What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

In this thread I rank my favorite Beatles songs: 204-1. (6 Viewers)

I did my top 25 list quickly a week or so ago.  I deliberately just did it without thinking and agonizing over it too much, because I know that was a long and winding road I didn't want to go down.  I'm excited that I just looked it over again, and there's maybe only one or two songs I would change on it.  We'll see how it looks in another week or so.  

 
Yankee23Fan said:
Probably - no biggie.  When it comes to "your favorite" song of a group there are just some groups where there are no wrong answers to me.  The Beatles, Queen and Billy Joel are those types of artists/groups for me.  Their collection is so good, for so long, in so many different ways that even I would probably change my favorites at any given time.

The only thing that I get slightly annoyed at is people that refuse to "like" the more popular songs of a group because they popular.  There was a time when Queen fans hated Bohemian Rhapsody because it got overplayed by Wayne and Garth and there was far too often when people would say that it isn't even their best song.  As a musical movement, it is by far their best song.  There are few songs in rock history that match its power on numerous levels.  But I can understand it not being a personal favorite from their collection - I'm not sure it's my favorite.  But to not give certain songs their due simply because they are popular is an exercise with no satisfying result to me.
Click to expand...
:goodposting: all around.

 
Three lists came in this morning. That gives us 27!    All three lists contained a song that was only on 2 of the first 24.  

There are some definite tiers showing up, so many thanks for all the lists and keep them coming!  (please number them!)

There are three songs tied for most list appearances at 22.  Next highest is 19.

 
87.  Wait (Rubber Soul, 1965)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

Things are a bit of a crapshoot at this point.  I mean, these are all great songs.  Somehow when I did my original rankings into five tiers, this one ended up in the fourth tier.  I don't know why, and now I've placed it more in line with what I actually think.  Maybe because Rubber Soul is just so damn good, this one suffers in comparison - it's a little same-y, and I don't like the ending.   What I do love is the build of the instrumentation in each of the verses - the light tambourine building into the maracas and drums, the backward fill from Ringo at 0:11, the guitar adding in mimicry of the yelp, "Wait!".  That sonic build gives the song such a pleasing texture, and I think the rhythms of the song work as a further expression of the lyrics, as if they were the stop-and-start of a relationship.

The song was recorded for Help! but ultimately left off that album, but the exact provenance of this song is somewhat unknown.  For years most people credited is as solely or mostly a John song, but in the mid-90s Paul indicated that he thought this was his composition with little or no input from John, and that he wrote it in the Bahamas while hanging out with former child actor Brandon de Wilde.  To me, the insecurity of the verses sounds like John and the sunnier bridge like Paul.

Mr. krista:  "I like playing maracas instead of a high hat.  The first time I heard that was Sonic Youth and it sounded so good.  Now that I think about it, it’s the same beat. [Plays Sonic Youth song 'Bull in the Heather.']  Yes, it’s the same."

Suggested cover:  Wowza.  Bettye LaVette

 
krista4 said:
Mr. krista:  "I like playing maracas instead of a high hat.  The first time I heard that was Sonic Youth and it sounded so good.  Now that I think about it, it’s the same beat. [Plays Sonic Youth song 'Bull in the Heather.']  Yes, it’s the same."
Click to expand...
Love that Sonic Youth song. Have drafted it. 

You're right, too. There aren't any real misses at this point.  

 
I agree that the Rubber Soul songs are perhaps the toughest among their repertoire to rank. Pound for pound, it's IMO the most consistent of all their albums (although I could probably take or leave the earlier discussed "What Goes On").

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Leroy Hoard said:
And you the coolest.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=27PydomerjM
Click to expand...
!

ETA: this is one of the songs we do when i sit in with my bff's weekend band. the lead guitarist - a 1st-class SG shredder - looooves the riff. i freestyle it like Master Hawk does but, for the chorus, i do:

i am the Cool

i am the Cool

I AAAAMM The Cool

But i could lose it with you....

*shred*

works pretty damn good

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Dammit.  "Wait" slipped by me, I listened to a lot of the Beatles catalog the last couple of weeks and I just missed this.  

