Unless you’re a pretty diehard fan of horror author Stephen King, you may not know that he’s quite the Beatles fan. King has incorporated quite a few of the Fab Four’s songs into his books; with one song in particular spanning multiple books. Let’s look at five Beatles songs that Stephen King included in his stories!
1. “Let It Be”
The famed 1970 hit song “Let It Be” by The Beatles was featured in King’s 2013 novel Doctor Sleep. A now-grown Danny Torrance is being tormented by his own “shining” abilities, childhood trauma, and the powers that be, and he hears a variety of different Beatles songs throughout key moments of the book. The lyrics “Mother Mary come to me” are prominent in one scene.
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2. “Ticket To Ride”
“Ticket To Ride” by The Beatles made a quite famous appearance in Stephen King’s famed 1977 novel The Shining. The Fab Four aren’t explicitly mentioned in the book, but their music forms some of the ambiance at the Overlook Hotel. Specifically, the Big Band in the story performs “Ticket To Ride” for their audience.
3. “I Am The Walrus”
The 1967 track “I Am The Walrus” appeared in King’s 2001 novel Dreamcatcher. We don’t want to spoil too much here, but a psychiatrist in the story named Henry Devlin sings this famous Beatles tune during an attempt to destroy a parasitic alien’s eggs. We’ll just leave it at that.
4. “Hey Jude”
This iconic Beatles song actually appeared in several Stephen King books. It looks like King’s quite a fan of this 1968 ballad. It appeared in The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, Sleeping Beauties, and even Doctor Sleep. In Sleeping Beauties, in particular, it appears as a ringtone. King never confirmed why he used this particular Beatles song so often, but we don’t blame him. It’s a classic, after all.
5. “Instant Karma (We All Shine On)”
Alright, this isn’t a Beatles song. It’s a John Lennon solo classic. But we had to add it into the mix, solely because it basically inspired The Shining. Stephen King confirmed that the lyrics from that song, “We all shine on” got under King’s skin and (partially) became the title of what would be his most famous novel.
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