Disclaimer: Ranking his best songs is a tricky endeavor as Lennon and Paul McCartney agreed from the very beginning to share writing credit under the “Lennon/McCartney” duo, regardless of who wrote the song.
As a rule, our list does not include songs primarily written by Paul: “Love Me Do,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Eight Days a Week,” “Yesterday,” “Michelle,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Yellow Submarine,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Paperback Writer,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “With a Little Help From My Friends,” “When I’m 64,” “Hello, Goodbye,” “Penny Lane,” “Back in the USSR,” “Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da,” “Blackbird,” “Helter Skelter,” “Birthday,” “Let It Be,” “The Long and Winding Road,” “Get Back,” “Lady Madonna,” “Hey Jude”
Likewise, you won’t find “Here Comes the Sun,” “Something” or “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” which were all written by George Harrison, nor will you find Beatles covers of other artists, namely “Twist and Shout.”
Without further ado, on with the list!
30. “Give Peace a Chance”
20. “Tomorrow Never Knows”
19. “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
18. “Across the Universe”
14. “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
12. “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”
10. “All You Need is Love”
6. “Instant Karma (We All Shine On)”
5. “Strawberry Fields Forever”
1. “Imagine”
WTOP's Jason Fraley salutes John Lennon (Part 2)
