March 18, 2019

Of all the Beatles songs, which one is most streamed in digital media?

I heard the answer on the car radio today (on the Beatles channel), and it was surprising, but you can work out the logic of it, once you know. I wonder if you can guess without looking it up.

60 comments:

mccullough said...

Yellow Submaine. Kids like it.

Henry said...

You Say It's Your Birthday

Kay said...

“Yesterday” seems like the obvious choice. So I’m going to say “Back in the USSR.”

RAS743 said...

You Say It’s Your Birthday.

Wince said...

We can work it out, you say?

David Begley said...

Hey Jude.

Ralph L said...

Hey Jude used to be their biggest single, but I'll bet the young squirts prefer Revolution.

Al Nobile said...

Of the five or six I can think of off the top of my head, I'll go with Norwegian Wood.

Jeff Brokaw said...

Here Comes the Sun

Robt C said...

This time of year? Gotta be "Taxman." The rest of the time,dunno. Maybe "Get Back?"

SteveR said...

Hey Jude. a wild guess

MountainMan said...

I'll take a guess that it is something from Abbey Road. Maybe "Here Comes the Sun" or "Come Together." I'll go with "Here Comes the Sun".

R C Belaire said...

I'm going with a personal favorite, Penny Lane.

dustbunny said...

My first thought was there are so many possibilities. I’ll guess Hey Jude or Let it Be.

rcocean said...

The one I don't like.

Ken B said...

Back in the USSR

Collusion don’t ya know.

eddie willers said...

Since you say it was a surprise. I'll go with Run For Your Life as it climbs the #MeToo charts.

Elliott A said...

I guessed wrong. As you go through the discography, the variety and volume of amazing songs is astounding. I still have my White Album, purchase 50 years ago along with the photos which were inside. The music never gets old! I wonder if the popularity of the #1 streaming song is demographic dependent? I think those who were buying the albums as they were released and have listened to the music for all these years would differ in their favorites from the younger people discovering the music on streaming platforms.

tcrosse said...

Imagine.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Imagine?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

I know it’s not my favorite, Around the Universe.

Charlie Currie said...

It's certainly one of my favorites. Top five, for sure.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Ooops, Across the Universe.

Charlie Currie said...

"Imagine" is a John Lennon song/record, not the Beatles. And, certainly one of my least favorite, either by John or the Fab Four.

eddie willers said...

I think those who were buying the albums as they were released and have listened to the music for all these years would differ in their favorites from the younger people discovering the music on streaming platforms.

I feel sorry for those kids who just have the whole catalog plopped down in front of them all at once.

I remember going to SS Kresge's to get the latest album, going home and being blown away that it was like nothing I had ever heard. Each and every time.

Shane said...

"Hey Jude?"

Virgil Hilts said...

Hard day's night?

Henry said...

Given the fact that Beatles songs aren't streamed, I'm wondering if its own of the tiny few that have been licensed for random commercials and films. I googled for that list, and I have a guess.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

I'm going to go with Come Together. It seems to be the one I hear the most.

rcocean said...

Googling, these are the top 10 most streamed Beatles songs. Read it and weep:

1. "Come Together"
2. "Hey Jude"
3. "Here Comes the Sun"
4. "Let It Be"
5. "Twist and Shout"
6. "Blackbird"
7. "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
8. "In My Life"
9. "She Loves You"
10. "Help!"

rcocean said...

Googling, these are the top 10 most streamed Beatles songs. Read it and weep:

1. "Come Together"
2. "Hey Jude"
3. "Here Comes the Sun"
4. "Let It Be"
5. "Twist and Shout"
6. "Blackbird"
7. "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
8. "In My Life"
9. "She Loves You"
10. "Help!"

Rick.T. said...

Let it Be?

Jessica said...

I'm shocked at the answer. I guessed wrong. The right song wouldn't have been in my top 10 guesses! It's not a bad song, but still, I'm surprised.

Early Beatles are underrated.

rcocean said...

My Top 10 Beatles songs:

01. Hard Days Night
02. Hey Jude
03. Revolution
04. Penny Lane
05. Lucy in the Sky
06. Can't Buy me Love
07. Help
08. Here comes the Sun
09. Yesterday
10. She Loves you

TommyBoalJunior said...

Got to get you into my life

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Across the Universe
Paperback Writer
Penny Lane
Love to You
And I Love Her

Some favorites


readering said...

Probably changes every year.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Eleanor Rigby, another great one.

Ann Althouse said...

The answer given on XM radio was "Here Comes the Sun."

Richard Dillman said...

When I lived in Oregon, and the long rainy winter ended in April, the radio stations frequently played “Here Comes the Sun.” I’ll go with that.
Its stiil pertinent as the mounds of Minnesota snow slowly melt and the first hints of spring are apparent.

traditionalguy said...

Here comes the Sun is Trumpian optimism. Christians relate that to their hope: Here comes the Son.

Josephbleau said...

One of my best pop musical experiences was watching Paul Simon and George Harrison play Here Comes the Sun in an SNL duet. SNL was good for one thing.

