2022 FBG, 172 to 1 Beatles Countdown 1-25 lists... And 173 to 1 Countdown from 1-64 lists! (2 Viewers)

[Zegras11]

Guess The Final Order Of The Top 15 Contest (after song #12)

Binky The Doormat-6

landrys hat-5

Pip's Invitation-4

lardonastick-4

Heckmanm-3

Tom Hagen-2

ekbeats-2

BobbyLayne-2

Simey-2

fatguyinalittlecoat-2

Shaft41-2

falguy-1

Murph-1

5 = exact guess, 3 = one off either way, 1 = guess made Top 15


 

Eleanor Rigby

Binky The Doormat-5. 

lardonastick-3

Heckmanm-1

Tom Hagen-1

ekbeats-1

BobbyLayne-1

Simey-1

fatguyinalittlecoat-1

Shaft41-1

landrys hat-1

Pip's Invitation-

Murph-

falguy-

 

[Zegras11]

Eleanor Rigby (From "Yellow Submarine")
@Binky The Doormat (2) @Getzlaf15 (2)

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Eleanor Rigby (From "Yellow Submarine")
@Binky The Doormat (2) @Getzlaf15 (2)

reaction. 

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Eleanor Rigby (From "Yellow Submarine")
2022 Ranking: 12
2022 Lists: 33
2022 Points: 497
Ranked Highest by: @heckmanm (1) Son2 (1) @Binky The Doormat (2) @Getzlaf15 (2) Daughter (2) @jamny (3) @Ilov80s (4) Rob (5) OH dad (6) @DocHolliday (7) @Wrighteous Ray hub (7) @MAC_32 (7) @AAABatteries (8) @Just Win Baby (8) @Shaft41 (9) @Ted Lange as your Bartender (9) @BobbyLayne (10) Slug (10)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 7/22/319

Getz: I had this at #1 in 2019. #2 in 2022. Not quite the voter and point total increases other songs have seen recently, so it falls from #7 to #12 this time. “Strawberry” had a vote in each of the #1-6 slots, “Rigby” had a vote in each of the #1-11 slots, for 21 of its 33 total votes.
Alice Cooper

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  36

2019 write-up:

Eleanor Rigby (Revolver, 1966)

I've mentioned several times here that I'm a sucker for cello in a rock song, and this is no exception.  Except maybe it's not really a rock song, but that's OK.  Of Paul's made-up worlds, this is the one I find most interesting, if a bit cruel.  Paul's vocal is gorgeous and pure, and the string arrangement is flawless.  Using the strings in place of the drumbeat in a rock/pop song was brilliant.  If I were ranking songs I found most impressive or "genius" by the Beatles, this would rank with "A Day In The Life," "Tomorrow Never Knows," and others near the top of the list. There's nothing I don't like about this song; it just leaves me a little cold.  Maybe it's supposed to - after all, it's a song about loneliness and isolation. The melancholy description of lives of futility brings me down, but at least it's in a particularly beautiful and poignant way.

After Paul strummed the idea of this song out on acoustic guitar, it was (unsurprisingly) George Martin's idea that the only accompaniment to the vocal be a double string quartet.  Paul actually was skeptical at first, worried that the song would sound too "Mancini," so while he agreed he directed he wanted the strings to sound "biting."  I think they successfully created that "biting" feel, to the horror of the string musicians.   Unlike traditional set-ups where one mic would be placed high over the musicians' heads, for this composition the mics were placed within an inch or two of each instrument, much to the musicians' discomfort.  In each take, one could hear the sound of the musicians moving their chairs back away from the mics, until George Martin told them to stop!  While it wasn't to the musicians' liking, this approach ultimately gave the song that biting yet lush sound on the strings.

Paul has said that he made up the name "Eleanor Rigby" based on Eleanor Bron, the lead actress in Help!, and then digging around for a last name he liked until he saw the shop name "Rigby & Evens" near the Bristol theater where Jane Asher was performing.  But there was a real Eleanor Rigby in Liverpool, born in 1895 and died in 1944.  If you're a crazy person, you can visit her tombstone in Liverpool as part of your Beatles fandom.

