Was "The Long and Winding Road" a popular expression before it became the
title of a Beatles song? If yes, what is the origin of the phrase?

FYI - I'm posting the same question re: "Here, There, and Everywhere."

Doesn't that describe the path of Christian in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress?
Don't know if the phrase occurs in the book.

www.coffeehouseculture.com/E-zine/ Issue%20Two/Pages/02Page09/02P09Text03.html 

Hey, wow, I'm proud of myself.  Check the above, whatda-ga.
And thanks, Mom (long since at the end of her l. and w. road) for
reading "Pilgrim's Progress to and with me as a kid.

When I just clicked here on www.coffee... I could not access the site,
so here is a copy of what came up on the second page when searched for
bunyan "the long and winding road":

Issue 2 Page 9 Plain Text; Article Three - [ Diese Seite übersetzen ]
... THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD -- PART TWO. ... The title was borrowed
from John Bunyan?s
?The Pilgrim?s Progress? and was used in a speech by Theodore Roosevelt ...
www.coffeehouseculture.com/E-zine/ Issue%20Two/Pages/02Page09/02P09Text03.html

Keep on the straight and narrow ...  Myoarin