PODCAST · music
The Beatles: Note By Note
by Note By Note Series
A Beatles podcast that goes song-by-song through every Beatles release in chronological order. We focus on the music itself, breaking down what you’re hearing and why it works. Website: https://www.notebynoteseries.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/NoteByNoteSeries Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notebynoteseries Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
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Dizzy Miss Lizzy - Episode 102
Dizzy Miss Lizzy closes Help! by going back to the Beatles’ roots. It was an old stage favorite, a Larry Williams rocker they had known for years, and the last cover they would ever record. For this episode of our Beatles podcast, it also gives us our first official "Beatles last" as we work our...
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Yesterday - Lecture Series 101 (bonus)
In this Beatles lecture series, we are looking at Yesterday, a song built around the longing to return to a past that can’t be recovered. We examine how the lyrics move from a changed world, to a changed self, to a broken relationship, and how the music supports this emotional weight. We also...
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Yesterday - Episode 101 with Kyle Hopson
Yesterday may be the most popular song The Beatles ever recorded, but it's surprising just how unusual its story really is. On this episode of our Beatles podcast, we are joined by Kenyon’s longtime friend and former songwriting partner Kyle Hopson. We look at the song as a piece of Beatles…
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I've Just Seen A Face - Lecture Series 100 (bonus)
In this Beatles lecture series, we are looking at I’ve Just Seen a Face, a song that captures the head-spinning rush of love at first sight. We examine how Paul combines deceptively simple musical and lyrical materials to create the song’s breathless and frenetic energy. Beneath the surface, its...
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I've Just Seen A Face - Episode 100 with Ian Leslie
Have you ever realized that another person will change your life forever? Author Ian Leslie joins us to talk about I’ve Just Seen a Face and his book, John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs. Together, we use Paul’s breathless love song to explore chance, recognition, conflict and the mixture…
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Tell Me What You See - Lecture Series 99 (bonus)
In this Beatles lecture series, we analyze Tell Me What You See. We look at the way the lyrics gradually reveal that this promise is actually an attempt of persuasion. Musically, we explore Paul’s melodic contours, the song’s recurring question-and-answer phrases, and how its simple harmony takes...
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Tell Me What You See - Episode 99 with Caro Kelley
On this episode of our Beatles podcast, musician, singer, songwriter and obsessive album listener Caro Kelley joins us for Tell Me What You See. Caro has spent a lot of time not just listening to music, but rating and ranking it and she brings that perspective to a song that Paul McCartney…
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You Like Me Too Much - Lecture Series 98 (bonus)
In this Beatles lecture series, we look at the music and lyrics of George Harrison’s You Like Me Too Much. The uneasy relationship at the center of the song seems caught in a cycle: one person threatens to leave, but neither quite manages to end things. Musically, George builds that uneasy…
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You Like Me Too Much - Episode 98 with Anne (Beatles Research Society)
On this episode of our Beatles podcast, Peter and Kenyon look at George Harrison’s You Like Me Too Much, an overlooked Help! track that turns out to have more going for it than its reputation suggests. It is an entry point into the bigger story of how the Beatles worked. How arrangements took…
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It's Only Love - Lecture Series 97 (bonus)
In this Beatles lecture series, we dive into the music and lyrics of It's Only Love. Lennon begins with a unique rhyming scheme, but somehow manages to build a story within this constraint. Musically, John develops a number of melodic and rhythmic ideas that he reuses throughout the song in...
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It's Only Love - Episode 97 with Elli Rader
John Lennon called It's Only Love a lousy song with abysmal lyrics. But is he right? Peter and Kenyon are joined by their long-time friend Elli to take a closer look at this late addition to Help! and figure out what works, what doesn’t, and whether Lennon judged it too harshly. The conversation...