Mr. krista:  "That’s a troubling song.  First, it’s a very beautiful song.  I was trying to listen without listening to the lyrics, which bug me. That’s not how you evoke loneliness. But the strings sound so raw.  Not played with vibrato, it’s just ununununun. Like if Kraftwerk programmed a string quartet.  The mic is just picking up everything that happens.  But also cold, which really does evoke that kind of loneliness.  It’s not an easy song.  People must have thought, 'Where the #### are the Beatles.' Like, where’s the guitar?  The vocals are complex.  It’s like Schubert."

Suggested cover:  This is Paul's favorite cover of the song, and who am I to argue?  Ray Charles  Also, via excellent suggestion by @Ted Lange as your Bartender:  Wes Montgomery.  

2022 Supplement:  So only a “crazy person” would visit the Eleanor Rigby tombstone?  Obviously.  [Scribbles out entries in July 2022 itinerary.]

Paul grew up with a lot of old ladies around, in part due to the odd jobs he would do like mowing a lawn.  He says that this song was based on one old lady he got along well with, with whom he would go around and just chat, and later delivered groceries to her and listened to her stories.  He can’t remember her name now, which he says is the trouble with history:  “Even if you were there, which I obviously was, it’s sometimes difficult to pin down.”  Ah, if only he admitted this about his often-inconsistent retellings of the Beatles’ stories.  Paul has also said that there is a connection between the ”stabbiness” (OK, my word, not his) of the strings in this song and the mummified mother in Psycho, connecting her to Eleanor as another “elderly woman who had been left high and dry.”

Whoever he had in mind, Paul definitely had the obvious theme of loneliness when he crafted the song.  He points out the vague idea of a woman picking up the rice after a wedding – she isn’t necessarily a cleaner, but whoever she is, she is ruing the idea that she is at most an observer, with no hope of having a wedding of her own.  Paul sees this song as a breakthrough for him, lyrically, and cites no less than Allen Ginsburg and William S. Burroughs – the latter having marveled at how much story Paul got into three verses – as admirers of the poetry of the song.

Fun fact:  Paul was thinking of “Nivea” cold cream when he mentioned the face in a jar by the door, because it was his mum’s favorite and is still something he uses to this day.  Now if I could only figure out what Ringo uses for his youthful appearance, I might (appear to) live forever.

Guido Merkins

Paul has a reputation, in some ways justified, of not putting a lot of thought into lyrics.  Hello Goodbye and Let Em In are kind of examples of this.  However, Paul can come up with some really great lyrics full of meaning and pathos when he chooses.  Yesterday is a good example, Eleanor Rigby is a better example.

Apparently Paul was vamping on an Em chord on a piano at Jane Asher’s house and started making up this melody which, eventually, became Eleanor Rigby.  The story of this name is quite interesting as Paul claims he used Miss Daisy Hawkins, which he didn’t like because it sounded made up.  So he used Eleanor from Eleanor Braun, the female lead in the Help film and Rigby from the name of a store he saw.  Only later was a headstone discovered in the Woolton Cemetery only steps away from where John and Paul first met with the name Eleanor Rigby and the name McKenzie on another stone close by.  So perhaps it was something stuck in his subconscious, but that tombstone has become a popular tourist attraction in Liverpool, even though Paul claimed to not use that as inspiration.

Anyway, the theme of the song is about lonely people.  Phrases like “picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been” and died in the church and was buried along with her name” and “nobody came” and “darning his socks in the night when there’s nobody there (Ringo contributed this) and “ah, look at all the lonely people (George) fits in with this theme of loneliness.  Jane Asher turned Paul onto Vivaldi, hence the Vivaldi like strings, a double string quartet.

This song announces itself as the type of song that will be around long after there is any living memory of the Beatles.  Just sounds like a classic, something that’s always been around. Stuff like this wasn’t expected from rock and roll bands before the Beatles.  Eleanor Rigby is a great example of the Beatles widening the playing field for bands.  I can’t prove it, but I don’t think you get to Bohemian Rhapsody without Eleanor Rigby.  Not because they are alike, but more because I’m not sure anybody would assume opera was fair game for a rock record, until Rigby.

