A Day in the Life
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The Beatles
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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
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Not Rated
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Information
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Released
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1967
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Genre
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Rock
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Language
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English
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Length
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5:11
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Source
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The Beatles: Rock Band
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Available
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9 September 2009
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Playable in
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The Beatles: Rock Band
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Difficulty
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Band
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3   
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Basic
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Pro
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Guitar
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2   
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NoNo Part
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Bass
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2   
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NoNo Part
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Drums
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5   
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5   
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Keys
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4   
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4   
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Vocals
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3   
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3   
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Details
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Male singer
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2-part Harmonies
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A Day in the Life is a song by The Beatles which a 41 piece orchestra played on this. The musicians were told to attend the session dressed formally. When they got there, they were presented with party novelties (false noses, party hats, gorilla-paw glove) to wear, which made it clear this was not going to be a typical session. The orchestra was conducted by Paul McCartney, who told them to start with the lowest note of their instruments and gradually play to the highest. (thanks, Jes - Mason City, IA)
This was recorded in 3 sessions: First the basic track, then the orchestra, then the last note was dubbed in.
The beginning of this song was based on 2 stories John Lennon read in the Daily Mail newspaper: Guinness heir Tara Browne dying when he smashed his lotus into a parked van, and an article in the UK Daily Express in early 1967 which told of how the Blackburn Roads Surveyor had counted 4000 holes in the roads of Blackburn and commented that the volume of material needed to fill them in was enough to fill the Albert Hall. Lennon took some liberties with the Tara Browne story - he changed it so he "Blew his mind out in the car."
John Lennon stated this regarding the article about Tara Browne: "I didn't copy the accident. Tara didn't blow his mind out. But it was in my mind when I was writing that verse." At the time, Paul didn't realize the reference was to Tara. He thought it was about a "stoned politician." The article regarding the "4000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire" was taken from the UK Daily Express, January 17, 1967 in a column called "Far And Near."
John's friend Terry Doran was the one who completed John's line "Now they know how many holes it takes to fill..." Terry told him "fill the Albert Hall, John."
McCartney contributed the line "I'd love to turn you on." This was a drug reference, but the BBC banned it for the line about having a smoke and going into a dream, which they thought was about marijuana. The ban was finally lifted when author David Storey picked it as one of his Desert Island Discs.
McCartney's middle section (Woke up, got out of bed...) was intended for another song.
The final chord was produced by all 4 Beatles and George Martin banging on 3 pianos simultaneously. As the sound diminished, the engineer boosted to faders. The resulting note lasts 42 seconds, and the studio air conditioners can be heard toward the end as the faders were pushed to the limit to record it.
The rising orchestra-glissando and the thundering sound are reminiscent of "Entry of the Gods into Valhalla" from Richard Wagner's opera "Das Rheingold," where after the rising glissando, Thor beats with his hammer. George Martin said in his 1979 book All You Need is Ears that the glissando was Lennon's idea. After Lennon's death, Martin seems to have changed his mind. In his 1995 book Summer of Love: The Making of Sgt. Pepper, he states that the rising orchestra-glissando was McCartney's idea. (thanks to Johan Cavalli, who is a music historian in Stockholm)
This being the last song on the album, The Beatles found an interesting way to close it out. After the final note, Lennon had producer George Martin dub in a high pitched tone, which most humans can't hear, but drives dogs crazy. This was followed by a loop of incomprehensible studio noise, along with Paul McCartney saying "Never could see any other way," spliced together. It was put there so vinyl copies would play this continuously in the run-out groove, sounding like something went horribly wrong with the record. Kids, ask your parents about vinyl.
In 2004, McCartney did an interview with the Daily Mirror newspaper where he said he was doing cocaine around this time along with marijuana: "I'd been introduced to it, and at first it seemed OK, like anything that's new and stimulating. When you start working your way through it, you start thinking, 'This is not so cool and idea,' especially when you start getting those terrible comedowns."
The movie reference is to a film Lennon acted in called How I Won The War.
Keith Richards named his second son Tara after Tara Brown, the Guinness heir who smashes his car in Lennon's first verse. Richard's son was premature and died soon after birth.
