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Credit: Far Out \/ ABKO Films<\/p>\n
Mon 15 June 2026 14:35, UK <\/p>\n
There are few records in history as acclaimed or as iconic as The Beatles<\/a>\u2019 1968 self-titled offering, also known as the White Album. <\/p>\n Armed with a minimalistic cover and a tracklisting full of tender future favourites, from \u2018Dear Prudence\u2019 to \u2018While My Guitar Gently Weeps\u2019, the album would go on to become one of the most successful in the band\u2019s catalogue. But that didn\u2019t mean that John Lennon was happy with every song that made it onto the final cut.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s the kind of record that bends with the weight of songs involved. In fact, it is so dense that George Nartin would have preferred to cut it down by a third. But, such is the way of the artist. When they set their minds on something, it is usually what occurs. For The Beatles, it meant the record remains easily their heftiest. <\/p>\n The White Album<\/a> had a lengthy but largely stellar track-listing. There was a good mix of tunes contributed by each member of the central duo, Lennon and Paul McCartney, and even a couple of songs added by the less prolific songwriters in the group, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. There were simple, sad songs like \u2018Blackbird\u2019 and heavier, more complex offerings like \u2018Helter Skelter\u2019. But there was one track that Lennon compared to a piece of trash.\u00a0<\/p>\n After ending side two with Lennon\u2019s ode to his late mother, \u2018Julia\u2019, the band kicked off side three with a tone-shift. The rocking and rolling \u2018Birthday\u2019 served as the opener to the second LP, a jubilant attempt to appear on birthday party playlists for years to come. \u201cThey say it\u2019s your birthday, we\u2019re gonna have a good time,\u201d McCartney sang in the first verse, \u201cI\u2019m glad it\u2019s your birthday, happy birthday to you.\u201d<\/p>\n Though the song featured an endearing rock and roll soundtrack, adorned with tambourines and handclaps to exacerbate the festivities, it didn\u2019t contain quite as much lyrical depth as some of the other offerings on the White Album. Perhaps this was because Lennon and McCartney had only penned the song when they were already in the studio. <\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Birthday\u2019 was written in the studio. Just made up on the spot,\u201d Lennon recalled in a 1980 interview, as quoted in All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono by David Sheff. \u201cI think Paul wanted to write a song like \u2018Happy Birthday Baby,\u2019 the old \u201850s hit. But it was sort of made up in the studio. It was a piece of garbage.\u201d <\/p>\n The song certainly wasn\u2019t their best work, and it didn\u2019t stand up to the levels of quality they displayed across the runtime of the White Album. Though there were a couple of other flops \u2014 McCartney\u2019s \u2018Rocky Raccoon\u2019, for example \u2014 the record was largely a display of the band\u2019s songwriting prowess. <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/The-Beatles-Ringo-Starr-George-Harrison-Paul-McCartney-John-Lennon-1968-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jp.jpeg\")
<\/a>Credit: Far Out \/ Alamy<\/p>\n
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<\/a> The Far Out Beatles Newsletter<\/p>\n