On a quiet morning in 1964 at the Wimpole Street home of girlfriend Jane Asher’s parents, Paul McCartney awoke with a gift from his subconscious—a hauntingly beautiful melody that arrived fully-formed in his dreams.
“I had a piano by my bed,” McCartney later recalled. “I just fell out of bed, found out what key it was in, and played it.” So convinced was he that the tune must be someone else’s, McCartney spent weeks playing it for industry friends, asking if they recognized it.
The working title? “Scrambled Eggs”—with placeholder lyrics about breakfast—until proper words finally came months later. When presented to producer George Martin, McCartney received an unprecedented suggestion: “Why don’t you just do it by yourself?”
The resulting recording—just McCartney’s voice with a string quartet—marked the first Beatles release to feature only one band member. Today, with over 3,000 cover versions, “Yesterday” remains the most recorded song in popular music history—proof that sometimes, the greatest creativity happens while we sleep.