The Beatles started this with the working title "In The Life of..."
This is a rare Beatles song with a title that is not part of the lyrics. Another one is "Yer Blues." (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
That's Mal Evans doing the counting during the first transition from John to Paul. He set the alarm clock (heard on the recording) to go off at the end of his 24-bar count. Evans also helped with the composition of a couple of songs on the Sgt. Pepper album. Although he never received composer's credit, the Beatles did pay his estate a lump sum in the 1990s for his contributions. Evans died January 5, 1976 after a misunderstanding with the police. (thanks, Brad Wind - Miami, FL)
George Martin (from Q Magazine, July 2007): "John's voice - which he hated - was the kind of thing that would send shivers down your spine. If you hear those opening chords with the guitar and piano, and then his voice comes in, 'I heard the news today, oh boy' It's just so evocative of that time. He always played his songs to me on the guitar and I would sit on a stool as he strummed. The orchestral section was Paul's idea. We put two pieces of songs together that weren't connected in any way. Then we had that 24-bars-of-nothing in between. I had to write a score, but in the climax, I gave each instrument different little waypoints at each bar, so they would know roughly where they should be when they were sliding up. Just so they didn't reach the climax too quickly. With A Day In The Life, I wondered whether we were losing our audience and I was scared. But I stopped being scared when I played it to the head of Capitol Records in America and he was gob smacked. He said, That's fantastic. And of course, it was." (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England)
In the original take, a 41 piece orchestra was not used. Instead, Lennon had roadie Mal Evans count to 21 in a very trippy manner and set off an alarm clock after the 21 counts. This version is on the 2nd Anthology CD, and is a very different version than the one on Sgt. Pepper. (thanks, Emery - San Jose, CA)
David Crosby was at Abbey Road studios when The Beatles were recording this. In an interview with Filter magazine, he said: "I was, as near as I know, the first human being besides them and George Martin and the engineers to hear A Day In The Life. I was high as a kite - so high I was hunting geese with a rake. They sat me down; they had huge speakers like coffins with wheels on that they rolled up on either side of the stool. By the time it got the end of that piano chord, man my brains were on the floor." (thanks, Brian - Williamsburg, VA)
The orchestral bit was used in the Yellow Submarine movie. Photos of different geographical areas were shown as The Beatles were apparently traveling in the submarine to try and find Pepperland. (thanks, donald - as, KY)
When asked by Rolling Stone magazine what songs of his dad's constantly surprise him, Sean Lennon said: "I've listened so much to that stuff that there are very few surprises. But I do think 'A Day In The Life' is always inspiring."
Songs available as Downloadable Content
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Released on marketplace 2011
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"2112" • "2112: Discovery, Presentation" • "2112: Oracle: The Dream, Soliloquy, Grand Finale" • "2112: Overture, The Temples of Syrinx" • "867-5309/Jenny" • "Adolescents" • "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" • "Aerials" • "Airplanes" • "All Along the Watchtower" • "All Apologies" • "Alright" (RB3 Version) • "Angel" • "Animal" (Live) • "Animals" • "Audience of One" • "Awful Beautiful Life" (RB3 Version) • "Backwoods" (RB3 Version) • "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" • "Bark at the Moon" • "Barracuda" • "Bend Down Low" • "Bicycle Race" • "Big Bang