| Yesterday (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | |
|---|---|
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| Soundtrack album by various artists | |
| Released | 21 June 2019 |
| Recorded | 2018 |
| Length | 56:18 |
| Label | Capitol |
Yesterday (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is thesoundtrack to the 2019 filmYesterday. Released through Capitol Records on 21 June 2019, the soundtrack consisted of 27 tracks, mostly covers ofthe Beatles' songs performed in the film byHimesh Patel andLily James, and cues from the incidental music underscored byDaniel Pemberton.
The film featured several Beatles songs performed by Patel, withAdem Ilhan as the film'smusic supervisor.[1] For licensing the Beatles' discography, the producers nearly spent $10 million to acquire the rights from the band's music labelApple Records andSony/ATV Music Publishing, which owned its music catalogue.[2][3]
Daniel Pemberton underscored the incidental music, in his second collaboration with Boyle afterSteve Jobs (2015). Pemberton recorded the music for 3–4 weeks during mid-2018, simultaneously with that ofSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.[4] The recording held at theAbbey Road Studios (where Beatles had recorded most of the songs)[5] and by mimicking the musical style of the band, Pemberton used theMrs. Mills' piano which the band utilised it for the song "Lady Madonna" (1968) and placed tea towels over drums "to give them Ringo’s very distinctive dampened sound".[6]
According to Pemberton, "The idea was to get him comfortable with the songs and getting him to the stage where basically he could play Wembley Stadium."[6] He worked with Patel to perform the covers of each song in a unique, as Boyle liked the "very raw, human performances" and refrained from over-produced sounds. Hence, he built Himesh a band for rehearsals so that he would be confident to play with other musicians and also perform in street corners to get into the character.[6] Pemberton also recorded "Hey Dude" (Ed Sheeran's cover of "Hey Jude") for the film, though he was against doing so; he utilized the chorus of the original cover and used it in this song as well.[4]
On 14 June 2019,Capitol Records unveiled the track list of the film's soundtrack that had featured 27 songs, along with a live studio performance of Patel recording the vocals for "Yesterday".[7] The soundtrack was released the following week, in music streaming platforms and a 180-gramdouble LP vinyl record was unveiled on July 12.[7][8]
Two original songs from the film performed byEd Sheeran — "One Life" and "Penguins" — do not appear on the soundtrack.[1][9] Both later appeared on Sheeran's Tour Edition of his= album.[10]
Marcy Donelson ofAllMusic wrote "For the most part, Patel and the music department accomplish what they set out to do here, but in a world where the Beatles recordings do exist, nearly an hour of middle-of-the-road Beatles covers is the domain of die-hard Patel fans."[11] Celine Teo-Blockey ofUnder the Radar assigned 5/10 to the album and wrote "when one gets home from the movie theatre, surely it’s the original Fab Four that’s going on the stereo or streaming device and not this soundtrack."[12] Megan Sagar ofUmusic called it as "a delightful tribute toThe Beatles discography".[13]
| No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Yesterday" (film version) (live atAbbey Road Studios) | Himesh Patel | 1:32 |
| 2. | "The World Is Universal[a]" (Universal Fanfare) | Daniel Pemberton | 0:22 |
| 3. | "Summer Song" (film version) (live at Abbey Road Studios) | Himesh Patel | 1:48 |
| 4. | "Interlude I: A Day in the Life" | Daniel Pemberton | 0:51 |
| 5. | "I Saw Her Standing There" (Tracks on the Tracks sessions) | Himesh Patel | 1:45 |
| 6. | "Something" (from the albumOne Man Only) | Himesh Patel | 2:48 |
| 7. | "Let It Be" (from the albumOne Man Only) | Himesh Patel | 3:58 |
| 8. | "Interlude II: Strawberries" | Daniel Pemberton | 0:41 |
| 9. | "Carry That Weight" (film version) (live at Abbey Road Studios) | Himesh Patel | 1:48 |
| 10. | "Here Comes The Sun" (from the albumOne Man Only) | Himesh Patel | 2:49 |
| 11. | "The Long and Winding Road" (recorded backstage) | Himesh Patel | 1:38 |
| 12. | "Interlude III: Gorleston Beach" | Daniel Pemberton | 0:34 |
| 13. | "Help!" (live at Pier Hotel) | Himesh Patel | 2:38 |
| 14. | "Yesterday" (from the albumOne Man Only) | Himesh Patel | 2:11 |
| 15. | "She Loves You" (Tracks on the Tracks sessions) | Himesh Patel | 1:37 |
| 16. | "A Hard Day's Night" (from the albumOne Man Only) | Himesh Patel | 2:43 |
| 17. | "Something" (film version) (live at Abbey Road Studios) | Himesh Patel | 1:02 |
| 18. | "In My Life" (from the albumOne Man Only) | Himesh Patel | 2:48 |
| 19. | "Interlude IV: Train Tracks" | Daniel Pemberton | 0:14 |
| 20. | "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (Tracks on the Tracks sessions) |
| 1:53 |
| 21. | "Back in the U.S.S.R." (live atWembley) | Himesh Patel | 2:39 |
| 22. | "All You Need Is Love" (live at Wembley) | Himesh Patel | 3:10 |
| 23. | "Interlude V: Yesterday's Rain" | Daniel Pemberton | 1:02 |
| 24. | "The Long and Winding Road" (from the albumOne Man Only) | Himesh Patel | 3:37 |
| 25. | "Hey Jude" (from the albumOne Man Only) | Himesh Patel | 6:08 |
| 26. | "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (live at Cleves School) | Himesh Patel | 3:23 |
| 27. | "Interlude VI: Life Goes On" | Daniel Pemberton | 0:39 |
| Total length: | 56:18 | ||
| Chart (2019–2021) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] | 14 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP)[15] | 26 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[16] | 12 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[17] | 78 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] | 100 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[19] | 40 |
| UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC)[20] | 2 |
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | 9 November 2019 | Outstanding Music Supervision – Film | Angela Leus | Nominated | [21] |
| Best Soundtrack Album | Nominated | ||||
| St. Louis Film Critics Association | 15 December 2019 | Best Soundtrack | Nominated | [22] | |
| World Soundtrack Awards | 12 August 2019 | Film Composer of the Year | Daniel Pemberton | Nominated | [23] |
