier, Ben Bradley, Stephen Wort, Michael Rose, Jeff Charreaux, Rod Johnson and Jonathan Nelson for suggestions.

Further Reading

Ticket 2: Take out every unnecessary section, repeat or other element
Ticket 4: Create intros, outros and solos by mutating the main sections of the song
Ticket 9: Develop melodic or chordal fragments to create longer ideas or new sections
The Be-Atletudes
About Beatles Songwriting Academy

See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

Check out music by Matt Blick

Join the mailing list to get the free, exclusive, Beatles Songwriting Academy podcast!