‘Free As A Bird’ is a song that John Lennon had started working on in 1977. Yoko Ono had a cassette tape of John singing and playing it on piano which she gave to Paul McCartney. Paul, along with Ringo and George took it into the studio and recorded a version with all of their vocals as well as guitar and drums to make it sound as if all 4 of the Beatles had recorded it together. This happened 25 years after the Beatles had disbanded and 15 years after John Lennon had been assassinated. The song was released as a promotion for an Anthology compilation album. Despite a less than enthusiastic review from the critics (some claimed it sounded like a dirge) the song still reached number 2 on the UK singles chart and top 10 in many other countries.
Lyrics
It’s the next best thing to be
Free as a bird
Home and dry
Like a homing bird I fly
As a bird on wings
Can we really live without each other?
Where did we lose the touch
That seemed to mean so much
It always made me feel so
It’s the next best thing to be
Free as a bird
Like a homing bird I fly
As a bird on wings
The love that we once knew?
Always made me feel so free
It’s the next best thing to be
Free as a bird
Free as a bird
Ooh, ooh, ooh