The Beatles are arguably the most popular band of all time, so it is no surprise that different musicians generations of late have covered their songs.
Here are some of the best ukulele songs by The Beatles.
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“Let It Be” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1970
“Let It Be” is not only one of the most popular Beatles songs on its own, but it is also one of the most popular ukulele covers.
“Let It Be” is a timeless classic because it captures the best way to confront conflict and move on. The title of this song serves as both a setting stone for the tone of the tune and good advice for anyone going through hardship.
This song translates particularly well to the ukulele because of its more somber attitude and mild tones.
“In My Life” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1965
“In My Life” is another slower song from The Beatles catalog. Many of the most popular Beatles songs are of a faster rock and roll pace, but this song serves to slow down the listener and have them take time to reflect.
“In My Life” is already a heavy musical song, evoking the power of nostalgia. So, the track translates exceptionally well to a softer instrument such as the ukulele. Listeners will do well to indulge in memories of the past while listening to this peaceful tune.
“I Will” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1968
After a total of 67 takes and two days, The Beatles had completed yet another love song to add to their catalog.
This song benefits from a ukulele rendition because it has been criticized for lacking in emotions and musical arrangement over the years. Simplifying the music down to one instrument helps to focus on just the tune and not get distracted by the gossip of several devices.
“Hey Jude” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1968
“Hey Jude” is another classic from the basilisk catalog of The Beatles. This song was written to comfort John Lennon’s son as he and his wife were separating at the time.
This song works very well as a ukulele cover because it is a comforting instrument being played to comfort the listener. Fans of the song will find the ukulele version an excellent addition to their playlist if they enjoy peaceful music.
“Till There Was You” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1963
“Till There Was You” is an excellent encapsulation of the feelings of love. The idea that life is enhanced when around your partner has been prevalent for decades, and this song successfully puts that feeling into words.
While you are entirely on your own and can enjoy things, activities and leisure are often made better around a loved one. Besides, hardship can be much easier when tackled with another person.
Humans are social creatures by nature, so coming together to listen to a song about completeness and love is an exhilarating feeling and one you should try to experience with this ukulele version.
“Yesterday” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1965
“Yesterday” has transcended the description of popular music. It has become an iconic piece of art equivalent to a monument in harmony. The song remains a timeless classic amongst old-school fans and a newer generation.
This song’s themes of love and relatable hardship make it an excellent pick for a ukulele rendition worthy of a spot on this list. Its intended feelings can be heard even across a new instrument.
“Something” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1969
This song was released right alongside a different Beatles classic, “Come Together,” before eventually being released on the Abbey Road album.
This song is a love letter written by band member George Harrison. Before this point, George Harrison had not written any whole sides of an album. Still, the A side of Abbey Road had proven he was an exceptional songwriter alongside his musical prowess.
“Something” is a fantastic love song worthy of a ukulele version, often called the most excellent love song of the last 50 years.
“Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1969
While scholars have debated the intended meaning of this song, one thing about it is clear. “Here Comes the Sun” is a popular song because it captures the warmth and excitement few other musicians have.
This song feels like the embodiment of summertime and good feelings. A ukulele is an appropriate instrument to replicate those feelings into chords.
“Girl” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1965
“Girl” was written as a romantic depiction of what the perfect woman might look like romantically. Many different musicians and artists have tackled this idea for centuries, but this was one of the first times it was done on such a large platform.
John Lennon would later claim that Yoko Ono, his wife, was the depiction of this titular dream girl. While Yoko Ono has been the source of much conflict among The Beatles, no one can prove that John Lennon’s feelings were false or that Yoko Ono did not embody these attributes.
As with many other love songs or romantically aligned music, it works incredibly well being played on a ukulele. This song was not a top hit in The Beatles’ regular catalog, but it excels at being played with this instrument.
“If I Fell” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1964
“If I Fell” is a raw description of the fears of a successful band. The title says it all. What would happen if one of the Beatles members were to fall or the band was to collapse?
Tackling feelings of success and potentially impostor syndrome, this song is an exploration of feelings almost no other songs have tackled since. The Ukulele rendition of the ballad is both beautiful and accurate.
“Across the Universe” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1969
This song’s composition is immediately attention-grabbing and compelling. The listener is pulled into a never-ending tune filled with tactile verbs and artsy messages.
The track is an invitation into higher consciousness and the sweetly strummed tunes of space and the greater beyond, making one question their purpose on Earth. This song is about a thinker, and the quiet lobes of a ukulele evoke that thinking process well.
“Across the Universe” works well and is truly one of the greatest ukulele songs by The Beatles.
“Michelle” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1965
“Michelle” is an exciting piece of music because it is done in multiple languages. While many K-pop and J-pop groups have popularized this idea recently, the bilingual theme was not especially prevalent in the 60s.
“Michelle” sings in both French and English and excels in both parts. France has often been claimed to be the country of love, and so this song is appropriately a love song.
Ukulele embodies a sad and peaceful feeling that many might attribute to love. This means the instrument is well suited to play a love song like “Michelle.”
“Yellow Submarine” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1966
Unlike the band’s many love songs and tales of otherworldly experiences, “Yellow Submarine” is a bit of a fantasy story. The piece depicts a sea captain in a made-up world of Pepperland, which is being invaded by music-hating monsters.
The Beatles must travel on their titular yellow submarine to help the captain and save the world of Pepperland from music oppression. The Beatles then work to bring back the beauty and popularity of music to this locale.
Not only is this one of the most iconic and unique songs from The Beatles catalog, but it also captures the idea that music is for everyone and that we shouldn’t oppress art.
