Though I disagree with so much of this, it's still interesting. "Octopus’s Garden" at #36 and "Long, Long, Long" at #179? "Don’t Pass Me By" ahead of "For You Blue" (by one notch)? "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," only #62? I could go on all morning but I don't have the time to do this.
Via Brian Leiter, who seems both impressed and disapproving of whoever took the time to do this.
January 29, 2009
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My daughter told me about this list the other day. I guess "Revolution #9" would get Worst Song, since it's not really much of a "song" in the first place. My personal candidate for worst song is the dopey b-side "You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)." I was glad to see that it made the Bottom Ten.
Not much of a list, but we all have different taste and memories.
Anything that Yoko Ono was part of needs to be taken out back and shot.
But the purpose of the list is to drive web hits, so it is succeeding in that regard...
Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine
Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine
Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine
Number nine, number nine, number...
...Then there's this Welsh Rarebit wearing some brown underpants
...About the stortage of grain in Hertfordshire
Everyone of them knew that as time went by they'd
Get a little bit older and a little bit slower but...
It's all the same thing, in this case manufactured by
Someone who's always umpteen (...)
Your father's giving it diddly-i-dee district was leaving...
Intended to die (...) Ottoman...
(...)...Long gone through...(...)
I've got to say irritably and...
(...) Floors, hard enough to put on (...) Per day's md in our district
There was not really enough light to get down,
And ultimately (...) Slumped down
Suddenly...
They may stop the funding...
Place your bets
The original
Afraid she'll die (...)
Great colours for the season
Number nine, number nine
Who's to know?
Who was to know?
Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine
Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine
Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine
I sustained nothing worse than (...)
Also, for example
Whatever you're doing
A business deal falls through
I informed him on the third night, when fortune gives...
People ride, people ride
Ride, ride, ride, ride
Ride
Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine
Ri-i-i-i-ide
Ri-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-ide
Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine
(...) I've missed all of that
It makes me a few day's late
Compared with, like, wow!
And wierd stuff like that...
(...) Taking our sides sometimes
(...) Floral bark
Rouge doctors have brought this specimen
I have nobody's short-cuts, aha...
Nine, number nine
(...) With the situation
They are standing still
The plan, the telegram...
(Hubbbbba, hubbbbba, hubbbbbba, hubbbbba, hubbbbba
Number nine, number Hubbba)
A man without terrors from beard to false
As the headmaster reported to my son
He really can try, as they do, to find function...
Tell what he was saying, and his voice was low and his hive high,
And his eyes were low...
Alright!
It was on fire and his glasses were the same
This thing know if it was tinted,
But you know it isn't
To me it is...
Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine
Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine
Number nine, number nine, number nine
So the wife called me and we'd better go to see a surgeon
to price it (...) Yellow underclothes
So, any road, we went to see a dentist instead
That gave her a pair of teeth which wasn't any good at all
So I said I'd marry, join the fucking navy and went to sea
Block that kick, block that kick
In my broken chair, my wings are broken and so is my hair
I'm not in the mood for whirling
How?
Dogs for dogging, hands for clapping
Bird's for birding, and fish for fishing
Them for themming and when for whemming
...Only to find the night-watchman
Unaware of his presence in the building
Number nine, number nine, number nine, number nine
Number nine, number nine
Industry allows financial imbalance
Thrusting it bewteen his shoulder blades
The watusi, the twist
Eldorado
Take this, brother, may it serve you well
Maybe it's nothing
What, what oh...
Maybe, even then, impervious in London
...Could be difficult thing...
It's quick like rush for peace because it's so much
Like being naked
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright
It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright
It's alright
If, you've become naked
Block that kick, block that kick, block that kick, block that kick
Block that kick, block that kick, block that kick, block that kick
Block that kick, block that kick, block that kick, block that kick
Block that kick, block that kick, block that kick, block that nixon
ITS THEIR BEST SONG, PEOPLE!!!!!
I must be the only person in the world who considers the Beatles to be the most overrated musical group in the history of the world. Some of their stuff is good, to my ears, but only some. I've never understood, even remotely, the devotion that they inspire.
