Released: September 26, 1969

Songwriter: Ringo Starr

Producer: George Martin

[Verse 1]
I’d like to be under the sea
In an octopus’s garden in the shade
He’d let us in, knows where we’ve been
In his octopus’s garden in the shade
I’d ask my friends to come and see
An octopus’s garden with me

[Chorus]
I’d like to be under the sea
In an octopus’s garden in the shade

[Verse 2]
We would be warm below the storm
In our little hide-a-way beneath the waves
Resting our head on the sea bed
In an octopus’s garden near a cave
We would sing and dance around
Because we know we can’t be found

[Chorus]
I’d like to be under the sea
In an octopus’s garden in the shade

[Guitar Solo]

[Verse 3]
We would shout and swim about
The coral that lies beneath the waves (Lies beneath the ocean waves)
Oh what joy for every girl and boy
Knowing they’re happy and they’re safe (Happy and they’re safe)
We would be so happy, you and me
No one there to tell us what to do

[Chorus]
I’d like to be under the sea
In an octopus’s garden with you

[Outro]
In an octopus’s garden with you
In an octopus’s garden with you

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.