FIVE ESSENTIAL SONGS FROM LET IT BE

Let It Be

THE SIGNIFICANCE: One of Paul McCartney’s most enduring ballads, the song “Let It Be” served as the title track for what was deemed to be the final Beatles album, the stripped down, unvarnished final foray for a group that were slowly splintering at the seams. Indeed, the album was originally going to be called Get Back, but that title was scrapped along with the idea of keeping the recording as raw as possible after Phil Spector was brought in to salvage what had become a difficult and untenable situation once cameras started rolling. Although the song went through several transitions and redubs, it remains one of McCartney’s most inspiring signature songs.

The origins of “Let It Be” date back to The Beatles so-called “White Album.” McCartney has claimed that the song was inspired by a dream he had about his mother, Mary Mc-Cartney, who had died from cancer when he was