Another song where I heard the wrong lyrics all this time. I thought he was counting his socks, something I also do after the laundry.  I always have one sock that escapes to that alternate dimension, where someone is wondering where all these extra socks are coming from.

 

[Zegras11]

Another song where I heard the wrong lyrics all this time. I thought he was counting his socks, something I also do after the laundry.  I always have one sock that escapes to that alternate dimension, where someone is wondering where all these extra socks are coming from.

I always here "lovely" instead of "lonely" people

 

[krista4]

It will seem silly, but I spend at least one hour a day researching not just Beatles events but other world events, then looking for videos, articles, or other links, to write up the "today's date in."  I doubt most people care about them, but I know that some people enjoy them so that is good enough for me.

As most of you know, I spent hundreds of hours over the course of ~18 months developing the initial Beatles countdown thread that has now led to so many others.  For our new thread this year, I dedicated almost the entirety of my nights and weekends for ~2 months re-researching and re-writing more information and, as always, adding my own personal thoughts and experiences.

On today's date in 2022, I learned that all of that takes much less work and effort than hitting ctrl-C and ctrl-V.  Wish I'd known that before, as I could have saved countless hours of my life personalizing the information.

I'm not looking for any new "attagirls" from anyone - many of you are terribly generous with your kind comments already, and I greatly appreciate each one of you who has done that.  This is not about that.  But I'm exhausted and now wholly disheartened and dispirited by fatguy's comments in another thread this morning, and I have no desire to contribute any more of my time and energy here.  Getz has authority to post the remaining write-ups that I had already submitted to him, and I'll read the comments of others as we wind down here, but simply won't engage.  The comments and thoughts from so many of you have been wonderful to read.

What a disappointing way to end something that's been a labor of love for me for over four years now.

 

[simey]

Eleanor Rigby (From "Yellow Submarine")

I ranked this song as my #18 favorite. It's a great song. I think those "biting" strings go so well with the lyrics.  Speaking of the lyrics, the line "wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door" is one of my favorite lines in a song. I think I said that in the original k4 countdown, and it is still true.

I remember studying this song in English class my freshman year in college. I believe we were discussing metaphors while analyzing this song. It was an enjoyable class.

 

[Tom Hagen]

It will seem silly, but I spend at least one hour a day researching not just Beatles events but other world events, then looking for videos, articles, or other links, to write up the "today's date in."  I doubt most people care about them, but I know that some people enjoy them so that is good enough for me.

As most of you know, I spent hundreds of hours over the course of ~18 months developing the initial Beatles countdown thread that has now led to so many others.  For our new thread this year, I dedicated almost the entirety of my nights and weekends for ~2 months re-researching and re-writing more information and, as always, adding my own personal thoughts and experiences.

On today's date in 2022, I learned that all of that takes much less work and effort than hitting ctrl-C and ctrl-V.  Wish I'd known that before, as I could have saved countless hours of my life personalizing the information.

I'm not looking for any new "attagirls" from anyone - many of you are terribly generous with your kind comments already, and I greatly appreciate each one of you who has done that.  This is not about that.  But I'm exhausted and now wholly disheartened and dispirited by fatguy's comments in another thread this morning, and I have no desire to contribute any more of my time and energy here.  Getz has authority to post the remaining write-ups that I had already submitted to him, and I'll read the comments of others as we wind down here, but simply won't engage.  The comments and thoughts from so many of you have been wonderful to read.

What a disappointing way to end something that's been a labor of love for me for over four years now.

Most of us appreciate the insane amount of work you have put into this over the last 4 years. I've probably never worked that hard at anything in my entire life. Thank you.

