"Lovely Rita, Meter Maid" and "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" are as much part of popular mythology as "Little Dorrit" or "Macbeth". Strawberry fields, fool-topped hills and long and winding roads are all part of a collective subconscious stretching from New York to New Delhi. This book tells the story behind every one of The Beatles' songs. Who was Eleanor Rigby, and was Polythene Pam a figment of John Lennon's imagination or a real, flesh-and-blood person? What stories and emotions influenced them and how do they reflect the development of The Beatles' distinctive musical style?