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Act Naturally - Episode 96
On this episode of our Beatles podcast, Kenyon, Peter, et al hold 3 important corporate meetings to determine once and for all which song will serve as Ringo's contribution to the Help! album. We have a pre-production meeting, a production meeting and a post mortem to decide what and how Ringo…
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You're Going To Lose That Girl - Lecture Series 95 (bonus)
In this Beatles lecture series, we dive into the music and lyrics of You're Going To Lose That Girl. On first impression, the lyrics seem conniving, but there may be alternative readings. Musically, this is a quintessential Lennon composition and we find all the fingerprints hidden inside the…
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You're Going To Lose That Girl - Episode 95 with Cameron (NationSquid)
On this episode of our Beatles podcast, you are going to lose assumptions you had about this Help! era song. Joined by Cameron from NationSquid and FeedYourHead, we dig deep and try to uncover the essence of this song. As usually, we talk about the songwriting, the recording process and how it…
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Another Girl - Lecture Series 94 (bonus)
In this Beatles lecture series, Kenyon analyzes the lyrics and music for Paul McCartney's Another Girl. Underneath a fun blues jam, a sinister story starts to emerge. And while the song may seem like another one of Paul's work songs for the movie, Paul experiments with the melody's phrasing and…
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Another Girl - Episode 94
On this episode of our Beatles podcast, we cover another song, Another Girl. For the first time in a while, it's just Kenyon and Peter alone together, so things get loose pretty quickly. We come into the episode talking about a minor Paul song, but by the end, we talk about the major pivot point...
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I Need You - Lecture Series 93 (bonus)
In this Beatles lecture series, Kenyon begins by focusing on the word "need." We follow the story from George's devotion to his heartbreak and devastation. From there, the music takes over and the volume-pedal guitar motif takes center stage. The music and lyrics are working together and tell us...
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I Need You - Episode 93 with Harry and Sophie (The Inner Light Podcast)
On this episode of our Beatles podcast, "small" George Harrison song becomes bigger once everyone brings their own meaning to it. This episode, we are joined by the hosts of The Inner Light Podcast, Sophie and Harry. Since this is only our second Harrison track, we got to dig deeper into George’s...
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You've Got To Hide Your Love Away - Lecture Series 92
In this Beatles lecture series, Kenyon looks at John Lennon's beautiful ballad, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away. We take a look at the lyrics and how John avoids locking into one specific meaning without really feeling vague. On the music side, we talk about the compound meter, how the harmony…
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You've Got To Hide Your Love Away - Episode 92 with Andrew Shakespeare
On this episode of our Beatles podcast, we are joined by guest Andrew Shakespeare to discuss one of the most intimate John Lennon songs so far. From there, we attempt to break down how it was written, how it was recorded, and what it could mean to us. Our track by track trip through Help!…
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The Night Before - Lecture Series 91 (bonus)
In this Beatles lecture series, Kenyon breaks down the lyrics and music of The Night Before. The song feels immediate, but the lyrics keep shifting under your feet. We look at the craft of Paul’s phrasing, showing how short, telegram-like lines stretch and change once the music takes over....
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The Night Before - Episode 91 with Rob Collier (Beatles Bass Lines)
On this episode of our Beatles podcast, we really put this song up to the test. Growing up, Peter felt that this might be one of the greatest Beatles songs, but does he still feel that way today? Together, with our guest Rob Collier (Beatles Bass Lines), we dive deep into the song and see what is...
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Help! Film - Episode 90 with Stephen Ptacek
On this episode of our Beatles podcast, we are joined by our special guest and film correspondant, Stephen Ptacek along with another super-special surprise guest. The episode is long and loose but the conversation is engaging about one the weirdest, most interesting and complicated Beatles...
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I'm Down - Lecture Series 89 (bonus)
In this Beatles Lecture Series, Kenyon shows how I’m Down is doing several jobs at once: answering the emotional weight of the A-side, giving Paul a sharper and more frustrated voice, and building the whole song out of contradictions, call-and-response, and release. It makes you hear it not as...
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Help! - Lecture Series 88 (bonus)
This Beatles Lecture Series episode makes the case that “Help!” is not just a blunt cry for rescue but one of John’s sharpest balancing acts, pairing some of his plainest words with music that keeps shifting underneath them. Once you hear that tug between stillness and motion, the song stops...
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I'm Down - Episode 89 with Erik McIntyre
In this Beatles podcast, we are joined by bass player Erik McIntyre to discuss the B-side of the Help! single. Written on the back of a telegram, this song was conjured up as a replacement for Little Richard's Long Tall Sally in The Beatles' set list. In the conversation, we dive into the history...