 

[Tom Hagen]

Eleanor Rigby (From "Yellow Submarine")
2022 Ranking: 12
2022 Lists: 33
2022 Points: 497
Ranked Highest by: @heckmanm (1) Son2 (1) @Binky The Doormat (2) @Getzlaf15 (2) Daughter (2) @jamny (3) @Ilov80s (4) Rob (5) OH dad (6) @DocHolliday (7) @Wrighteous Ray hub (7) @MAC_32 (7) @AAABatteries (8) @Just Win Baby (8) @Shaft41 (9) @Ted Lange as your Bartender (9) @BobbyLayne (10) Slug (10)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 7/22/319

Getz: I had this at #1 in 2019. #2 in 2022. Not quite the voter and point total increases other songs have seen recently, so it falls from #7 to #12 this time. “Strawberry” had a vote in each of the #1-6 slots, “Rigby” had a vote in each of the #1-11 slots, for 21 of its 33 total votes.
Alice Cooper

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  36

2019 write-up:

Eleanor Rigby (Revolver, 1966)

I've mentioned several times here that I'm a sucker for cello in a rock song, and this is no exception.  Except maybe it's not really a rock song, but that's OK.  Of Paul's made-up worlds, this is the one I find most interesting, if a bit cruel.  Paul's vocal is gorgeous and pure, and the string arrangement is flawless.  Using the strings in place of the drumbeat in a rock/pop song was brilliant.  If I were ranking songs I found most impressive or "genius" by the Beatles, this would rank with "A Day In The Life," "Tomorrow Never Knows," and others near the top of the list. There's nothing I don't like about this song; it just leaves me a little cold.  Maybe it's supposed to - after all, it's a song about loneliness and isolation. The melancholy description of lives of futility brings me down, but at least it's in a particularly beautiful and poignant way.

After Paul strummed the idea of this song out on acoustic guitar, it was (unsurprisingly) George Martin's idea that the only accompaniment to the vocal be a double string quartet.  Paul actually was skeptical at first, worried that the song would sound too "Mancini," so while he agreed he directed he wanted the strings to sound "biting."  I think they successfully created that "biting" feel, to the horror of the string musicians.   Unlike traditional set-ups where one mic would be placed high over the musicians' heads, for this composition the mics were placed within an inch or two of each instrument, much to the musicians' discomfort.  In each take, one could hear the sound of the musicians moving their chairs back away from the mics, until George Martin told them to stop!  While it wasn't to the musicians' liking, this approach ultimately gave the song that biting yet lush sound on the strings.

Paul has said that he made up the name "Eleanor Rigby" based on Eleanor Bron, the lead actress in Help!, and then digging around for a last name he liked until he saw the shop name "Rigby & Evens" near the Bristol theater where Jane Asher was performing.  But there was a real Eleanor Rigby in Liverpool, born in 1895 and died in 1944.  If you're a crazy person, you can visit her tombstone in Liverpool as part of your Beatles fandom.

Mr. krista:  "That’s a troubling song.  First, it’s a very beautiful song.  I was trying to listen without listening to the lyrics, which bug me. That’s not how you evoke loneliness. But the strings sound so raw.  Not played with vibrato, it’s just ununununun. Like if Kraftwerk programmed a string quartet.  The mic is just picking up everything that happens.  But also cold, which really does evoke that kind of loneliness.  It’s not an easy song.  People must have thought, 'Where the #### are the Beatles.' Like, where’s the guitar?  The vocals are complex.  It’s like Schubert."

Suggested cover:  This is Paul's favorite cover of the song, and who am I to argue?  Ray Charles  Also, via excellent suggestion by @Ted Lange as your Bartender:  Wes Montgomery.  

2022 Supplement:  So only a “crazy person” would visit the Eleanor Rigby tombstone?  Obviously.  [Scribbles out entries in July 2022 itinerary.]

Paul grew up with a lot of old ladies around, in part due to the odd jobs he would do like mowing a lawn.  He says that this song was based on one old lady he got along well with, with whom he would go around and just chat, and later delivered groceries to her and listened to her stories.  He can’t remember her name now, which he says is the trouble with history:  “Even if you were there, which I obviously was, it’s sometimes difficult to pin down.”  Ah, if only he admitted this about his often-inconsistent retellings of the Beatles’ stories.  Paul has also said that there is a connection between the ”stabbiness” (OK, my word, not his) of the strings in this song and the mummified mother in Psycho, connecting her to Eleanor as another “elderly woman who had been left high and dry.”

