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In this thread I rank my favorite Beatles songs: 204-1. (2 Viewers)

krista4 said:
I probably rank most of the album lower than most others would, too.  A few people pointed out that it needs to be listened to and evaluated as a whole, and I think there's some merit to that argument, though it wouldn't make me any more likely to listen to Wild Honey Pie.
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I have listened to the whole album but struggle every time to make it through.  And, I shouldn't have to force myself to listen to it.  That says it all really.  

What typically happens after listening to some of the White album is I skip to my favorite tunes or don't feel like my Beatles thirst is quenched and I go to Abbey Road, Revolver, Help, or another album that I love.   

 
Speaking of the White Album, and I know I will get some "OMG how could you" on these:

122.  Sexy Sadie (White Album, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

I just don't connect as well with this song as many people seem to.  Musically I enjoy it, but the contempt with which John is addressing the Maharishi is too acerbic for me to enjoy this more than I do.  

Let me back up in case anyone doesn't know the story.  This song was written in the waning hours of John's India visit (Paul and Ringo had already left, so only John, George, and various others remained).  A rumor started, most likely propagated by "Magic Alex" Alexis Mardas, who was concerned that his influence over John was ceding to the Maharishi's, that the Maharishi had made a pass at one of the female guests, possibly Mia Farrow or possibly not.  It's all very, "My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with a girl who saw Ferris pass-out at 31 Flavors last night," but I guess it was a tipping point for John, who left and wrote this caustic piece, which was originally called "Maharishi" until George convinced John to change it.

I like sarcasm, but this song is full of so much venom, even in the manner of John's vocal.  And the lyrics...well, look up some of the original lyrics that John sang to this.  If I posted them this thread and my username would be no more - there's a "c" word and a "t" word or two and some "f" words.  Still, the song is so musically clever that I'm fascinated by it.  The progressions and chord changes are stunning, and I'm enamored of the "wah wah wah"s (for lack of better term) and the cranky piano.

Mr. krista:  "[Reads a bunch of terrible alternative titles for the song.]  I 100% would have liked that song better.  I like a “#### you” song that’s sung really sweetly, with those high harmonies and pretty piano.  Sounds like it’d be a spacey type band like Radiohead.  Or Verve or Spiritualized."

Suggested cover, kinda:  Funny that Mr. krista should mention Radiohead, since the chorus of their "Karma Police" sounds suspiciously like the opening bars of this song.  Check out a comparison here.  Can't fault Radiohead too much, though, since John himself cribbed some of the lyrics - or closely followed them - from another Smokey Robinson song, "I've Been Good to You."

121.  Glass Onion (White Album, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

As we creep toward the top half, I'm highlighting some songs that, while I think they're great, have one glaring issue for me.  In "Sexy Sadie," the issue is that it's too acerbic even for me.  In this one, it is those godawful, inexcusable, makes-me-want-to-turn-the-song-off-except-it's-otherwise-so-good...call-backs to their own damn songs.  It's so lame I can't ####### stand it.  You're out of ideas and you've decided that abusing your audience with these condescending references is the way to go.  It feels like it's sung with disgust rather than being tongue-in-cheek.  Therefore, despite this being an otherwise great rock song with a fab bass line, wonderful cello arrangement, and clearly a FBG favorite, I just can't rank it higher, and in fact I have at times had it ranked much, much lower.  

On the other hand, here's an interesting bit from John about this song explaining one of those callbacks itself:  "That's me, just doing a throwaway song. I threw the line in 'the walrus was Paul' just to confuse everyone a bit more.  ... At that time I was still in my love could with Yoko.  I thought, 'Well, I'll just say something nice to Paul, that it's all right and you did a good job over these few years, holding us together.' ... The line was put in partly because I was feeling guilty because I was with Yoko and I was leaving Paul.  It's a very perverse way of saying to Paul, 'Here, have this crumb, this illusion, this stroke - because I'm leaving.'"

More Badfinger trivia:  "Glass Onion" was the name that John had intended to give to The Iveys, who became Badfinger instead.

Mr. krista:  "Bass playing sounds too boring.  Strings are the best part.  They had such a hard time just writing a song.  I think after Revolver, it seemed like each one had to be an event.  The stakes were so high.  That’s how you get #### like that.  It’s so pretentious."

Suggested cover, also kinda:  With sincere apologies to @zamboni, I dig the Danger Mouse "Encore" remake.

 
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krista4 said:
How's your top 30 coming?

Speaking of which, where's @Getzlaf15?  Think he was going to do something here.
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Knee is back to 80%, so I've been back to work after 7 weeks of no weight at all on my left leg.

So, I ran this idea by Krista this morning and she told me to give it a shot....


