Released: July 7, 1967

Songwriter: Lennon-McCartney Paul McCartney John Lennon

Producer: George Martin

[Verse 1]
How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?
Now that you know who you are
What do you want to be?
And have you traveled very far?
Far as the eye can see

[Verse 2]
How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?
How often have you been there?
Often enough to know
What did you see when you were there?
Nothing that doesn't show

[Chorus]
Baby, you're a rich man
Baby, you're a rich man
Baby, you're a rich man, too
You keep all your money in a big brown bag inside a zoo
What a thing to do
Baby, you're a rich man
Baby, you're a rich man
Baby, you're a rich man, too

[Verse 3]
How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?
Tuned to a natural E
Happy to be that way
Now that you've found another key
What are you going to play?

[Chorus]
Baby, you're a rich man
Baby, you're a rich man
Baby, you're a rich man, too
You keep all your money in a big brown bag inside a zoo
What a thing to do
Baby, baby, you're a rich man
Baby, you're a rich man
Baby, you're a rich man, too
Oh, baby, you're a rich man
Baby, you're a rich man
Baby, baby you're a rich man, too

The Beatles

The Beatles are arguably the most famous, critically-acclaimed, and successful rock band of all time—certainly the preeminent group of the 20th century. They started out as four teenagers playing grimy basement clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg, but they progressed to become world-beating rock stars who are still influential to this day.

John Lennon first formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen in March 1957. A fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined shortly thereafter, eventually inviting his friend George Harrison to audition for the band. After finally impressing John with his guitar skills, George was asked to join—but this juncture would be short-lived as John’s departure to college signaled the other quarrymen to go their separate ways.

By 1960, Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison had re-branded from ‘Johnny & the Moondogs’ to ‘The Silver Beetles’ at the behest of their new bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe. The name would eventually evolve into ‘The Silver Beatles’ by July of that year, before settling on ‘The Beatles’ come August—just in time for their trip to Hamburg with new drummer, Pete Best. Though club residencies in Germany would prove fundamental to the group’s progress as a whole, the tour turned out to be a blessing and a curse, following the deportation of a then-seventeen-year-old George Harrison, and the eventual tragic death of Stuart Sutcliffe.

more tracks from the album

The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) Boxset