Whoever he had in mind, Paul definitely had the obvious theme of loneliness when he crafted the song.  He points out the vague idea of a woman picking up the rice after a wedding – she isn’t necessarily a cleaner, but whoever she is, she is ruing the idea that she is at most an observer, with no hope of having a wedding of her own.  Paul sees this song as a breakthrough for him, lyrically, and cites no less than Allen Ginsburg and William S. Burroughs – the latter having marveled at how much story Paul got into three verses – as admirers of the poetry of the song.

Fun fact:  Paul was thinking of “Nivea” cold cream when he mentioned the face in a jar by the door, because it was his mum’s favorite and is still something he uses to this day.  Now if I could only figure out what Ringo uses for his youthful appearance, I might (appear to) live forever.

Guido Merkins

Paul has a reputation, in some ways justified, of not putting a lot of thought into lyrics.  Hello Goodbye and Let Em In are kind of examples of this.  However, Paul can come up with some really great lyrics full of meaning and pathos when he chooses.  Yesterday is a good example, Eleanor Rigby is a better example.

Apparently Paul was vamping on an Em chord on a piano at Jane Asher’s house and started making up this melody which, eventually, became Eleanor Rigby.  The story of this name is quite interesting as Paul claims he used Miss Daisy Hawkins, which he didn’t like because it sounded made up.  So he used Eleanor from Eleanor Braun, the female lead in the Help film and Rigby from the name of a store he saw.  Only later was a headstone discovered in the Woolton Cemetery only steps away from where John and Paul first met with the name Eleanor Rigby and the name McKenzie on another stone close by.  So perhaps it was something stuck in his subconscious, but that tombstone has become a popular tourist attraction in Liverpool, even though Paul claimed to not use that as inspiration.

Anyway, the theme of the song is about lonely people.  Phrases like “picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been” and died in the church and was buried along with her name” and “nobody came” and “darning his socks in the night when there’s nobody there (Ringo contributed this) and “ah, look at all the lonely people (George) fits in with this theme of loneliness.  Jane Asher turned Paul onto Vivaldi, hence the Vivaldi like strings, a double string quartet.

This song announces itself as the type of song that will be around long after there is any living memory of the Beatles.  Just sounds like a classic, something that’s always been around. Stuff like this wasn’t expected from rock and roll bands before the Beatles.  Eleanor Rigby is a great example of the Beatles widening the playing field for bands.  I can’t prove it, but I don’t think you get to Bohemian Rhapsody without Eleanor Rigby.  Not because they are alike, but more because I’m not sure anybody would assume opera was fair game for a rock record, until Rigby.

I had it #25.  Growing up I was familiar with the early work like I Want to Hold Your Hand and All My Loving. This was the song that made me realize the Beatles were so much more than that.

But I still regret not bumping it off my list for Two of Us.

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

I'm exhausted and now wholly disheartened and dispirited by fatguy's comments in another thread this morning, and I have no desire to contribute any more of my time and energy here. 

I'd really rather not muck up this great thread with this stuff, but I feel somewhat compelled to respond because @krista4 is making me into the bad guy that somehow ruined this thread.  I would like to explain and I hope that krista will reconsider her sour feelings about this thread.  I have absolutely loved it and I think she should be extremely proud of what she's accomplished.

Anyway, in the Led Zeppelin countdown thread, several posters have made negative comments because @Anarchy99, who runs that thread, went on vacation for a couple weeks and then got really busy at work so it has taken a very long time to get through the last ten songs.  One poster compared the Zeppelin thread to this one and said this one was "more fun."  I didn't think that was very fair to @Anarchy99 - he has put in a lot of work on that thread and is doing it alone and has provided a lot of great fun and entertainment.  I responded with the following:

[The Beatles Thread] is more fun now, because this one hasn't been very active lately.  But this thread has been great and I really appreciate all the work @Anarchy99 has put into it.  That Beatles thread has like four people doing the work that he's doing himself over here.

Those three sentences are the entirety of what I said that has resulted in this unfortunate situation.