Baby" • "Billionaire" • "Black Magic Woman" • "Blood and Thunder" • "Blow Up the Outside World" • "Blue Bayou" • "Blue Jean" • "Blurry" • "Boom" • "Born This Way" • "Brand New Cadillac" • "Breaking" • "Breath" • "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" • "Burden in My Hand" • "Burnin' and Lootin'" • "By the Way" • "Californication" • "Caravan" • "The Card Cheat" • "Child in Time" • "Clampdown" • "Clocks" • "Coming in from the Cold" • "Control" • "Conventional Lover" • "Crawling" • "Crazy Town" (RB3 Version) • "Cry, Cry, Cry" • "Dance, Dance" • "The Day I Tried to Live" • "Death or Glory" • "Diary of a Madman" • "Do You Feel Like We Do" (Live) • "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" • "Dolly Dagger" • "Don't Stop Me Now" • "Don't Take Your Guns to Town" • "Don't You Want Me" • "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)" • "Dream Police" • "Dreams" • "Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White Winged Dove)" • "Every Breath You Take" • "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" • "Fame" • "Fell on Black Days" • "Fire" • "Fire and Ice" • "Five Feet High and Rising" • "Five Minutes Alone" • "Fix You" • "Fly By Night" • "Flying High Again" • "Folsom Prison Blues" • "For What It's Worth" • "Forever" • "Four Horsemen" • "Freedom" • "Freeze-Frame" • "From Out of Nowhere" • "Get Clean" • "Ghost of Perdition" • "Giddy On Up" (RB3 Version) • "Gold Cobra" • "Gold Dust Woman" • "Grenade" • "The Guns of Brixton" • "Gypsy Eyes" • "Hard Rock Hallelujah" • "Hash Pipe" • "Hateful" • "Head Like a Hole" • "Heart of the Sunrise" • "Heart-Shaped Box" • "Help Is on the Way" • "Here Without You" • "Higher Ground" • "Hot Blooded" • "How You Remind Me" • "Hypnotize" • "I Alone" • "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" • "I Don't Know" • "I Go to Extremes" • "I Got Stripes" • "I Walk the Line" • "I Want You to Want Me" (Live) • "I Will Possess Your Heart" • "I Wish" • "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" • "If Today Was Your Last Day" • "I'm Broken" • "I'm in Love With My Car" • "I'm Not Down" • "In the End" • "In Waves" • "Intentional Heartache" (RB3 Version) • "Invincible" • "Island in the Sun" • "I've Seen All Good People" • "A Jagged Gorgeous Winter" • "Jimmy Jazz" • "Just the Way You Are" • "Kaya" • "King of Rock" • "Kiss a Girl" (RB3 Version) • "Koka Kola" • "Landslide" • "Left Behind" • "Lightning Crashes" • "A Little Respect" • "Lively Up Yourself" • "Living Dead Girl" • "Living for the City" • "The Loco-Motion" • "London Calling" • "Long Away" • "Long Hot Summer Night" • "Long Road to Ruin" • "Look Around " • "Lost in the Supermarket" • "Love is a Battlefield" • "Love Rollercoaster" • "Love Will Tear Us Apart" • "LoveGame" • "Lover's Rock" • "Made of Scars" • "Make Some Noise" • "Mama Tried" (RB3 Version) • "Mama, I'm Coming Home" • "Man of Me" (RB3 Version) • "Man on the Moon" • "Marry You" • "Me and Bobby McGee" • "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)" • "Misery" • "Modern Love" • "Monarchy of Roses" • "Mouth for War" • "Mr. Crowley" • "Must Have Done Something Right" • "My Life" • "My Way" • "Need You Now" • "Never Let Me Down Again" • "Night Lies" • "The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia" (RB3 Version) • "No More Trouble" • "No Sleep till Brooklyn" • "Nookie" • "Nothin' but a Good Time" • "Numb" • "Obsession" • "On the Backs of Angels" • "Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)" • "The Only Time" • "Operation Ground and Pound" • "Otherside" • "Outshined" • "Over the Mountain" • "Owner of a Lonely Heart" • "Panic" • "Paparazzi" • "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" • "Parallel Universe" • "Pardon Me" • "Party for Two" (With Billy Currington) (RB3 Version) • "The Party Song" • "Perfect Day" (RB3 Version) • "Perfect Situation" • "Personal