Peak
6
Weeks
11
Score
1,260
Chart Year
1996
"Free as a Bird" is a single released in December 1995 by the Beatles. The song was originally written and recorded in 1977 as a home demo by John Lennon. In 1995, 25 years after their break-up and 15 years after Lennon's murder, his then surviving bandmates Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr released a studio version incorporating the demo. The single was released as part of the promotion for The Beatles Anthology video documentary and the Anthology 1 compilation album. For the Anthology project, McCartney asked Lennon's widow Yoko Ono for unreleased material by Lennon to which the three remaining ex-Beatles could contribute. "Free as a Bird" was one of two such songs (along with "Real Love") for which McCartney, Harrison, and Starr contributed additional instrumentation, vocals, and arrangements. Jeff Lynne, who had worked with Harrison on Harrison's album Cloud Nine and as part of the Traveling Wilburys, co-produced. The song peaked at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also became a top-ten hit in at least 10 other countries, including Australia, Canada, Hungary and Sweden. It won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and was the Beatles' 34th top-ten single in the United States, meaning they had at least one top-forty hit in four different decades. The music video was produced by Vincent Joliet and directed by Joe Pytka. Shot from the point of view of a bird in flight, it includes allusions to numerous Beatles songs.
Free as a bird It's the next best thing to be Free as a bird Home, home and dry Like a homing bird, I'll fly As a bird on wings Whatever happened to The life that we once knew 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 Free as a bird Like the next best thing to be Free as a bird Home, home and dry Like a homing bird, I'll fly As a bird on wings Whatever happened to The life that we once knew Always made me feel so free Free as a bird It's the next best thing to be Free as a bird, free as a bird Free as a bird
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dec 30, 1995 | 10 | 116 |
| 2 | Jan 6, 1996 | 6 | 120 |
| 3 | Jan 13, 1996 | 15 | 111 |
| 4 | Jan 20, 1996 | 32 | 94 |
| 5 | Jan 27, 1996 | 57 | 69 |
| 6 | Feb 3, 1996 | 63 | 63 |
| 7 | Feb 10, 1996 | 77 | 49 |
| 8 | Feb 17, 1996 | 91 | 35 |
| 9 | Feb 24, 1996 | 98 | 28 |
| 10 | Mar 2, 1996 | 93 | 33 |
| 11 | Mar 9, 1996 | 99 | 27 |