So here goes:
1) Anyone that wants to can give me their TOP 25 Rankings via PM.  Give it to me now, give it to me before Krista picks her #25.   I'm not going to look at anyone's list and start compiling them until Krista gets to #30.

2) I will put them all on a google spreadsheet and do a composite ranking of everyone's picks.
Your #25 gets 1 point.  #24 gets 2 points, #1 gets 25 points.

3) After Krista reveals her #25, I will then post everyone's #25 in a following post and post updated standings after every pick until we get to #1. Krista's picks will be part of the composite total also.

My guess is we get 40-50 songs on the list.  It would be awesome if we could get at least ten to do this.  I think it will be awesome to see everyone's lists as a countdown also. 
If there is a huge pushback against doing 25 songs, we could do less, but let's shoot for 25 please. 

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Knee is back to 80%, so I've been back to work after 7 weeks of no weight at all on my left leg.

So, I ran this idea by Krista this morning and she told me to give it a shot....


So here goes:
1) Anyone that wants to can give me their TOP 25 Rankings via PM.  Give it to me now, give it to me before Krista picks her #25.   I'm not going to look at anyone's list and start compiling them until Krista gets to #30.

2) I will put them all on a google spreadsheet and do a composite ranking of everyone's picks.
Your #25 gets 1 point.  #24 gets 2 points, #1 gets 25 points.

3) After Krista reveals her #25, I will then post everyone's #25 in a following post and post updated standings after every pick until we get to #1. Krista's picks will be part of the composite total also.

My guess is we get 40-50 songs on the list.  It would be awesome if we could get at least ten to do this.  I think it will be awesome to see everyone's lists as a countdown also. 
If there is a huge pushback against doing 25 songs, we could do less, but let's shoot for 25 please. 
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I :heart:  this idea.  I have some ideas of what I think will be at the top, based on some of the posts here, but very much want to see how this shakes out.  Hope people can do it!  Several have posted a top 10 or so already so it's not that much more...

 
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krista4 said:
123.  I Don't Want to Spoil the Party (Beatles for Sale, 1964)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

Another country-tinged song, and originally written for country-music-fan Ringo to sing lead.  It's unclear why/when it changed to John, but it was a good move instead to have John's double-tracked vocals on the verses with Paul's harmonies on the bridge.  I don't even understand how Ringo could have sung this one, but I'm glad he was there to keep it all tight on the drums.  I'm a fan of George's twangy, Chet-Atkins-style guitar work on this one, even though he's a bit messy with it.  I like to compare and contrast this with some of John's other, more aggressive "you're leaving me" songs (such as "Run for Your Life"), and in this case I appreciate the vulnerability without threats of violence.

Mr. krista:  "They were just trying to write a county song. We're back to really morose.  They can’t really write country, so it sounds like he’s hiding a real misery in this pastiche.  But I think dude was sad."

Suggested cover:  The only cover of a Beatles song to reach #1 on the country charts, Rosanne Cash (don't tell anyone, but I like this version better than the original)  :no:
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I absolutely love this song.   The harmonies of John and Paul and George's lead 12-string are fantastic.   I'm not sure how much higher I would rank it but probably in the top 75.

 
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This thread rules. Got me going down the rabbit hole on You Tube to MF Doom and the RZA. 

I also realize I know so little about the Beatles it's embarrassing. And this is a person who was surrounded by Beatles posters in college.  Everything from White album to precious black and whites from the early albums. My personal knowledge goes from Please Please Me to Beatles For Sale! to Rubber Soul to Revolver.  

Just interesting to find out that there are serious historians out there among us.  

 
rockaction said:
It was a Radiohead cover (or reference?) for the song and in the write-up you used the word creep, IIRC.  

So...that maybe what he's thinking. 
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Oh...somehow I missed that I'd used the word creep.  I'd like to take credit for being clever enough to slide that in there, but it wasn't intentional.

ManOfSteelhead said:
I was just recovering from the song-shaming of Savoy Truffle - now this. Oh the humanity...
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Thought of you when I posted that one.   :lol:  

 
krista4 said:
Speaking of the White Album, and I know I will get some "OMG how could you" on these:

122.  Sexy Sadie (White Album, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

I just don't connect as well with this song as many people seem to.  Musically I enjoy it, but the contempt with which John is addressing the Maharishi is too acerbic for me to enjoy this more than I do.  

Let me back up in case anyone doesn't know the story.  This song was written in the waning hours of John's India visit (Paul and Ringo had already left, so only John, George, and various others remained).  A rumor started, most likely propagated by "Magic Alex" Alexis Mardas, who was concerned that his influence over John was ceding to the Maharishi's, that the Maharishi had made a pass at one of the female guests, possibly Mia Farrow or possibly not.  It's all very, "My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with a girl who saw Ferris pass-out at 31 Flavors last night," but I guess it was a tipping point for John, who left and wrote this caustic piece, which was originally called "Maharishi" until George convinced John to change it.