In hindsight I would have left out the last sentence (I've edited my orignal post now).  My intent was never to insinuate that the writeups in the two threads were identical, my point was really about the difference in pace between the threads.  My understanding is that Krista and @Guido Merkins already did a lot of their work before this thread even began, and they also have @Getzlaf15 pulling stuff together and doing the statistical stuff.  Anarchy99 is doing it himself and pulling together his (less ambitious) writeups in real time, while apparently getting slammed at work.  It didn't feel right for anyone to be criticizing him and I wanted to defend him.  Unfortunately my defense of Anarchy99 came across as an insult to krista and Getzlaf15.

I've already apologized to @krista4 privately and now I'm doing it publicly.  I am very sorry if my statements came across as unappreciative of all of the hard work and love and joy you have put into this thread.  I know that it has enriched my life and my guess is that everyone else in this thread would say the same.  

I Should Have Known Better.

 

[simey]

 What a disappointing way to end something that's been a labor of love for me for over four years now.

Listen John, don't leave the band!  We appreciate everything you do. There is a darkness Across the Beatlesverse right now.  Bring back you and your light. 

PS I called you John, because at the beginning of this thing someone said you were George, and I said you were John.

 

[Anarchy99]

It's all good. Everyone involved with content for any of the music threads are all fine and have no problems with each other. People can enjoy one thread more than another, just like they can enjoy one band over another. But there's no point in anyone calling out anyone else over any of this. I wish I had more time right now, but I don't. Heck, I wish I had more time for The Beatles thread and don't. We all put a lot of time in, let's just leave it at that.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Ringo: I’m sorry but I just feel like I’m not playing very well and the three of you seem so close and I don’t want to be a Beatle anymore.

Paul: Us three? I was thinking the same thing about you three.

Ringo: I’m sorry but I just feel like I’m not playing very well and the three of you seem so close and I don’t want to be a Beatle anymore.

George: Us three? I was thinking the same thing about you three.

John: What’s this about you quitting?

Ringo: Oh, never mind , I’m coming back.

 

[krista4]

It's all good. Everyone involved with content for any of the music threads are all fine and have no problems with each other. People can enjoy one thread more than another, just like they can enjoy one band over another. But there's no point in anyone calling out anyone else over any of this. I wish I had more time right now, but I don't. Heck, I wish I had more time for The Beatles thread and don't. We all put a lot of time in, let's just leave it at that.

Certainly the issue is not with you, and I posted in your LZ thread this morning essentially what you posted above.  I appreciate your work there and what you were able to do over here before life got crazy for you.  Thanks for that.

 

[krista4]

My understanding is that Krista and @Guido Merkins already did a lot of their work before this thread even began,

Wrong - obviously so, even - and also completely irrelevant.  And that's the last I'm going to say on any of this ####.  Back to the countdown and the great input from many other people in the thread.

 

[Anarchy99]

Certainly the issue is not with you, and I posted in your LZ thread this morning essentially what you posted above.  I appreciate your work there and what you were able to do over here before life got crazy for you.  Thanks for that.

I will double back at some point and make a list of cover songs. Most people don't really grasp how much time it takes to make a coherent entry for a song. In my case, I look at multiple sources, blend them altogether, look for quality live performances, and look up a ton of covers. Sometimes that takes four hours or more with all the links that are involved. Somedays I don't have four hours, so I've resorted to putting in a few minutes in at a time.

Truth be told, I knew way more about The Beatles than I did about Led Zeppelin, but obviously you have given a go at the Fab Four twice now and I don't have a ton more insight to add than what is already in your threads.

 

[simey]

Truth be told, I knew way more about The Beatles than I did about Led Zeppelin, but obviously you have given a go at the Fab Four twice now and I don't have a ton more insight to add than what is already in your threads.

She also did their solo careers, and that was just as detailed if not more. It was very interesting and educational. 

 

[krista4]

She also did their solo careers, and that was just as detailed if not more. It was very interesting and educational. 

  I really enjoyed that one.  My write-ups there were (believe it or not) more detailed, because I really dove into history of the guys post-1969 more than I did for the Beatles thread where I figured a lot of people would already know so much of it.  We had fewer people since not as many are interested in that period, but the discussions were fabulous.   That thread was a fun time for me, and I'm glad for you, too.   