Yeah, so?
Any list that has "Hey Jude" at #5 isn't worth the electrons it's transmitted with.
When I'm Sixty-Four is #67?
That seems imprecise.
Rocketeer - yes, you are.
OTOH, statistically there are potentially this many opinions about the ranking of these 185 songs:
185^(6.664E9)
so who's to say.
Ir was very pleasant just scrolling down the list and humming a couple seconds of every 3rd or 4th song. Great memories, great tunes.
Come on. "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" is clearly better than "Ticket to Ride", "Ticket To Ride" is clearly better than "Here Comes The Sun", and "Here Comes the Sun" is clearly better that "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away". So the list is just absolute garbage, I say, without getting all three of those right.
Maybe I should have used a * instead of a ^.
How can Why Don't We Do It In The Road be so low? That is a great rock and roll song. How can Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey not be just above Revolution 9? A top 10 Beatles songs is nearly impossible to agree on. But a worst of list is rather easy since they did so few bad songs. It would be
1. Revolution #9.
2. “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey”
3. Yellow Submarine
4. Octopus's Garden
5. Bungalo Bill
6. Birthday
7. Dig a Pony
8. I am the Walrus
9. Honey Pie
10. You're Gonna Lose That Girl
There some on this list farcically low. She is So Heavy is a great song. I Me Mine should be in the top 20.
George Grady,
Here Comes the Sun is much better than Ticket to Ride and slightly better than Hide Your Love Away (although I will entertain debate on that one). The dirty secret of the Beatles is that on Abby Road and Let It Be, George was writting the better songs. George hit is stride in the early 70s and Lennon and McCartney got off their stride a bit (granted just a bit). This is evidenced by the fact that "All Things Must Pass" is a better record than either McCartney or Lennon's first solo efforts.
Yeah, so?
I was providing you with my ranking. You just weren't reading closely enough.
So, I'll be explicit. They all come in last.
I with rocketeer. The Beatles are the most overrated band ever. Nothing makes me change the radio station quicker. Well maybe David Archuletta. :)
Hey Professor - no Idol thread last night? You missed an Osmond getting a ticket to Hollyweird.
Call me a big old sentimental softy but I never thought they ever topped AML.
Is it just me, or is this list hardly better than it would be if they'd randomly arranged the songs?
I agree with A Day in the Life as #1, but it all goes sharply downhill from there. I mean, I Am the Walrus as #2?!?!
All You Need is Love is at #6, way ahead of Here Comes the Sun (#29), Back in the USSR (#44), A Hard Day's Night (#50?!), Eight Days a Week (#85), etc. etc.?
I disagree with almost every ranking. Oh well. I guess it shows how idiosyncratic musical taste can be, even among fans of the same group.
"Is it just me, or is this list hardly better than it would be if they'd randomly arranged the songs?"
I'm with you on that one, brother. I'm O.K. with "A Day in the Life" as No. 1, but the rest of the list seems either random or just plain wrong.
If it were my list, I'd have "Savoy Truffle" and "Hey Bull Dog" a little higher on the list. But that's just me.
There's so many wonderful Beatle songs that each have attached fond memories, I'd never succeed in making a complete list.
When I saw Honey Pie as 2nd-worst I strongly disagree but could understand how it annoys some people. When I saw I Want You (She's So Heavy) as 3rd-worst -- below Don't Pass Me By, You Like Me Too Much, and Little Child -- I stopped reading.
It's impossible to have agreement on 'best to worst' Beatles songs.
I really like some of the songs at the bottom of the list and have no affinity for some at
the top. Of course as mentioned before, just using the keyword "Beatles" is sure to
generate hits for a fledgling website.
A more precise method of rating the songs would be to simply categorize them in
three groups; Great, Average and Trash.
Example....
Great: Norwegian Wood, I Will, You Never Give Me Your Money
Average: Little Help From My Friends, I'll Cry Instead, I Want To Hold Your Hand
Trash: Octopus's Garden, Revolution #9(although not really a song), Good Night
...and the fact that probably no one agrees with my examples is proof that it's impossible
to agree on "Best to Worst"
New List
Rate the 'Best to Worst' post-Beatles creative output:
Paul, while a little too pop-ish and sugar sweet for me, he certainly has the most prolific output.
