The Beatles' final session together produced their most musically assured album, a last burst of collaborative genius before the inevitable. Side one delivers Harrison's finest compositions and Lennon's swampy funk, but side two's symphonic medley remains the revelation: fragments and sketches woven into a continuous suite that transforms McCartney's music hall whimsy and studio perfectionism into something genuinely moving.

That zebra crossing became more famous than most monuments, but the music justified the mythology. They never sounded more confident saying goodbye.