I like sarcasm, but this song is full of so much venom, even in the manner of John's vocal.  And the lyrics...well, look up some of the original lyrics that John sang to this.  If I posted them this thread and my username would be no more - there's a "c" word and a "t" word or two and some "f" words.  Still, the song is so musically clever that I'm fascinated by it.  The progressions and chord changes are stunning, and I'm enamored of the "wah wah wah"s (for lack of better term) and the cranky piano.

Mr. krista:  "[Reads a bunch of terrible alternative titles for the song.]  I 100% would have liked that song better.  I like a “#### you” song that’s sung really sweetly, with those high harmonies and pretty piano.  Sounds like it’d be a spacey type band like Radiohead.  Or Verve or Spiritualized."

Suggested cover, kinda:  Funny that Mr. krista should mention Radiohead, since the chorus of their "Karma Police" sounds suspiciously like the opening bars of this song.  Check out a comparison here.  Can't fault Radiohead too much, though, since John himself cribbed some of the lyrics - or closely followed them - from another Smokey Robinson song, "I've Been Good to You."

121.  Glass Onion (White Album, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

As we creep toward the top half, I'm highlighting some songs that, while I think they're great, have one glaring issue for me.  In "Sexy Sadie," the issue is that it's too acerbic even for me.  In this one, it is those godawful, inexcusable, makes-me-want-to-turn-the-song-off-except-it's-otherwise-so-good...call-backs to their own damn songs.  It's so lame I can't ####### stand it.  You're out of ideas and you've decided that abusing your audience with these condescending references is the way to go.  It feels like it's sung with disgust rather than being tongue-in-cheek.  Therefore, despite this being an otherwise great rock song with a fab bass line, wonderful cello arrangement, and clearly a FBG favorite, I just can't rank it higher, and in fact I have at times had it ranked much, much lower.  

On the other hand, here's an interesting bit from John about this song explaining one of those callbacks itself:  "That's me, just doing a throwaway song. I threw the line in 'the walrus was Paul' just to confuse everyone a bit more.  ... At that time I was still in my love could with Yoko.  I thought, 'Well, I'll just say something nice to Paul, that it's all right and you did a good job over these few years, holding us together.' ... The line was put in partly because I was feeling guilty because I was with Yoko and I was leaving Paul.  It's a very perverse way of saying to Paul, 'Here, have this crumb, this illusion, this stroke - because I'm leaving.'"

More Badfinger trivia:  "Glass Onion" was the name that John had intended to give to The Iveys, who became Badfinger instead.

Mr. krista:  "Bass playing sounds too boring.  Strings are the best part.  They had such a hard time just writing a song.  I think after Revolver, it seemed like each one had to be an event.  The stakes were so high.  That’s how you get #### like that.  It’s so pretentious."

Suggested cover, also kinda:  With sincere apologies to @zamboni, I dig the Danger Mouse "Encore" remake.
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It's interesting - i dont know if you would love the Beatles as much or more if you were old enough to have heard their work contemporarily and, since you're loving them so wonderfully for all of us, i don't wanna know. But these are two songs that play differently if you were "there".

For the first, because right-wing media and pundithood in general has sullied its name, polemics are now a dirty word when they were quite the opposite back in the day when the extreme left was the overpowering noise of the era. Snarky was how inroads were made, words remembered, and savaging individuals got true purchase for those advancing an unpopular cause. That Lennon - an excellent if unorthodox, polemicist - targeted a darling of counterculture, something the left is still more sensitive about than the right - gave truth a better name.

Glass Onion as low as #121 on any list but "digestible vegetables" seems wrong but, again, you weren't there to feel how manic Beatlemania was. John took his fame more to heart than the others anyway and, when he commented on it with "bigger than Jesus", the misinterpretation of the quote got 121x bigger than the phenomenon he was addressing. That's unprecedented stuff, so the chance to play with the "Paul is dead" hysteria as a followup comment on their fame was juicier than,say, if Peter Dinklage decimated GoT on SNL or the Louis CK bit on his misdeeds those who loved him before he was outed need to hear from him. Too much for a writer to resist and pretty well done, actually, even if one hasn't a taste for it.

 
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pecorino said:
Yep, I assumed it was an intentional Radiohead reference.
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Now if I could only use "might" and "may" correctly, I wouldn't sound illiterate. I remember you from the Infinite Jest thread, pecorino - we have to have our DFW discussion about the structure of Infinite Jest someday. I just need the impetus to read it again, which I will, I'm sure.  

 
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