George, a little too dark and monotonous for me but he is second in output
John, under the auspices of Yoko, had average amount of output but lacked edge.
Ringo, God Bless him for trying and you can't help but like the guy.
Bottom line: They did better as a group than they did solo. I mean, does any post Beatles song
even come to mind quickly when asked? But, mention Beatles songs and instantly 4-5 songs will be on the
tip of your tongue.
Purple Chick torrents.
For all those who tend to dislike Beatles music, the idolation, etc. Now you know how I feel about Obama.
For many, not suffering Beatles Derangement Syndrome, most songs are attached to times, events, and people so these rankings are generally disagreeable.
Excellent discussion of this list at Throwing Things, from Sunday.
As I said over there, I'm impressed with the guy's mastery of Beatles' trivia, but not so much with his rankings. He gets too caught up in the in-crowd meaning and politics behind the songs, rather than just listening to them the way 98% of people do. When you just listen and your take away is based on your own experience and not what you know of the state of the Beatles as a group at the time the song was written/produced/recorded, it makes a big difference.
I enjoyed reading it even if I disagreed with a lot of it. In particular, I'll defend "Her Majesty" as charming coda having nothing at all to do with the Queen of England. Also, "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is the greatest makeout song, ever.
i never was enamored with the Beatles until I used them everyday as motivation to get me moving and taking notice of my well being. I noted how any of the lyrics at any time when walking down the street are applicable to anything you might see or hear. The beat is something, too. And if the beat was wrong for the tempo i was moving at, I just pushed skip and i would be right back in the spot. I know there aren't many Ringo fanatics, but once i read about how his style of drumming and the guys explanation impressed me.
Funny though, now they've created such a stimulant in me that it's close to the point whenever I hear the first line: Something in the Way She Moves, I either put on my running shoes and do stretches or get my kickboard and head for the natotorium. I don't thing they do that for many people. It's just that music is so personal to everyone and assigning your own meaning to just one line of lyrics can get you through some rough spots. I know that isn't a aficianados way to evaluate, but i think it's the way that those of us who can't carry a tune lighten our load in life.
"I enjoyed reading it even if I disagreed with a lot of it. In particular, I'll defend "Her Majesty" as charming coda having nothing at all to do with the Queen of England."
I always loved that song to. It should be higher. I have no information that this is true but I have always envisioned Paul sneaking in Abby Road Studio after the last bars of "In the End" had been recorded and mixed and recording that song and slapping it on the end of the record just to ensure that he had the creative last word in the group. If that is not true it should be.
I agree with Meade. All My Loving is a great straight forward song. The Beatles went off the track when they fell for all that Age of Aquarius tripe.
"I agree with Meade. All My Loving is a great straight forward song. The Beatles went off the track when they fell for all that Age of Aquarius tripe."
I think Lennon in the end would have agreed with you. His later songs like "I Want You" and "Come Together" were very much straight forward songs. "Come Together" originally sounded like a Chuck Berry song. Think Mabeline with different lyrics. It was McCartney who added the funky baseline and changed the time from 2/4 to 4/4(further disproving the myth that Lennon and McCartney stopped working together on the later records).
They did better as a group than they did solo.
That's the conventional wisdom. However, "All Things Must Pass" (if you forget about the pointless "jam" disk) was from start to finish as good as Beatles album. Both McCartney and Lennon had a hard time filling an album, but in their solo careers they each had individual songs that rank with the best of the Beatles. Drawing just from the 70s, here's a quick list of the 25 best, imo, in rough order:
1 Instant Karma J
2. My Sweet Lord G
3. Imagine J
4. Maybe I'm Amazed P
5. Jealous Guy J
6. Watching the Wheels J
7. Beware of Darkness G
8. Mother J
9. What is Life G
10. Silly Love Songs P
11. #9 Dream J
12. Photograph R
13. Jet P
14. It Don't Come Easy R
15. Wah-Wah G
16. Beautiful Boy J
17. God J
18. Apple Scruffs G
19. Band on the Run P
20. Mind Games J
21. Give Me Love G
22. Back Seat of My Car P
23. Isn't it a Pity G
24. Oh Yoko J
25. Starting Over J
11 by Lennon, 7 by Harrison, 5 by McCartney, 2 by Ringo. If that crop of songs had been put out as a double album by the Beatles, it would have been considered their best.
