Romancing the Beatles by Milou Koenings

The Beatles posted a question on their Facebook page this month: If you could put a Beatles lyric on a billboard, which lyric would it be?

The Beatles have been the soundtrack of my life since before I was born. My mom said she listened to only two songs, practically 24 hours a day, when she was pregnant with me. One of them was "Yellow Submarine."

(The other was by Nancy Sinatra, "These Boots Are Made for Walking" ‑ which may explain my obsession with country music, but should be reserved for another blog post.)

So you could say I imbibed the Beatles with my mother's milk.  It was pretty shocking to me when I visited my little sister in college and one of her roommates actually asked, "Who are the Beatles?" Really?  

Honestly, I think one of my BFFs of two decades only ever became friends with me because I once was within two meters of Paul McCartney. And in his field of vision. And he spoke to me (and everyone else in the place, but that includes me, right?) So that's almost like meeting him, isn't it?

Anyway, back to the Beatles question.  I saw it and noticed that there had already been 43,000 replies, so I was curious which song got the most votes. I figured there would be some top contenders: Let it be. All you need is love (which by the way is so not true... kindness, respect, thoughtfulness, loyalty...) Come together. Or even Help!

And sure enough, they were all there. "And in the end, the love you make is equal to the love you take" was also there a lot. And there were many, many political commentaries based on this lyric or that.

I can't say I read all 43,000 comments, but one entry surprised and delighted me. It is one of my favorites but I've always thought it's a bit obscure among all the famous Beatle songs. Yet as I was scrolling down the comments, people consistently kept choosing it. I'm not tallying the votes, but from what I could see, it would definitely come in among the top picks. It was this one:

There are places I remember

All my life though some have changed

Some forever not for better ...

In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers

There is no one compares with you

And these memories lose their meaning

When I think of love as something new...

In my life I love you more

Putting something up on a billboard is the equivalent of shouting it to the world, so I felt so uplifted that so many people would choose to broadcast to their loved one how important they are to them. Far more than universal slogans or political comments, people voted for romancing their special one. 

Romance rules, yet again!

So ... which Beatles song would you pick?

Milou Koenings is a USA Today bestselling author. She writes romance because, like chocolate, stories with a happy ending bring more joy into the world and so make it a better place.

Her other Green Pines sweet romances, I Love You Three, The Kampala Peppermint Twist, Reclaiming Home, and Sweet Blizzard are available on Amazon,  Amazon.uk, iBooks, Nook, Kobo and all your favorite e-book retailers.

Sign up for her newsletter, so you'll be first to know about new releases!


Don’t forget to sign up for the Sweet Romance Reads newsletter. Scroll down the right side of our blog and enter your email address under Newsletter Signup. And come join us in the Facebook Sweet Romance Reads Café , where we get to know each other and every so often we have the greatest parties!