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TL;DR:

  • Paul McCartney is a huge fan of The Beatles’ “Here, There and Everywhere.”
  • He said the track reminds him of Fred Astaire’s version of Cole Porter’s “Cheek to Cheek.”
  • The song isn’t as good as other Beatles ballads like “Yesterday,” “Something,” and “In My Life.”
Paul McCartney and John Lennon with guitars
Paul McCartney and John Lennon | Bettmann / Contributor

Paul McCartney is often asked to name his favorite song by The Beatles. He often chooses The Beatles’ “Here, There and Everywhere.” Despite this, the song is not anything special.

Paul McCartney mentions The Beatles’ ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ so much

During a 2021 interview with NPR, Paul was asked why The Beatles’ “Here, There and Everywhere” is one of his favorite songs. “I think the structure of it,” he said. “I like it. It always reminds me, in structure, of a great Cole Porter song, ‘Cheek To Cheek,’ which Fred Astaire sang.

“And it starts off, ‘heaven, I’m in heaven, da la la la la,'” he added. “It goes through it. And then in the middle, it goes, ‘We’re out together dancing, da da da da da da.’ But it takes me back to heaven. And it’s so neat the way it just wraps itself up that I always thought, ‘Wow, that’s a great trick, you know?'”

Paul elaborated on “Here, There and Everywhere.” “So ‘Here, There and Everywhere,’ does that — here, first verse, second verse, there, third verse, everywhere, leading me back to here, you know?” he said.

Paul explained why he mentions the song so much. “And that’s a question you get asked a lot; you know, ‘What’s your favorite song?'” he revealed. “So, but that one, when I’m pushed, I will pull that one out of the bag. And it is definitely amongst my favorites.”

The song is not nearly as good as several other songs from The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’

Paul is giving “Here, There and Everywhere” far too much credit. The Beach Boys-style melody is pretty and all, but it’s not as strong as other Fab Four ballads. “Yesterday,” “Something,” and “In My Life” are all far superior songs with stronger melodies.

Revolver is perhaps The Beatles’ most excellent album, and “Here, There and Everywhere” doesn’t even stand out among its sister songs. “Eleanor Rigby” is a better slow song, “Got to Get You Into My Life” has more energy, and “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “Love You To” are more experimental. Even “Yellow Submarine” is irresistible to numerous children. “Here, There and Everywhere” doesn’t even rank among the 50 best Fab Four tunes.

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‘Here, There and Everywhere’ wasn’t a hit but it inspired many covers by other stars

“Here, There and Everywhere” never charted on the Billboard Hot 100 because it was not a single. If Paul didn’t praise the song so often, it might be totally forgotten. The tune inspired covers by Petula Clark, Johnny Mathis, John Denver, Sean Ono Lennon (son of John Lennon), and Elvis Costello. Notably, none of those covers receive much airplay.

“Here, There and Everywhere” isn’t terrible, but it doesn’t deserve all the love Paul gives it.

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