Jesus" • "Photograph" • "Policy of Truth" • "Pour Some Sugar on Me" (Live) • "Prelude/Angry Young Man" • "Pressure" • "Promises in the Dark" • "Pulse of the Maggots" • "Radio Ga Ga" • "Rain is a Good Thing" (RB3 Version) • "Rape Me" • "Re-Arranged" • "Rebel Love Song" • "Relax (Come Fighting)" • "Revolution Rock" • "Rhiannon" • "Ride" (RB3 Version) • "The Right Profile" • "Ring of Fire" (RB3 Version) • "Rob the Prez-O-Dent" • "Rock and Roll All Nite" (Live) • "Rock of Ages" • "Rock the Casbah" • "Rope" • "Rudie Can't Fail" • "Rusty Cage" • "Sanctified" • "Say You'll Haunt Me" • "Scar Tissue" • "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" • "The Scientist" • "Settlin'" (RB3 Version) • "Seven Seas of Rhye" • "Shadows of the Night" • "She Hates Me" • "She's Always a Woman" • "Shooting the Moon" • "Shoulder to the Plow" • "The Show Must Go On" • "Sideways" (RB3 Version) • "Single White Female" (RB3 Version) • "Sir Duke" • "Small Axe" • "Snuff" • "So Lonely" • "Somebody to Love" • "Someday" • "Somewhere I Belong" • "Sooner or Later" • "South Side of the Sky" • "Spanish Bombs" • "Spill the Wine" • "Spinning Wheel" • "The Spirit of Radio (Live)" • "Stacked Actors" • "Stand Back" • "Starship Trooper" • "Stash" • "Stay Together for the Kids" • "Steal Away (The Night)" • "Stereo Hearts" • "Stone Cold Crazy" • "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" • "Strutter" (Live) • "Sugar, We're Goin Down" • "Summer Nights" (RB3 Version) • "Super Bad, Pts. 1 & 2" • "Super-Charger Heaven" • "Superstition" • "Supreme Girl" • "Surrender" (Live) • "Take On Me" • "Talk Dirty to Me" • "Tell Me Something Good" • "Tennessee Flat Top Box" • "Terrible Lie" • "That's How Country Boys Roll" (RB3 Version) • "The Good Left Undone" • "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)" • "This Love" • "This Means War" • "Thnks fr th Mmrs" • "Through Glass" • "Through the Fire and Flames" • "Thunder Kiss '65" • "Total Eclipse of the Heart" • "Tubthumping" • "Turning Japanese" • "Twang" (RB3 Version) • "Tweezer" • "Unbelievable" • "Undefeated" • "Unholy Confessions" • "Unskinny Bop" • "Until the End" • "Up All Night" • "Urgent" • "Wait and Bleed" • "Waiting for the End" • "Walk (Pantera song)" • "Walk (Foo Fighters song)]]" • "A Warrior's Call" • "We Belong" • "We Built This City" • "Welcome to the Family" • "Welcome to the Neighborhood" • "We're an American Band" • "What I've Done" • "When I'm Gone" • "When You're Young" • "Wish You Were Here" • "Visions" • "Viva la Vida" • "Won't Go Home Without You" • "Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (Live)" • "Working for the Weekend" • "Wrong 'Em Boyo" • "Yellow" • "You Know You're Right" • "You Make Me Feel..." • "Young Americans" • "You're My Best Friend" • "Youth of the Nation" • "Ziggy Stardust"
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Released on marketplace 2015
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"R U Mine?" • "Shepherd of Fire" • "Something from Nothing" • "Back to the Shack" • "Rize of the Fenix" • "I Still Believe" • "Divide" • "Run for Cover" • "Throne" • "Mona Lisa" • "The Reflex" • "Move Over" • "Would You Still Be There" • "Sugar, You" • "Cowboys From Hell (Live from Monsters in Moscow Festival)" • "Summertime Boy" • "What If I Was Nothing" • "High Road" • "September" • "Backwards Company" • "One Big Holiday" • "Jane" • "Gimme Chocolate!!" • "King for a Day" • "Rebellion" • "All the Rage Back Home" • "The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles" • "My Own Eyes" • "Don't Wanna Fight" • "Failure" • "Trainwreck 1979" • "Follow Me Down" • "Cryin" • "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)" • "Eat The Rich" • "Love In An Elevator" • "Seasons of Wither" • "Rats in the Cellar" • "People Are People" • "What You Need" • "Always Something There To Remind Me" • "Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)" • "Lust