The Beatles‘ music videos went to some strange places. These clips paved the way for music videos to become a more dominant art form in the 1980s. While The Beatles’ music videos influenced later generations, some of them are loaded with 1960s psychedelic imagery.
5. ‘Penny Lane’
“Penny Lane” is one of The Beatles’ most psychedelic No. 1 singles, so it makes sense it gave us one of their most psychedelic music videos. Some of the clip makes the titular area of Liverpool look cool, just like the song, but the video ends with the Fab Four at a quirky outdoor tea party. They wear identical red outfits that probably deserve to be more iconic.
It’s not a literal interpretation of the song’s lyrics, paving the way for artists like Nirvana and Lady Gaga to take their music videos in similar non-literal directions.
4. ‘Something’
“Something” is one of The Beatles’ best ballads because of its simple elegance. The music video for the tune has a similar simple elegance. It’s also a big deal because it shows each of the Fab Four with their current paramours — John Lennon with Yoko Ono, Paul McCartney with Linda McCartney, George Harrison with Pattie Boyd, and Ringo Starr with Mo Starkey. It’s a lot more personal than the band’s other clips, and it’s cool to see each of these couples together during their glory years. Each of these pairs looks like they’re in love even if George’s and Ringo’s marriages didn’t work out.
3. ‘Rain’
“Rain” is one of The Beatles’ best songs, partly because it easily lends itself to so many different interpretations. In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul says the song is just about rain, but it’s easy to look for a psychological or political meaning in the track.
The music video for “Rain” is comparatively simple: it’s just a performance of the song in stark black-and-white. On rare occasions, the best thing a music video can do is let the song speak for itself. The clip for “Rain” does exactly that.
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2. ‘Hey Jude’
The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” is a bit like two songs in one. The first half is a more conventionally structured pop song, while the second half is a wonderfully endless string of “na na na.” With its strong melody, uplifting lyrics, and repetitive ending, “Hey Jude” is one of the greatest sing-a-long tracks of all time.
The music video for “Hey Jude” leans into this aspect of the song. The clip shows the Fab Four singing the song to a large crowd that joins in the fun. The only thing better than a Beatles sing-a-long is a Beatles sing-a-long with The Beatles.
1. ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’
“Strawberry Fields Forever” is still one of the weirdest tunes ever to crack the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. The music video lives up to the song.
In the clip for “Strawberry Fields Forever,” the Fab Four play around with a painted piano while the film stock changes, things move backward, and Ringo dresses like a newsy crossed with a circus clown. It’s a hippie fever dream.
While many of The Beatles’ songs did not come with a music video, the band proved they knew how to make memorable visuals over and over again.
