Allie Sherlock and the Elmore String Quartet at the The National Lottery's Big Jubilee Street Party with Jason Manford and Fleur East from the AO Arena in Manchester. Broadcast on Saturday 4th June 2022

John Lennon wrote In My Life in 1965 in the form of a long poem reminiscing on his childhood years. The original version of the lyrics was based on a bus route he used to take in Liverpool, naming various sites along the way, including Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields. Lennon later thought the original lyrics were "ridiculous", calling it a 'What I Did on My Holidays Bus Trip' song.

He reworked the words and replaced the specific memories with a generalised meditation on his past. According to Lennon's friend and biographer Peter Shotton, the lines "Some are dead and some are living/In my life I've loved them all" referred to himself and the Beatles original bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe, who had died in 1962.

Lennon claimed to have written the music for the verses, whereas McCartney claimed to have written the music for the whole song.

Lennon asked George Martin to write a Baroque style piano piece for the instrumental bridge. To make it easier to play, Martin recorded the piece an octave lower at half speed. When played back at normal pace the piano was twice as fast and an octave higher, giving the solo a unique timbre, reminiscent of a harpsichord.