The Long and Winding Road

Summary

"The Long and Winding Road" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album Let It Be. A piano ballad, it was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. McCartney composed it at his Scotland farm in 1968, driven by the Beatles' increasing bitterness towards each other. As he did so, he "imagined it was going to be done by someone like Ray Charles", according to his recollection. The main recording of the song took place in January 1969 and featured a sparse arrangement of piano, bass, guitar, and percussion. With the Let It Be album project disrupted, John Lennon and George Harrison lent the band's January 1969 recordings, including that of "The Long and Winding Road", to producer Phil Spector in hopes that an album could materialise. He added orchestral and choral overdubs to the song.