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Help! - Episode 88 with Jeremy Ivey
This Beatles podcast episode attempts to get at why Help feels so relatable even after all these years. We are joined by songwriter Jeremy Ivey and open up the song as a John Lennon turning point, a George Harrison guitar showcase, and a surprisingly strange bit of Beatles detective work. We…
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That Means A Lot - Lecture Series 87 (bonus)
In this Beatles Lecture Series episode, Kenyon argues that “That Means a Lot” is one of Paul McCartney’s strangest songs, sounding deeply like Paul and strangely unlike him at the same time as an apparently simple love song turns anxious, vulnerable, and hard to pin down. It makes you hear the…
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That Means A Lot - Episode 87 with Mary Devlin (beatledirt)
In this Beatles podcast episode, Mary Devlin joins us for a songwriter’s conversation about That Means a Lot, one of the more interesting Beatles deep cuts. As usual, there is more here than meets the eye, and we have a sharp discussion about songwriting, social media, and Beauty and the Beast.…
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Bad Boy - Episode 86 with Jesse Pollack (All You Need Is Pod)
On this episode of our Beatles podcast, we take a song Peter barely knew and turn it into one of the most spirited conversations in the series. On Bad Boy, Note by Note brings in Jesse Pollack from All You Need Is Pod to talk about this iconic track, one of the last of its kind. We cover: -Larry...
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Yes It Is - Lecture Series 85 (bonus)
In this Beatles Lecture Series, “Yes It Is” stops sounding like a simple warning about a color and starts sounding like grief masked as control, with the lecture arguing the real “it” is pride and the performance carries a ghost-like weight. You also get a guided listen through the three-part...
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Ticket To Ride - Lecture Series 84 (bonus)
This Beatles Lecture Series argues that Ticket to Ride is built on contradictions: the words keep flipping between heartbreak and irritation while the track itself feels bright enough to sound like a shrug. Once you hear how “not caring” can read like a mask instead of confidence, you’ll stop...
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Yes It Is - Episode 85
On this Beatles podcast, Note by Note goes deep on Yes It Is and why it lands like a private confession. We explore the emotional core, the craft behind the recording, and how this B-side fits into the bigger "cry for help" thread. We cover: -Storytime: Peter and Kenyon band history and origin...
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Ticket To Ride - Episode 84
Season 2 kicks off with Ticket To Ride on this Beatles podcast, and it turns into one of those conversations where the song keeps getting bigger the longer you sit with it. We jump through personal memories, the emotional push and pull of a happy-sad track, the feel of that unforgettable guitar...
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Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby - Episode 83 with Dan Rivkin (They May Be Parted)
A Beatles podcast where a “throwaway” closer turns into a full-on investigation with Dan Rivkin, the guy who went second-by-second through the Get Back Nagra tapes. If you’ve ever skipped “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby,” this episode is a serious attempt to make you hear why it matters. We...
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What You're Doing - Episode 82 with Raymond Schillinger (You Can't Unhear This)
This week on our Beatles podcast, we bring in a fourth voice and it gets delightfully nerdy fast. Guest Raymond Schillinger from You Can’t Unhear This joins us to re-hear “What You’re Doing” like it is hiding in plain sight. We cover: - Why “What You’re Doing” feels like a throwaway song - The...
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What You're Doing - Lecture Series 82 (bonus)
In this Beatles Lecture Series episode, Kenyon argues that “What You’re Doing” is less a breakup complaint than a song about powerlessness, where the core question is not why it hurts, but what is even being done to you. You will start hearing how the lyric framing, the repeated phrasing, and…
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I Don't Want To Spoil The Party - Episode 81 with Dr Terry Hamblin
In this Beatles podcast episode, we argue “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party” only works because every Beatle leaves a crucial fingerprint. With special guest Dr. Terry Hamblin, we hear the song as a full-band fusion, not just a “John song.” We cover: - Songwriting origins on the 1964 North…
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I Don't Want To Spoil The Party - Lecture Series 81 (bonus)
In this Beatles Lecture Series episode, you’ll hear “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party” as an early moment where Lennon’s usual hurt-and-retaliate script gets quietly rewritten into something more adult, centered on the blunt turn of “I still love her.” Kenyon argues the music backs that up by...