 

[simey]

The Mellotron!  There are a lot of interesting technical aspects to this song that nerdier people than I could discuss better (backward cymbals), but the most interesting to me is the use of Mellotron, a new instrument that contained various tape loops, and if you hit a note it could mimic other instruments.  In this case Paul used it in the “flute” setting starting with that beautiful intro and continuing throughout the song. 

I always thought it was a flute, but it was the Mellotron making what I consider the signature sound of the song. 

 

[BobbyLayne]

Listen John, don't leave the band!  We appreciate everything you do. There is a darkness Across the Beatlesverse right now.  Bring back you and your light. 

PS I called you John, because at the beginning of this thing someone said you were George, and I said you were John.

She is.

Paul joined his band. Paul brought George. They all had equal say, if they were doing something, it was because the vote was 4-0.

But it was John’s band. He was the leader.

 

[Zegras11]

Help! [Blackpool Night Out, ABC Theatre, Blackpool, United Kingdom]
2022 Ranking: 11
2022 Lists: 40
2022 Points: 511
Ranked Highest by: @Getzlaf15 (3) @whoknew (4) Doug (4) @AAABatteries (5) @Uruk-Hai (7) @falguy (7) @Ilov80s (7) @Murph (8) @Yankee23Fan (8) @fatguyinalittlecoat (8) @Westerberg (8) @Tom Hagen (9) @DocHolliday (9) @ekbeats (9) @John Maddens Lunchbox (10) @krista4 (10) @Just Win Baby (10)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 10/21/272

Getz: First song to receive votes from at least 50% of the voters. I had it at #4 in 2019, and moved it up to #3 for 2022. Love the Paul and George harmonies.

No first or second place votes, and only four Top 5 votes, but it did get 17 votes for slots #7-11. How odd!

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  15

2019 write-up:

Help! (Help!, 1965)

"Help!"  What an amazing blast start!  Even more amazing is that, while John literally screamed for help over and over in this song, it wasn't until later that any of his bandmates actually recognized it as a genuine cry for help, nor did John himself:  "When Help! came out, I was actually crying out for help. ... I didn't realize it at the time... The whole Beatle thing was just beyond comprehension.  I was eating and drinking like a pig, dissatisfied with myself, and subconsciously I was crying out for help.  So it was my fat Elvis period. ... And I am singing about when I was so much younger and all the rest, looking back at how easy it was.  Anyway, I was fat and depressed and I was crying out for help"  I guess the upbeat nature of the music disguised the genuine anguish of the lyrics in this, probably the first song of self-reflection that John wrote for the Beatles.  Later John mentioned to May Pang that, of all his songs, this was probably his favorite but also the one he also wished he could do over:  like "Please Please Me" the Beatles had sped up the tempo on this song to make it more commercially viable, and John would like to have re-recorded it as a slower, more soulful, emotive ballad.  I'd love to have heard that.

Though this is a "John song," my favorite aspect of the song was contributed by Paul, which are those glorious countermelodies, in my opinion the best in any Beatles song.  Having heard the song hundreds of times, I'm still fascinated every time by where they choose to go and the way in which they're delivered.  As mentioned in the first word of this write-up, I love that immediate panicked "Help!" to start the song, with John's vocal following in an increasingly desperate manner but balanced with those disarmingly cool, calm backing vocals.  Chord change nerdiness!  The initial minor chords combine with John's screams on the first few lines to give a feeling of urgency or even panic, while the harmonies then join to drive the chords back down into a major tone, giving the sense that the panic is being assuaged.  The backing vocals themselves offer beautiful harmonies in a backward call-and-response style, taking the lead as "call" as often as they do the "response"...sorta.  They weave in and out and at times feel like they're stabbing into the lead vocal, almost ridiculing him and taking the song in a seemingly frenetic direction, but with the sneering feel of the vocals lending a dark air at the same time.  The drum fills and descending arpeggios on the guitar add to the agitation of the first verses and choruses, until we're launched into a third verse that suddenly takes us down into a place of relative peace, with only John on acoustic guitar and soft bass notes from Paul.  The sense of peace is belied by John's increasingly intense vocal, though, and so it's no surprise when the instruments join again for a final chorus that vehemently increases the sense of panic and desperation, but lands on that odd chord change to emphasize the final word, "me."