John Stodder,
You forgot Maybe I Amazed, Junk, Band on the Run, and Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. Don't sell Paul so short.
I got four deep into the list, found two of my favorites, and decided whoever this is, is an idiot.
I mean, "Wild Honey Pie", which consists of bizarre repeating of the words "honey pie" over and over to annoying twangs and nothing more, comes in ahead of great blues rockers "Yer Blues" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy"? Really?
Feh.
I'm with you on that one, brother. I'm O.K. with "A Day in the Life" as No. 1, but the rest of the list seems either random or just plain wrong.
Yeah, I'm with you guys.
I *like* "I Want You (She's So Heavy)". I like the entirety of Abbey Road, quite a lot. It is my favorite Beatles album.
You forgot Maybe I Amazed, Junk, Band on the Run, and Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. Don't sell Paul so short.
Actually, two of those were on my list, along with three others.
4. Maybe I'm Amazed P
10. Silly Love Songs P
13. Jet P
19. Band on the Run P
22. Back Seat of My Car P
If I'd stretched the list to 40 songs, I'm sure I'd have found room for "Junk" plus things like "Let Me Roll It," "Listen to What the Man Said," "Tomorrow," "Junior's Farm," "Ram On," and "My Love."
I think Paul's career overall has been stellar. Lots of low points, but more highlights than almost anyone in rock. He's a great singer and is capable of writing fantastic songs. His problem was, he put out too much stuff that didn't meet his high standard. But then, so did all the others. That's why their solo careers get slagged. Not the absence of good songs, but the absence of quality control.
Of McCartney's recent albums, I'm a huge fan of "Chaos and Creation In the Back Yard" and "Flaming Pie." But I limited this list to the period when all four Beatles were alive.
Great list of best post-Beatles songs from Mr. Stodder. I'd add...
McCartney: My Brave Face, Figure of Eight, Put It There, My Love, Here Today, and Name and Address;
Lennon: Grow Old With Me, Subterranean Homesick Blues (boot), and all of 'Imagine;'
Harrison: Awaiting on You All, Handle With Care.
Re: Beatles songs....I'd list all of the "Strawberry Fields" versions as one song...There used to be a bootleg that contained nothing but them...Lovely to hear all the takes in one sitting.
I still submit that #9 is the best Beatles song. I'd love to hear that played live. Really loud. Really, really loud.
Abbey Road Live is an Athens, Ga., based band that covers the Fab Four. Surprisingly good. Excellent lead guitarist. Check 'em out.
The author was about 11 when the Beatles broke up. The songs are so tied to contemporeanous events and feelings that it would be hard to rank them if one did not experience them at the time.
rocketeer67 said...
I must be the only person in the world who considers the Beatles to be the most overrated musical group in the history of the world. Some of their stuff is good, to my ears, but only some. I've never understood, even remotely, the devotion that they inspire.
It's intergenerational, and across national boundaries.
I'm a 2nd Gen Beatles fan. I've heard young kids in China in 2006humming Beatles tunes on the streets as they left school.
Their best work has great lyrics and near-perfect melodies with simple arrangements that I think
will make some works endure. English becoming a global lingua franca also helps. Songs destined to endure for a long, long time.
Outside Kadema, in the 90s, I heard a very talented Japanese girl backed by two other gals put out a stunning soprano version of "I'll Follow the Sun" that was absolutely entrancing to her audience. In Turkey, I saw a dance crowd go wild to "Birthday". In Alabama, amidst some hip hop crap at a Jr HS "talent show", a beautiful soulful cover of "Blackbird"...