Would have been top 50.  

 
You guys might wish to steel yourselves for the next one.

I'm gonna eat some lunch and then get to it.

Look inside - #86 will shock and amaze you!

 
you know i worked in gaming for 25 years and the number 86 has a special & violent meaning in that industry, don't you?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
86.  Penny Lane (single, 1967)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

:scared:  

From the beginning, I knew that this would be one of two absolutely beloved songs that I don't dig as much as other people do (little did I know The Fool on the Hill was a third), and that it would rank on my list much lower than it would be on any list of "best" Beatles songs.  Of course I love the song, or it wouldn't be this high, but it clearly doesn't connect with me the way it does for most other people.  The best explanation I have is that, as I think I mentioned earlier in the thread, I mostly don't get nostalgia as a concept.  And if I look at this in comparison to the "nostalgia" of the other a-side of the same single, "Strawberry Fields Forever," I prefer the slight angst of the latter to the idyllic descriptions of this one.  It's sweet and lovely, but I must like the edgier parts of life.

There's a lot I love about this song, though.  It is perfectly polished and clean, and it lilts in a way that puts a smile on my face.  Love that piccolo trumpet.  If some of John's lyrics can read like poetry, I think this song shows that Paul can do the same; I especially love the opening line:  Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs, of every head he's had the pleasure to know.  That's lovely imagery.  And I'm very taken with the rises and falls and especially the way the refrains rise back into the verses.  I even enjoy the modulation near the end, which is a device I'm not usually keen on.  There's nothing I would change about this song; as it is it's a perfect love letter to where they grew up.  Most days, though, there are just ~85 songs I'd rather listen to. 

I'm sure others here could do a better job of detailing what's great about the song.  So instead of saying, "top 10 for me!!!111" let us know what you love about it, too.   :)  

Mr. krista:  "You could take all the songs from the last four records and make a nifty musical, and I won’t give a #### about any of them."  [NOTE:  I don't remember what he was talking about here.]

Suggested cover:  Elvis Costello

 
Very much enjoy Penny Lane but have never loved it.   The cover by Costello highlights what I like - it's a simple but fun song.  Light-hearted.   Seems innocent sounding. (even if very little they wrote was ever purely innocent)   Nostalgiac in a good way.  My son enjoys singing the harmony with me while my wife sings the melody.  We have fun with that.   

 
Alex P Keaton said:
Very much enjoy Penny Lane but have never loved it.   The cover by Costello highlights what I like - it's a simple but fun song.  Light-hearted.   Seems innocent sounding. (even if very little they wrote was ever purely innocent)   Nostalgiac in a good way.  My son enjoys singing the harmony with me while my wife sings the melody.  We have fun with that.   
Click to expand...
I love that cover.

Btw, “four of fish and finger pies” was contributed by John and definitely not innocent. ;)  

 
krista4 said:
86.  Penny Lane (single, 1967)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

:scared:  

From the beginning, I knew that this would be one of two absolutely beloved songs that I don't dig as much as other people do (little did I know The Fool on the Hill was a third), and that it would rank on my list much lower than it would be on any list of "best" Beatles songs.  Of course I love the song, or it wouldn't be this high, but it clearly doesn't connect with me the way it does for most other people.  The best explanation I have is that, as I think I mentioned earlier in the thread, I mostly don't get nostalgia as a concept.  And if I look at this in comparison to the "nostalgia" of the other a-side of the same single, "Strawberry Fields Forever," I prefer the slight angst of the latter to the idyllic descriptions of this one.  It's sweet and lovely, but I must like the edgier parts of life.

There's a lot I love about this song, though.  It is perfectly polished and clean, and it lilts in a way that puts a smile on my face.  Love that piccolo trumpet.  If some of John's lyrics can read like poetry, I think this song shows that Paul can do the same; I especially love the opening line:  Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs, of every head he's had the pleasure to know.  That's lovely imagery.  And I'm very taken with the rises and falls and especially the way the refrains rise back into the verses.  I even enjoy the modulation near the end, which is a device I'm not usually keen on.  There's nothing I would change about this song; as it is it's a perfect love letter to where they grew up.  Most days, though, there are just ~85 songs I'd rather listen to. 

