Song Titles And Clues In Free As A Bird: Introduction

In the promotional video for the 1995 Beatles’ single, there are many song titles and clues in the Free As A Bird video, but how many can you see? Obviously, here at the Beatles Fan Club, we list the ones we know of. Although we list 100 lines, there are times when more than one song gets a mention.

Some clues to the song titles are obvious in the video, such as the flapping wings that represent the Free As A Bird song itself. Then there are the other obvious ones, like the newspaper taxi and pig masks. However, there are many that are hard to see, like the lizard on a window pane. Indeed, there are some that are subtle, to say the least. For example, the bankers with bowler hats, as in “Taxman.”

There are also multiple references to the same song. For instance, there are a few links to “Piggies.” So, once you see the video, let us know how many Beatles’ songs you recognise. Also, tell us what other relevant links there are like door numbers, car registration plates, etc. “You Can’t Do That?” Ah, but yes, you can!

Our Top 100 Song Titles And Clues In Free As A Bird

To begin with, there are a few scenes throughout the Free As A Bird video, and each one has many clues to song titles and references to The Beatles’ career. Obviously, we split the video into their respective scenes. If you think you can see more clues than us, please make a comment below.

Birds

01) The opening scene is just “A Beginning.” of course.

02) The sound of a bird flapping its wings is similar to that on the original World Wildlife Fund version of “Across The Universe.”

03) The bird itself could represent “Flying,” “And Your Bird Can Sing,” “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown),” “Blue Jay Way,” as well as “Blackbird.”

04) Above the fireplace, the timepiece says it is five o’clock as the day begins; obviously, “She’s Leaving Home.”

05) There are other clocks in the video, but they never have the same time, so its “Any Time At All.”

06) Photographs of The Beatles as children on the mantelpiece that are so much younger than today, indicating “Help!“

07) The photographs could be those people that are “In My Life,” of course.

08) Meanwhile, in front of the George Harrison picture is an “Old Brown Shoe.”

09) The fly on the mantelpiece and the butterfly on the wall could represent “Flying” again.

10) A cat is sleeping on the armchair, as in “I’m Only Sleeping” and “Leave My Kitten Alone.”

11) As the camera leaves the room and the sun is shining “Here Comes The Sun.”

River Mersey

12) There’s a place on the River Mersey called Liverpool, and as the camera leaves the house, this is what we see: “There are places I’ll remember” for “In My Life.”

13) The dockworkers at the Liverpool docks leave in the “Rain.”

14) Those same dockers are leaving work after “A Hard Day’s Night.”

15) The Beatles walk past, but they reappear throughout the music video, so that is for “Here, There And Everywhere.”

16) We see many images of The Beatles as in “All Together Now,” after all, they are just “Boys.”

Cavern Club

17) The bouncer outside the Cavern Club has a flattop hairstyle, so we get the lyric “Here come old flattop” from “Come Together.”

18) Obviously, the bouncer is forcing people to “Wait,” while a policeman keeps people from queue jumping, instructing them to “Get Back.”

19) A woman queueing for the Cavern Club is wearing red tonight, as in “Yes It Is.”

20) The camera swoops down to access the Cavern Club; as it does so, we see a lady waiting and blocking the camera, but the camera has the illusion of passing through her. Also, the boy might also be doing the same thing: “I’m Looking Through You.”

21) The Beatles are obviously onstage in the Cavern Club. There’s not much footage of them singing there but their first song from a TV documentary was “Some Other Guy.”

22) Obviously, what The Beatles are giving us is “A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues” and some “Rock And Roll Music.”

Strawberry Field

23) The entrance to Strawberry Field is pretty obvious but then the camera shots go from high to low, so this is an obvious reference to “Strawberry Fields Forever.”

24) A walker uses a stick to thrash the bushes; “what they need is a damn good whacking,” as in “Piggies,” and while he is in Strawberry Field, he becomes “Mother Nature’s Son.”

Busy Street Scene

25) Maxwell’s Hardware Store is in the row of shops in the street scene, so we get “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.”

26) Next door to Maxwell’s is Dylan’s shop, “Just like Dylan’s Mister Jones,” representing “Yer Blues.”

27) The delivery driver of the Liverpool Egg Co. is delivering eggs; obviously, he is the “eggman” as in “I Am The Walrus.”