I think it is a matter of taste, of course. And many have preferences for harder rock, or jazz, and so on.....and many can get as sick of an overplayed Beatles tune as they are of "Born in the USA" or some female anthem or some commercialized Stones or Sinatra standard.
But overrated? I think not. The test is not with the critics, but with the demonstrated impact they had on songcraft, meeting the test of time, and diffusion across cultures.
I disagreed with many of the rankings of the guy who assembled this list, but kudos for making the effort.
The Beatles did 13 albums in about six years. By contrast a more recent group of longevity and productivity, U2, has done 12 albums in 29 years.
And to be fair the Rolling Stones were equally productive in that short span of time.
So I'm willing to cut them some slack.
John wrote "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" in response to people that were creaming over his lyrics. He wanted to communicate directly with a minimum of words, he wanted the music to do the speaking.
For me, it works! It is one of my favorite Beatles tunes because of the great groove and the passionate guitar.
I understand that some people don't hear it that way, they have a couple of other Beatles tunes to enjoy.
Trey
Revenant: I like the entirety of Abbey Road, quite a lot. It is my favorite Beatles album.
Oh! Rev, I knew that you & I were more alike than different, however much we may disagree about minor things. Abbey Road was the first album I ever bought, and I love it to this day.
But overrated? I think not. The test is not with the critics, but with the demonstrated impact they had on songcraft, meeting the test of time, and diffusion across cultures.
By that standard, McDonald's is "The Beatles" of cuisine, which I suppose is both good and bad for both.
I'm very close to comfortably saying we're in agreement.
Abbey Road was the first album I ever bought, and I love it to this day.
Woo! A fellow fan. :)
Lennon: Grow Old With Me
I forgot about that one. Great song.
You know who does a tremendous version of it? Glen Campbell. His "Meet Glen Campbell" CD from last year kinda slipped under the radar, but it's a great album. Late-in-life Glenn Campbell takes the opposite tack that Johnny Cash took. Instead of super-spare, simple arrangements, Campbell's album is a marvel of rich, layered production, reminiscent of the stuff he did with Jimmy Webb, and applies to songs by Tom Petty, Green Day, Velvet Underground, Travis, U2, Jackson Browne and Foo Fighters. This is the album you play if you need to get up off the floor to go another round.
I notice that the highest ranking songs tend toward their later years. I agree with this. Why were they so uncommon? Many reasons could be advanced for this, but when I was a post-doc my boss asserted that bands spend many years coming to the attention of the public. In that time they can write many songs, and only the ones they think are the best make it onto the albums (CD's for you younger folks). After that, they are out of material, and subsequent albums suck (think Men At Work). The Beatles seem to have ridden a creative wave for quite a long time, growing and changing as the ride progressed so as to maintain that perch. The great music each made after they broke up supports this view. FWIW, Harrison's music was my fave.
I have a friend who saw them live at Crosley Field (IIRC) in 1965. He said "When I say I saw them live, I mean I saw them live. I didn't hear anything other than the screams."
Where's Palladian when we need him?
I notice (and approve of) John Stodder's post-Beatle list with the heavy post-Mortem Lennon. His stuff after his sabbatical was among his best. Chapman took a lot from us.
And, okay, I'm a George fan but, honestly, All Things Must Pass doesn't really hold up. As much as I love it, the tunes are really minimal ("Awaiting On You All", "What is Life", "Wah-Wah") and snuffed out by the Wall of Sound. The best song, "My Sweet Lord" really is just "He's So Fine".
The eponymous "George Harrison" is a better album musically, and way better produced.
I mean, does any post Beatles song
even come to mind quickly when asked?
Sure: "Band on the Run", "Imagine", "Blow Away", "Whatever Gets You Through The Nght", the "Got My Mind Set On You" cover, George's work with the Wilburys, "Live and Let Die".
Those aren't my favorites but they leap to mind.
As for sneaking in to add "Her Majesty", I'm pretty sure Paul is responsible for the entire second half of Abby Road from "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" was all Paul, with the other Beatles as contributing musicians.
Also, "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" really didn't win me over until I started to play it. Lots and lots of fun.
