The Beatles’ success was based on a lot of things, one of the most critical being a stubborn refusal to act predictably. So while most bands would fall victim to the poetry of concluding their final recorded album with a song called “The End,” the Beatles were too cool for that. Enter “Her Majesty,” the shortest song in their catalog, an unlisted surprise that pops up after several seconds of silence following “The End.” Granted, it was the result of an engineer’s happy accident while trimming “Her Majesty” out of the famous Abbey Road medley, but it earned Paul McCartney’s seal of approval which is all that matters.

“I’d even settle for Ringo approving one of my happy accidents.”

 

In the process, the song’s last chord remained affixed to “Polythene Pam,” leading to a jarring, unfinished end…but that’s what bootlegs are for. At a mere 23 seconds, it was never going to rank very high, but it’s a fun little ditty.