"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles (also known as "the White Album"). It was written by Paul McCartney[4][5][6] and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. Following the album's release, the song was issued as a single in many countries, although not in the United Kingdom or the United States, and topped singles charts in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and West Germany. When belatedly issued as a single in the United States in 1976, it peaked at number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100.
McCartney wrote "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" in a cod Jamaican ska style and appropriated a phrase popularised by Jimmy Scott, a London-based Nigerian musician, for the song's title and chorus. Following its release, Scott attempted, unsuccessfully, to receive a composing credit. The recording sessions for the track were marked by disharmony as McCartney's perfectionism tested his bandmates and their recording staff. A heated argument during one of the sessions led to Geoff Emerick quitting his job as the Beatles' recording engineer. A discarded early version of the track, featuring Scott on congas, was going to be released as a single in the mid-1980s, but was eventually included on the band's 1996 compilation Anthology 3.
The Beatles' decision not to release the single in the UK or the US led to several cover recordings by other artists, who sought to achieve a chart hit with the song.