for Life" • "Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)" • "Like A Stone" • "Awake" • "Lying From You" • "Sing" • "Riptide" • "Shut Up and Dance" • "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" • "Runnin' With The Devil" • "Hot For Teacher" • Dance The Night Away" • "And The Cradle Will Rock..." • "Unchained" • "Dreams" • "Electric Love" • "Cocoon" • "First" • "Renegades" • "The Coma Machine" • "Heir Apparent" • "Nevermore" • "Ex's and Oh's" • "Irresistible" • "Stitches" • "Different Colors" • "Can't Feel My Face" • "Adventure of a Lifetime" • "On My Mind" • "What Do You mean?" • "Drag Me Down" • "Leave The Night On" • "Thank God for Girls"
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Released on marketplace 2016
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"The Vengeful One" • "Immortalized" • "Warrior" • "My Wave" • "Wicked Garden" • "Hunger Strike" • "Get Lucky" • "Heartbeat Song" • "Hey Ya!" • "Locked Out of Heaven" • "Treasure" • "Dancing With Myself" • "Love Stinks" • "I Hate Myself For Loving You" • "speed fighter" • "Still The One" • "Got Your Six" • "Thunder & Lightning" • "Figure It Out" • "Chicken Fried" • "Homegrown" • "The Wind" • "What Makes You Beautiful" • "Never Enough" • "Best Song Ever" • "Story of My Life" • "Zombie" • "Dreams" • "Ode To My Family" • "She Looks So Perfect" • "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)" • "Everybody Talks" • "Blown Away" • "That's My Kind Of Night" • "House Party" • "Day Late Dollar Short" • "Lodger" • "The Heist" • "Blink" • "Signs" • "What's Your Favorite Dinosaur?" • "Synthesized (Inside Your Mind Mix)" • "No Mercy" • "Seven" • "Cake By The Ocean" • "Stressed Out" • "The Hills" • "Sorry" • "Boyfriend" • "Love Yourself" • "Redneck" • "What I Like About You" • "Dope Noise" • "Don't Do Me Like That" • "Learning To Fly" • "Breakfast At Tiffany's" • "Take Me To Church" • "Found Out About You" • "Hey Jealousy" • "We're Not Gonna Take It" • "Cherry Pie" • "Hook" • "Famous Last Words" • "All These Things That I've Done" • "Africa" • "Lips Of An Angel" • "Where Is My Mind?" • "Rock This Town" • "Jumper" • "Uptown Girl" • "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)" • "Pompeii" • "I Gotta Feeling" • "Mr. Jones" • "Blurred Lines" • "Heaven Is A Place on Earth" • "Bad Catholics" • "If You Could Only See" • "Everything You Want" • "I'm Yours" • "Starships" • "What About Love?" • "Seventeen" • "Dirt Road Anthem" • "All For You" • "Dystopia" • "Road To Nowhere" • "The Devil In I" • "The Sound Of Silence" • "HandClap" • "Happy Song" • "Safe and Sound" • "Save Tonight" • "Sweater Wheater" • "Little Talks" • "Happy" • "Chandelier" • "Feel Invincible" • "King of the World" • "Hold My Hand" • "Only Wanna Be With You" • "Let Her Cry" • "Lovesong" • "Time After Time" • "She Drives Me Crazy" • "Complicated" • "My Happy Ending" • "What The Hell" • "24K Magic" • "Hymn for the Weekend" • "Still Breathing" • "Heathens" • "Ride" • "Royals" • "All About That Bass" • "The Greatest" • "Shadow" • "Bethany" • "Black Streak" • "I Recognize" • "Never Let 'Em Hold Ya Back" • "True Confessional" • "Mean Girls" • "Hours of Rats" • "Pain Killer" • "Closer, Closer" • "Constant Disaster" • "Black Corridor" • "Angel" • "Crazy" • "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" • "Janie's Got A Gun" • "Livin' On The Edge" • "Rag Doll"
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Released on marketplace 2018
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"Enjoy The Silence" • "We Got the Beat (Previously from Rock Band 2)" • "Torn (Ednaswap song)" • "Open Water" • "Shy (HUNNY song)" • "Bloodhands (Oh My Fever)" • "Who's Your Lover" • "Radio (No Small Children Song)" • "I Remember You (Skid Row song)"" • "Here I Go Again (Previously from Rock Band 3)"" • "
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