The song’s deeper meanings can be a bit open-ended, but one thing is certain. This song has been translated very well onto the ukulele.
“When I’m Sixty-Four” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1967
Inspired by his mother’s death while he was 13, this was one of Paul McCartney’s earliest pieces of music. Paul wrote the song about his father and about how he would like to wish for long life.
Old age is something that almost everyone fears because it is directly related to being close to death. This song flips the script in idealizing old age as an achievement. A person is lucky to make it to being old because it means they have lived a long life.
Many people take the idea of living for granted, and this song exemplifies why we should appreciate any such life.
The ukulele rendition of the song captures why it was great in the first place. It makes the listener feel as though they should get out there and live regardless of age and appreciate the life they have been given.
“Two of Us” By The Beatles
Song Year: 1970
“Two of Us” is a fantastic piece of music embodying the idea of partnership and how life can be better when two people are put together.
Paul McCartney has claimed that this song is about his wife, Linda. Still, many fans continue to believe that it was only a cover-up. Fans speculate that this song is actually about Paul and John Lennon’s friendship being worth a lot to each other.
Regardless of the accuracy of Paul’s intentions, this song works very well on a ukulele because it is a song about good thoughts and happy times. Love can be found in many ways, and the song is a great reminder to appreciate all types of love in one’s life.
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1968
While many consider this song to be George Harrison’s first genuinely great song, it resulted from an accident.
George Harrison began by writing this song purely as an instrumental piece while they were on tour in India. He composed the entire music before ever writing a lyric down.
Later, at his parent’s house, he opened up a book to an arbitrary page and began to write the lyrics around the first thing he saw. As he stared at the words about gentle weeping, he wrote the entire song based on this idea. People have speculated what book George Harrison might have opened up that day ever since.
Regardless of origin, this beautiful song can be felt no matter the silly methods. Guitars do not weep, but people do. The beautiful tones of this song match such sadness very well.
“A Day in the Life” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1967
This song was not initially a hit piece by the band but later picked up in the mid-80s as a timeless classic. “A Day in the Life” is a late bloomer that inspires many by being the child of the pair of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
“A Day in the Life” is a clash between the idea of popular music in the 60s and having an ensemble of classical musicians play them. It is a genuinely great mixture of popular and classic ideas of music.
This combination of old and new can also be seen in the ukulele rendition and takes the song to a new level.
“I Want To Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1963
“I Want To Hold Your Hand” is a classic off of the hit debut album of The Beatles. This song triggered what many would later claim to be Beatlemania.
This song is what put the world’s biggest band on the map in England. Later on, it would be what many American fans would find as the 1st Beatles hit they would hear and come to love.
As the song that can be attributed to starting at all, it needs to be mentioned as necessary historically and musically.
The song acts as one of the band’s many love stories and can be seen with consistent themes as the other love songs they would later write. The ukulele rendition of this piece is extraordinary because of its funky attitude and genuine feelings.
“Strawberry Fields Forever” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1967
Strawberry Field is a youth home in John Lennon’s hometown. John Lennon has claimed that growing up was especially scary for him because he did not have a lot of people to relate to. Because of this isolation, he spent much of his time as a child at this youth home.
This song is a beautiful coming-of-age tale and addresses the scariness of one’s adolescence. The unforeseeable nature of the future and the uncertainty that one will turn out to be how one wants can be very intimidating. Still, the song is a process of navigating that mucky time in one’s life.
After writing and playing the song, John Lennon can hopefully put these feelings to rest forever, as it shows he is beyond them.
The ukulele version of the song is great because it captures the tones without being too complex or overt—an excellent alternative for those who already love the classic theme.
“Hello, Goodbye” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1967
“Hello, Goodbye” is a song about the duality of life. Every good has a bad, and every bad has a good. Life cannot exist as only one thing; it must have that thing’s opposite.
What stands out about this song is that it acknowledges both sides of a coin but chooses to focus on the positive side of that coin. Rather than focusing on all of the goodbyes and sadness one will experience in life, this song instead chooses to talk about the good points and the new people you will meet.
The song has a catchy bounce, and the ukulele is a great instrument to capture that catchy tone.
“Every Little Thing” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1965
“Every Little Thing” is a celebration of feelings one has toward their partner.
Jane Asher, Paul McCartney’s first public love, is the muse that has inspired this song. Anyone can relate to the feelings of how mundane activities are seemingly grandeur when done by a significant other.
This song perfectly encapsulates young love and how all things seem better when around a partner you are genuinely excited about. Paul McCartney inspires many romantics to go out and appreciate their partners’ most endearing attributes with this song.
The ukulele is an excellent instrument for this love song, as with many other love songs, because it emits a feeling of calm and peacefulness intended by the band.
“Helter Skelter” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1968
This song was written to combat the popularity of a different style of music that existed at the time. Many pieces were being praised for being exciting and clean simultaneously. The Beatles then sought to replicate this sound.
The ukulele has proven to be a more fast-paced instrument than initially thought, as no one would have expected this song to work as well with the tool as it does.
“It Won’t Be Long” by The Beatles
Song Year: 1963
This song is great because it inspired many other bands to do more call and response in their acts. “It Won’t Be Long” embodies the idea of patience and how people won’t often have to wait long for a good thing.
The ukulele is a solid instrument for this song because of its relatively light theme and fun attitude.
Top Ukulele Songs By The Beatles, Final Thoughts
Overall, The Beatles have written many timeless classics throughout their several hit albums.
There are a lot of ukulele songs by The Beatles. While many of the most popular songs are quick and exciting, many translate very well to the ukulele because they are slower love songs that only require a simple tune.