I mean, does any post Beatles song
even come to mind quickly when asked?
Sure
But for me at least, none come to mind with particularly strong positive feelings.
I won't change the station to avoid "Band on the Run", but I certainly don't expect to ever own it myself. I really don't think that any of them were ever even remotely as good on their own as they were together.
I want a horse. I want a sheep. I want to get me a good night's sleep...
I think "Ram" is under-rated.
Partly because it lacked the revolutionary hard-rock vibe and was so awfully domestic.
But I like "3 Legs", "Too Many People", even "Monkberry Moon Delight".
Also, someone mentioned that Paul and John didn't do their best work after the Beatles broke up, I'd say that "Plastic Ono Band" is one of the best post-Beatle albums and John's best until "Double Fantasy".
It's not a toe-tapping good time.
It's sort of the Passion of the Christ of pop music.
But you don't hear the same conviction in John's voice and delivery until he did the covers on "Rock 'n' Roll".
I deeply bonded with "Ram."
Ooh....cryptic. (Me, too, and I couldn't tell you why. I actually preferred listening to it than to the "better" "Band on the Run".)
"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"....what a title.
It ruled. #1 in the summer of '71...
Live a little. Be a gypsy. Get around.
Give your heart to somebody. Soon. Right away.
Very Summer of Luv, that Paul.
George Harrison was the Ringo Starr of the Beatles.
Paul McCartney is a burned out old doper.
"In this ever changing world in which we live in"?
Back away from the bong, Macca...
"Where's Palladian when we need him?"
Some people have to work!
I'm not one of them, but I'm just sayin'!
The first compact disc I ever purchased was Magical Mystery Tour, in 1988. I didn't own a CD player until 1992...
Well, this list is like all such lists, a way to get people animated, angry and talking. I agree with some of it and disagree with most of it. The best Beatles song is "Tomorrow Never Knows". Other favorite Beatles songs include:
"Within You Without You", "Long, Long, Long", "Cry Baby Cry" "She Said She Said" (Wow, I like all the songs with repetitious titles!), "A Day In The Life", "Sexy Sadie", "Dear Prudence", "Happiness is a Warm Gun", "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", and "Carry That Weight". I don't have anything from before Revolver on my list because I don't really like anything before Revolver.
The worst Beatles song, the only one I cannot bear to listen to is "Piggies".
It's about time!
The best Beatles song is "Tomorrow Never Knows".
Ooh, bold choice.
"Within You Without You", "Long, Long, Long", "Cry Baby Cry" "She Said She Said"
Very nice. A lot of people would put WYWY on their worst list.
Only two Beatles albums really impacted me....Meet the Beatles, and Sgt. Pepper.
I was in Jr. High when the Beatles hit America, and their impact changed the course of R & R. Before then I was strumming on an acoustic guitar and playing Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet." After they hit I took up drums and formed a rock n roll "garage" band.
Sgt. Pepper was a mind blower, plain and simple.
Most of the rest of the time I considered the Beatles producers of "pop" rock, which has both good and bad connotations.
Palladian has a particular taste for the drone-y, hypnotic songs.
Brian Leiter signs petitions denouncing Israel for defending itself.
Why would you want to read the mutt's blog?
If that crop of songs had been put out as a double album by the Beatles, it would have been considered their best.
John Stodder, I agree with you that there are a lot of excellent Beatles solo songs, but what you're overlooking is how innovative and eclective the actual Beatles' albums were. John, Paul, and George kept making some great music (I haven't listened much to Ringo solo), but they stopped breaking any new ground, and you didn't have startling song juxtapositions like, say, the first side Revolver.
How can you dump on Honey Pie? I remember getting laid in the bathtub to that song in college. Actually I was singing it...
Honey pie,
You are making me crazy,
I'm in love but I'm lazy,
So won't you get on top...
What is it Trooper York always says? Good times.
And, Live And Let Die was badass, what is the problem?
Has anyone mentioned Happiness Is A Warm Gun yet?
I mean never mind the foo-foo stuff, the Beatles actually COULD rock when they had a mind.
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