Birches said...

Hey Jude

Jeff Brokaw said...

What do I win?!

I guessed Here Comes the Sun on the assumption that the demographics of streaming users skew pretty young, and that song just seemed like an easy song for younger, newer fans to like immediately.

Always been one of my faves too.

Rumpletweezer said...

Am I really the only person whose favorite is "And Your Bird Can Sing?"

Michael E. Lopez said...

I totally guessed wrong. I immediately went to "Birthday" also.

effinayright said...

Inga...Allie Oop said...
Eleanor Rigby, another great one.
**********

Agreed. I remember hearing it for the first time and thinking, "Where are these guys going???? Everything's different!!"

The release of "Yesterday" a year earlier [1965] should have been a clue; no other pop band was putting out anything like that. Sad, melancholy songs had always been around, but nothing like this!

""Yesterday" was voted the best song of the 20th century in a 1999 BBC Radio 2 poll of music experts and listeners and was also voted the No. 1 pop song of all time by MTV and Rolling Stone magazine the following year. In 1997, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) asserts that it was performed over seven million times in the 20th century.[5]""

--wikipedia

My kids, now in their late-20's, and almost all their friends, still love the Beatles.

Stu Grimshaw said...

Top ten Ringo facts from an old, NBC-era Letterman - Ringo wanted Hey Jude changed to Hey Dude.

M Jordan said...

Something. Now that was a beauty.

Charlie Currie said...

As I become more nostalgic, "In My Life" has become one of my very favorites, along with, "Here, There and Everywhere".

The passing of Dick Dale, who we would go see and dance to on Sunday evenings at Harmony Park Ballroom in Anaheim, CA, right around the corner from Mickey's house, puts me in that mood.

eddie willers said...

The release of "Yesterday" a year earlier [1965] should have been a clue; no other pop band was putting out anything like that.

There is a movie coming out in which the premise is some science fictiony type thing happens in which a failing musician fellow awakens and he is the only one who remembers the Beatles. Looks like a blast. And, of course, it's called Yesterday.

Here's the trailer on youtube: YESTERDAY Official Trailer

NKP said...

The Beatles were made up of two pretty good song-writers (McCartney and Lennon) and two pretty good musicians (Ringo, gasp! and George who was actually way better than pretty good).

Right place at the right time, what.

PJ said...

I can live with "Here Comes the Sun," especially if the competition is "Come Together" and "Hey Jude." Personal top five would be "Because," "Paperback Writer," "Nowhere Man," "I Am The Walrus," "All You Need Is Love." "Because" contains more of everything good in "Imagine" and none of what sucks. Honorable Mention: "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)."

Yancey Ward said...

I searched the thread for my choice, and see someone already posted the list.

I chose "Come Together" based on Althouse's suggestion one could figure it out, but I wouldn't have otherwise- I would have guessed "Hey Jude" because it was their biggest hit.

Joan said...

Eddie: THANK YOU, that movie does look like a blast.

For me, it was saving up babysitting money until I could go to the Strawberry's in Kenmore Square (Boston) to buy another Beatles' album. Abbey Road was my first record ever, and Sgt. Pepper the second. I just shrug when I hear people say The Beatles are over-rated. There is no arguing with invincible ignorance. I might offer a response that few pop bands have had such a wide spread impact on our culture.

I'm glad it's "Here Comes the Sun," which is really lovely. (Abbey Road, side 2, track 1... I think?) It's not my favorite, but I don't have one favorite anyway. It really depends on the mood. (If I had to choose, it would be "Something"... or Joe Cocker's cover of "She Came in Throught the Bathroom Window")

rehajm said...

I love The No No Song.

Oh, do you mean by all the Beatles? Then Hey Bulldog...

Johnula said...

So, we know the answer is "Here Comes the Sun", but here are how the top ten break down, according to my Spotify subscription (which shows the total streaming plays for a given time period):

Here Comes The Sun: 274,710,276
Come Together: 188,378,012
Let It Be: 151,689,768
Hey Jude: 151,057,512
Yesterday: 124,900,920
Twist and Shout: 118.611,159
Blackbird: 99,541,551
I Want To Hold Your Hand: 95,695,498
In My Life: 76,696,464
Help: 73,147,529

It's probably accurate, but with the following caveats: These are all tagged as the "Remastered 2009" versions, and I'm in Canada, so it may be regional, and I don't know the time period over which they're measuring.

But it sounds right.

Roger Sweeny said...

"Here Comes the Sun" certainly works for this time of year. Was the list for a recent month? a whole year?

JAORE said...

Wild ass guess, based on the age of the audience at peak Beatlemania:
Yesterday.

PackerBronco said...

""Yesterday" was voted the best song of the 20th century in a 1999 BBC Radio 2 pol

Listening to Yesterday is like begin stuck in a pub with your mate who's just got dumped by his girlfriend and won't stop crying about it. You have to be a pal and sit there and listen but what you really want to do is to tell him to STFU and get over it.