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Every Little Thing - Episode 80 with TJ Byrnes
Every Little Thing is a Paul McCartney song that could fool you into thinking it is a John song, especially with John’s voice so forward in the verses. In this Beatles podcast episode of Note By Note, Peter, Kenyon, Josh, and guest TJ Byrnes break down the timpani punch, the Anthology 4 takes…
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Every Little Thing - Lecture Series 80 (bonus)
In this Beatles Lecture Series episode, Kenyon argues that Every Little Thing never fully settles, like it keeps dodging the clean landing you expect from a Beatles love song. You come away hearing the whole track as intentionally unresolved, both in the melody and the chord changes. Website:...
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Honey Don't - Episode 79
On this Beatles podcast episode of The Beatles Note by Note, we start with Honey Don’t and end up in some surprisingly detailed territory. If you like songwriting context, studio specifics, and a few 1964 detours that explain why certain songs stuck, this one is for you. We cover: - Where Honey...
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Words Of Love - Episode 78 with Chris McGovern (The Gen-X Muse)
A Buddy Holly deep cut turns into a surprisingly big conversation in this Beatles podcast episode. With guest Chris McGovern, also known as the Gen X Muse, we dig into why “Words of Love” hits so differently on Beatles for Sale. We cover: - What Buddy Holly meant to the Beatles - Who may or may…
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Eight Days A Week - Episode 77 with Josh Goodwin
You would not expect a psychoanalyst to pick Eight Days a Week as the song to talk about, but once he explains why, it clicks. In this Beatles podcast episode, we dig into why their newest hit at the time still feels like an intentional throwback, with little “odd” details that make it more...
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Eight Days A Week - Lecture Series 77 (bonus)
Eight Days a Week looks like a straightforward love lyric, but this lecture argues the real surprise is how many of the song’s rules quietly break at once, especially in the middle eight where the meter feels unbalanced, the harmony refuses to follow a clean pattern, and the time even drops out....
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Kansas City - Episode 76 with Agustín Kafka
We recorded this one with our guest Augustín literally out at sea on a cruise ship, which somehow feels perfect for a high-energy cover like Kansas City. In this Beatles podcast episode, we talk Beatles landmarks, the messy songwriting history behind the tune, and why this performance hits the…
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Mr Moonlight - Episode 75 with Nancy Howie (Fathom)
Most people skip Mr Moonlight on Beatles For Sale, so on this Beatles podcast we put it on trial. Kenyon and Peter are joined by Nancy to settle it: is Mr Moonlight secretly great, or truly cursed? We cover: - Why Mr Moonlight is the most skipped track on Beatles For Sale - The song’s path back…
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I'll Follow The Sun - Episode 74 with Alexei Casselle
What happens when an underground Twin Cities hip hop veteran picks the softest song on Beatles for Sale as his favorite track on the album? On this episode we bring in our old friend Alexei, known as Crescent Moon from Kill the Vultures and Mixed Blood Majority, to talk about why I’ll Follow the...
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I'll Follow The Sun - Lecture Series 74 (bonus)
What if Paul’s gentle breakup song is secretly in the wrong key? In this lecture Kenyon takes I’ll Follow The Sun apart piece by piece, starting with the lyrics and their roots in an earlier Paul song, I’ll Be On My Way. We look at rain and sun as more than mood words. Rain can stand in for...
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Rock And Roll Music - Episode 73 with Giggens
In this episode of our Beatles podcast, we invite music critic and musician Giggens into the room to help us pick apart why this cover still hits like a shot of adrenaline. Let's take Rock and Roll Music and make it Beatles. We kick off with our usual on-mic chaos, then settle into the fun stuff:...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A Beatles podcast that goes song-by-song through every Beatles release in chronological order. We focus on the music itself, breaking down what you’re hearing and why it works.
Website: https://www.notebynoteseries.com
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/NoteByNoteSeries
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notebynoteseries
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
HOSTED BY
Note By Note Series
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Beatles: Note By Note have?
The Beatles: Note By Note currently has 176 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Beatles: Note By Note about?
A Beatles podcast that goes song-by-song through every Beatles release in chronological order. We focus on the music itself, breaking down what you’re hearing and why it works. Website: https://www.notebynoteseries.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/NoteByNoteSeries Instagram:...
How often does The Beatles: Note By Note release new episodes?
The Beatles: Note By Note publishes regularly with 176 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to The Beatles: Note By Note?
You can listen to The Beatles: Note By Note on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Beatles: Note By Note?
The Beatles: Note By Note is created and hosted by Note By Note Series.
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