“Good Day Sunshine”

Paul McCartney wrote it at John Lennon’s house, with a little help from John, and the Beatles recorded it that June for Revolver. Paul wanted something sunny, a nod to the Lovin’ Spoonful’s hit “Daydream,” with an old-time, almost trad-jazz bounce. There are no guitars on it at all: piano carries the tune, and producer George Martin played the solo with the tape slowed down. Then it traveled far. NASA used it to wake a Space Shuttle crew, and in November 2005 Paul played it live from a concert in Anaheim to astronaut Bill McArthur and cosmonaut Valery Tokarev aboard the International Space Station, the first concert link-up to the station.