"Let It Be" is one of The Beatles' most famous and well-loved songs, and was the last single released before McCartney officially left the group (Lennon, as Wikipedia mentions, had already left the band at that point).
McCartney was inspired to write the song after having a dream about his mother, who passed away from cancer when Paul was 14. In his dream, she said to him, "It will be all right, just let it be." He later said he found the dream very comforting and reassuring, a feeling he channeled into the song very well in my opinion.
While Rolling Stone ranked "Let It Be" at number 8 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", "Ian MacDonald had a dissenting opinion, writing that the song 'achieved a popularity well out of proportion to its artistic weight' and that it was ''Hey Jude', without the musical and emotional release.'" John Lennon also commented on the song, with his usual disdain for Paul's work:
That's Paul. What can you say? Nothing to do with the Beatles. It could've been Wings. I don't know what he's thinking when he writes "Let It Be". I think it was inspired by "Bridge over Troubled Waters" [sic]. That's my feeling, although I have nothing to go on. I know that he wanted to write a "Bridge over Troubled Waters".
[He was mistaken, however, as "Bridge over Troubled Water" was released almost a full year after "Let It Be". Perhaps Simon & Garfunkel were inspired by McCartney rather than the other way around.]
I find "Let It Be" very relaxing, though I don't relate to its religious overtones or absorb them on a personal level. Also, I of course really enjoyed the version from Across the Universe, which was sung by Carol Woods and Timothy T Mitchum. The church choir singing in the background was, I think, a fitting substitute for the organ in the original version.
That's all for today! See you tomorrow.
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Heard It Tally: 49
Songs Completed: 194
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