re: Is there a single song that defines The Beatles?

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If so…what song would that be?

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I think you have to have a certain perspective to appreciate the group - as a group or phenomenon. If you have to pick a song to represent the catalogue, that's probably impossible. No song can capture the various eras (and keep in mind, as we know them, the "recording" act of The Beatles was a mere 6 years and change, although the act lasted a solid decade), or even the variations between the Paul, John and George compositions.

However, I nominate, "I want to hold your hand" as representing "The Beatles" as a phenomenon (For me, it invokes the strongest imagery of Beatlemania, at least in the U.S., even though I wasn't born yet.) It was an actual joint composition by Lennon and McCartney, and not, as it would later become, a partnership in name only.

If you want a song to represent the group - the four of them individually working together to make the music they made, I think you have to select "The End". I can find no other example that equals this concept of this group. If pressed for a second choice, I would choose "Come Together".

(Neither of these are my favorite Beatles song - I would be hard pressed to select between "Let it Be" and "Hey Jude!")