28) The delivery driver’s hands are full, as in “Carry That Weight.”

29) Children run across the road—”See how they run” for both “Lady Madonna” and “I Am The Walrus,” again.

30) Two of those children are holding hands, so we get, “I Want To Hold Your Hand.”

31) Two bankers with bowler hats, representing “Taxman.”

32) A pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray, feeling as if she is in a play, which she is, of course. She is also outside a barber shop, which is showing photographs in the front window, obviously rich pickings from “Penny Lane.”

33) Behind her are the vegetable stalls, and there’s a barrow in the market place, as in “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.”

34) The cigarette machine to the right of the barber’s shop: “Curse Sir Walter Raleigh” and “I’ll have another cigarette,” representing “I’m So Tired.”

35) The barber says goodbye to a customer leaving his shop while another man tips his hat to say hello, as in “Hello, Goodbye.”

Polythene Pam

36) The sign in a shop window behind actress Kate Ford (Tracy Barlow in Coronation Street) obviously says “Help!” (again).

37) The girl behind Kate is wearing a black plastic mac, representing “Polythene Pam,” and because of her coat, “Baby’s In Black.”

38) Both actresses are obviously going to “Act Naturally.”

39) Ringo Starr stops suddenly as he leaves a shop, so he is going to “Wait” (again).

40) A young boy whispers secretively into the ear of an older girl, “Do You Want To Know A Secret” and “I Want To Tell You.”

41) John Lennon and Yoko Ono cuddle in a car as in “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?“

42) Lennon is thinking “All You Need Is Love” because it’s “Real Love.”

43) The baker’s shop has a cake on display with the words Happy “Birthday.”

44) The cake in question also shows the numbers six and four; this is obviously a reference to “When I’m Sixty-Four.”

45) George Harrison walks into the Apple Headquarters at number 3 Savile Row, but the sign outside says “Doctor Robert.” Obviously, the receptionist will say to him, “Step Inside Love.”

Car Crash

46) Ringo loads his camera for “This Boy,” of course.

47) People are running towards a road traffic accident, as in “Run For Your Life.”

48) A crowd are watching over a car crash, so we get the lyric, “A crowd of people stood and stared” as in “A Day In The Life.”

49) John Lennon is in the crowd of onlookers, not so much a song but for the Paul is dead theory.

50) The crash scene also shows a fire engine, which is a clean machine in “Penny Lane” (again).

51) You were in a car crash, and you lost your hair. “Don’t Pass Me By.”

52) Also at the crash scene are policemen standing in a row. “I Am The Walrus” (again).

53) The lady in the van looks like she is in pain. This represents “Misery” and “Cry Baby Cry” as well as “It’s All Too Much.”

54) The camera then pans on towards a “Helter Skelter” slide.

55) Above the helter skelter is a kite flying high in the sky. This is representing “Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite!“

Piggies

56) Children skip happily down a back lane in pig masks for “Piggies” (again) but also “See how they run” as in “I Am The Walrus” (again).

57) Another word for back lane is “alley.” So we get the lyric “And he ducked back in the alley” from “Long Tall Sally.”

58) A sunflower in the back street is growing “so incredibly high” as in “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”

58) Another obvious clue: a ladder leads into an open bathroom window and a girl enters as with “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.”

Paperback Writer

60) When the camera pans onto the house opposite, there’s a lizard on the window pane. An easy clue that represents “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.”

61) Through the window, we see a gentleman who is typing at his desk; he is obviously the “Paperback Writer.”

62) The typist could also be writing a love letter, “From Me To You” ending with “All My Loving” as well as “PS I Love You.”

63) Behind the typist, we see a clock showing a time of ten past ten. Of course, that’s “One After 909.”

64) On a nearby table is a book by Edgar Alan Poe, as in “I Am The Walrus” (again).

65) There’s also a copy of the Daily Mail as in “Paperback Writer” (again).

66) The Daily Mail carries a headline about 4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire. Therefore, this represents “A Day In The Life” (again).

67) The bowl of green apples represents The Beatles’ own record label, “Apple.” The first release on that label was “Hey Jude.”

68) Near the apples is a box of chocolates for “Savoy Truffle.”

69) Cigarette in the ashtray, “I’m So Tired” (again).

