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TL;DR:

  • Paul McCartney sang The Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” at a celebration and the Maharishi heard it.
  • Paul discussed the way the Maharishi and other people reacted to the song.
  • “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” charted in the United States but it didn’t reach the top 40.
The Beatles and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in black-and-white
The Beatles and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi | Ullstein Bild / Contributor

Paul McCartney wrote The Beatles‘ “Ob-La Di, Ob-La-Da” while the Fab Four were studying meditation under the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Paul played “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” for the Maharishi during a celebration. Subsequently, he revealed what the spiritual leader thought of the tune.

A wire fence kept The Beatles and the Maharishi away from the press in India

The Beatles famously traveled to Rishikesh, India to study meditation under the Maharishi. The 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now says George Harrison’s wife, Patti Boyd, had a birthday party during the retreat. The Maharishi lead the group in ceremonial prayers for the celebration. Paul sang songs for her like “Happy Birthday to You” and “God Save the Queen.”

The band was trying to steer clear from the press at the time. “The camp compound had a wire fence all around it, which was handy later, for the press decided they wanted to have pictures of everything that we did,” he recalled. The band rarely left the Maharishi’s compound during their stay, but they made an exception for Patti’s birthday.

Paul McCartney sang The Beatles’ ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’ to the Maharishi at the celebration

“On Patti’s birthday, the band went to see a movie,” Paul remembered. “We went down to the village one evening when they were showing a film; the traveling cinema came around with a lorry and put up a screen. It was a very pleasant Indian evening so Maharishi came, everyone came, and we all walked down as a procession.”

Paul provided entertainment for the procession. “And it was very very pleasant; walking along in the dust slightly downhill through a path in the jungle from the meditation camp with my guitar and singing ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,’ which I was writing, accompanying the procession on the way. Of course, ‘Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da’ has got no connection with meditation except ‘Life goes on,’ it’s a little story about Desmond and Molly,” he continued. “In actual fact, I think they quite enjoyed it. Maharishi quite liked someone strolling along singing.”

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‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’ was a hit in the United States but not the United Kingdom

“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” became a very modest hit in the United States. There, it reached No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for seven weeks. The tune became one of the most famous tracks on The White Album, which topped the Billboard 200 for nine weeks. It lasted on the chart for 215 weeks.

According to The Official Charts Company, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” never charted in the United Kingdom. There, The White Album reached No. 1 for eight weeks. It lasted on the chart for a total of 37 weeks.

“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” was not one of The Beatles’ big hits. Despite that, Paul said the Maharishi seemed to like it.

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