10 Beatles Songs Not Written By The Beatles

10. Paint It Black - Rolling Stones

Ever since both of their beginnings in the ‘60s, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones always seemed to be in an interlocked battle. Though both bands had very different approaches to their craft, their rises to fame were so close together that it seemed almost inevitable for them to be rivals. The Stones may have been more of a blues outfit than their Liverpudlian counterparts, but it’s not like they weren’t listening to their competition.

As the ‘60s turned a corner, the Beatles helped usher in a new era of psychedelia, with songs like “Norwegian Wood” featuring the first use of Eastern instruments like sitar in popular music. Not to be outdone, The Stones’ “Paint It Black” was a dark trip into psychedelic wonder, with Brian Jones brandishing a sitar just like George Harrison.

It seems like blatant copying to see these guys holding a sitar right after the Beatles played one, but “Paint It Black” fits quite comfortably into the Stones’ model, with the hypnotic sounds feeling much more sinister when paired with Mick Jagger’s vocals. People will probably never stop comparing the Stones and the Beatles, but in the case of this song, this is a one-to-one comparison that is able to please both sides of the argument.