70) Near the television is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, as in “Penny Lane” (again) and “Her Majesty.”

71) Before the camera exits through the window, there is an image of Chairman Mao, “Revolution” and “Revolution 1.”

Blue Meanies

72) After exiting the house, we see a worker on a roof who is “Fixing A Hole.”

73) A Blue Meanie pops up from the same hole from the “Yellow Submarine” film.

74) Next to the roofer fixing the hole is a cuddly monkey toy, “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey” as well as “Too Much Monkey Business.”

75) The newspaper taxi arriving is so obvious: “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”

76) The girl goes to the newspaper taxi “For No One.”

77) As she leaves the home, she looks so innocent; in fact, “Ain’t She Sweet,” and there’s just “Something” in the way she moves.

78) Hold on, she isn’t a “Girl”; in fact, “She’s A Woman.”

79) Basically, she is just a “Day Tripper,” but if she could catch a bus if she had a “Ticket To Ride.”

80) On the pavement, a man is walking his bulldog, so an obvious reference to “Hey Bulldog.”

81) People are carrying a picture of Chairman Mao “Revolution” and “Revolution 1” (again).

82) John Lennon and Yoko Ono dance a waltz in the middle of the road; in other words, “I’m Happy Just To Dance With You.”

83) Another Blue Meanie pops up from a manhole cover; he “sleeps in a hole in the road” as in “Mean Mr Mustard.”

84) Passing the end of the street is the bus from “Magical Mystery Tour.”

Party Scene

85) A line of people leave for a hunting mission complete with an elephant and he always takes his mom, of course, “The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill.”

86) In the party scene, Brian Epstein gets ready to leave “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party.”

87) There is a small recreation of the “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album cover showing Stuart Sutcliffe, of course.

88) Sunbeams shine through the glass dome in the roof, so “Here Comes The Sun” and “The Inner Light” as well as “I’ll Follow The Sun” and “Sun King.”

89) There are many times that we see bright light between the various clips. That is representing the “Carnival Of Light.”

Eleanor Rigby

90) In the cemetery, a statue of the Virgin Mary moves, “Mother Mary comes to me” as in “Let It Be.”

91) A vicar (Father Mckenzie) walks away from the grave of “Eleanor Rigby.” Of course, the vicar knows that “All Things Must Pass.”

92) Paul McCartney’s Old English Sheepdog runs through the graveyard, “Martha My Dear.”

93) A road twists and turns in the distance as far as the eye can see, “The long and Winding Road.”

94) Paul McCartney, in a long overcoat, dances wildly in the mountain view; he is “The Fool On The Hill,” of course.

95) Below McCartney, on the roadway, is a woman walking with a suitcase, as in “She’s Leaving Home.”

Abbey Road

96) A meter maid (female traffic warden) walks over the Abbey Road zebra crossing, representing “Lovely Rita.”

97) An expensive Rolls-Royce car drives over the Abbey Road crossing, representing “Baby You’re A Rich Man.”

98) The film then transforms back to the black-and-white scenes. This represents the theatre scene in the 1964 film “A Hard Day’s Night” (again).

99) In the final scene, on the stage, is a man with a ukulele, and watching him is a figure who looks like a joker. Therefore, we have “I Am The Walrus” (again).

100) Finally, the curtain comes down for “The End.”

Song Titles And Clues In Free As A Bird: Conclusion

Although The Beatles performed together for little over a decade, they left a legacy that will last forever. We are all living in an era where Beatles music is still current. Indeed, it is a period of time that people will talk about for a long time to come. A bit like when we talk about Beethoven, Bach, etc.

The “Free As A Bird” video has so many pointers to songs in their back catalogue. It is a masterpiece in its own right.

As you can see, there are many song titles and clues in the Free As A Bird video. But we may not have caught them all. This is where you step in and help us out. So, “Tell Me What You See,” and “Tell Me Why” you see it!

Of course, you may reply here or in The Beatles Forum. In fact, in the Fab Four Message Boards, there is a thread specifically for the song titles and clues in Free As A Bird. So, pop over and have your say.

Check The Video For Song Titles In Free As A Bird

Take a listen to the song again. Once you do, you can comment below with your opinions about the song. You can also tell us if you can see evidence of another song that we didn’t catch. Go on, we dare you!