I'm sure others here could do a better job of detailing what's great about the song.  So instead of saying, "top 10 for me!!!111" let us know what you love about it, too.   :)  

Mr. krista:  "You could take all the songs from the last four records and make a nifty musical, and I won’t give a #### about any of them."  [NOTE:  I don't remember what he was talking about here.]

Suggested cover:  Elvis Costello
Click to expand...
I really thought we had something......

 
krista4 said:
86.  Penny Lane (single, 1967)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

:scared:  
Click to expand...
I've used this analogy around here before (tho i can't remember how) - the Strawberry/Penny single was the John the Baptist to Sgt. Jesus. Like em or not, the thing the Beatles were best at was changing the world. The two remarkable sides announced that something was coming that we weren't gonna be ready for and, dadblast it, they delivered. It's higher in my affections than yours (neither in my 25) on that account, but so what?

 
krista4 said:
86.  Penny Lane (single, 1967)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

:scared:  

From the beginning, I knew that this would be one of two absolutely beloved songs that I don't dig as much as other people do (little did I know The Fool on the Hill was a third), and that it would rank on my list much lower than it would be on any list of "best" Beatles songs.  Of course I love the song, or it wouldn't be this high, but it clearly doesn't connect with me the way it does for most other people.  The best explanation I have is that, as I think I mentioned earlier in the thread, I mostly don't get nostalgia as a concept.  And if I look at this in comparison to the "nostalgia" of the other a-side of the same single, "Strawberry Fields Forever," I prefer the slight angst of the latter to the idyllic descriptions of this one.  It's sweet and lovely, but I must like the edgier parts of life.

There's a lot I love about this song, though.  It is perfectly polished and clean, and it lilts in a way that puts a smile on my face.  Love that piccolo trumpet.  If some of John's lyrics can read like poetry, I think this song shows that Paul can do the same; I especially love the opening line:  Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs, of every head he's had the pleasure to know.  That's lovely imagery.  And I'm very taken with the rises and falls and especially the way the refrains rise back into the verses.  I even enjoy the modulation near the end, which is a device I'm not usually keen on.  There's nothing I would change about this song; as it is it's a perfect love letter to where they grew up.  Most days, though, there are just ~85 songs I'd rather listen to. 

I'm sure others here could do a better job of detailing what's great about the song.  So instead of saying, "top 10 for me!!!111" let us know what you love about it, too.   :)  

Mr. krista:  "You could take all the songs from the last four records and make a nifty musical, and I won’t give a #### about any of them."  [NOTE:  I don't remember what he was talking about here.]

Suggested cover:  Elvis Costello
Click to expand...
Bold strategy Cotton....

(I’m actually good with this placement)

 
I'm honestly not a huge, huge fan of the song. It's okay, but well...I always got a hint of Ray and Dave Davies' sarcasm in it.  

 
85.  This Boy (single, 1963)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

Glorious harmonies on the verses broken up with that sizzling John vocal on the middle eight.  NufcedTM.

Mr. krista:  "That’s good.  Not my favorite.  It’s a’ight. The probably had to have a slow number for the dances."

Suggested cover:  No one can do those harmonies the way the Beatles did, but I'll post Sean Lennon, Rufus Wainwright, and Robert Schwartzman just because it's nice seeing Sean do that solo (though Rufus could have done it better).

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Hot Sauce Guy
Popular Songs With Terrible Lyrics
2 3
Replies
102
Views
2K
Hot Sauce Guy
Hot Sauce Guy
JB Breakfast Club
FBG Music League
2 3
Replies
103
Views
2K
Ilov80s
Ilov80s
Eephus
2023 Year-end Song Draft - Ends Thursday Jan 25
5 6 7
Replies
325
Views
6K
squistion
squistion

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 7 (members: 0, guests: 7)
Top