Of course, you could also just listen to this song as if it were the title track for a James-Bond-style film.  It's great as that, too.  

No discussion of this song would be complete unless I linked the video for it, which I can never get enough of.  John and George know how to play to the camera, Paul is being greasily eager, and Ringo...ah, Ringo.  Just take one run-through watching nothing but Ringo when he's onscreen.   

Mr. krista:  "What a burner, what a great way to open a record.  Help?  12-string is so pretty.  It’s clear they’ve gotten better.  Is this when he started getting his Rickenbacker?  The drums sound particularly good too, especially the snare which had sounded weak and flabby.  Just a monster song.  Grabs your attention and is like over, done."

Suggested covers:  If you don't like this you can't be my friend:  Dolly Parton.  Also there's this:  Lil Wayne.  And also this:  The Damned.

2022 Supplement:  Another new entry this year into my Top 10, sliding into the last spot on the strength of the desperation in John’s vocal.  Really.  Everything else is phenomenal, but the energetic despair is what propels it.  It probably also “helped” that I watched that silly-but-pleasing movie “Yesterday” in the interim, and the treatment of this song was a highlight.

As we know, the band developed the song around the title of the movie, oddly enough, instead of the other way around.  The director, Richard Lester, wanted to use the name “Help” but was told that they couldn’t for copyright reasons.  After Ringo’s suggestions, “Eight Arms to Hold You,” briefly became the working title, someone came up with the ingenious but legally questionable idea that, by putting an exclamation point at the end, they could avoid the copyright issues.  Someone check with a real lawyer about this.

In any case, it seems that the title given to John ended up fitting his mental state, for better or worse.

Guido Merkins

Fortunately, days before John Lennon was shot, he had a lengthy interview with Playboy where he went through his entire catalog, including Beatles, and gave his memories on the songs.  As you may know, John’s memory wasn’t always the greatest and he gives different answers sometimes whether his mood fit or not.  However, the interview in 1980 was his last word and although there are a few things that don’t add up, it’s a great document on his mindset right before we lost him forever.

One of his strongest statements is something to the effect of “Help and Strawberry Fields Forever are his truest songs.”  Both of these songs were obviously very personal to John and he elaborated on these two more than most of the others.

He claimed that Help was written almost subconsciously about the fact that this was his “fat Elvis period.”  He felt overweight and lost and was crying out for help, hence the song.  “Now these days are gone and I’m not so self assured” and “my independence seems to vanish in the haze” and “every now and then I feel so insecure” are some of the key lines that indicate John’s mindset at that time.  I think we tend to think how awesome it would be to be famous and adored by the world, but if you know anything about the Beatles lifestyle at that time, it was almost “be careful what you wish for.”  Paul’s grandfather said it perfectly in A Hard Day’s Night “I’ve seen a train and a room, a car and a room, and a room and a room.”  John was definitely feeling the pressure with Beatlemania going on it’s 2nd year and showing no sign of slowing down.

I love the call and answer style of background vocals and the very cool descending guitar lines by George.  Like Strawberry Fields Forever,  John wanted Help to be recorded differently.  In the case of Help I think he wanted it slower to match his feelings when he wrote it, but in this case, I think John was wrong.  In Help, he sounds downright desperate, especially at the end with the “Help me, help me” lines.  This is captured perfectly in the film Yesterday when Jack Malik does kind of a punk rock version of Help and really goes Kurt Cobain on the “help me help me” line at the end.  I remember reading somewhere that John tried to rework Help for one of his solo albums, but gave up when he had issues translating it to the piano.  I can’t find references to it online, so either I dreamed it or I read it and it never happened.  Godsbrother might be able to help out with that one.

 

[Ilov80s]

It is kind of weird how many top 5 and 10 votes it got but that nobody listed it as their #1 song but it's also totally understandable. As much as I love the song, I would be very surprised to hear anyone say it was their 1.01 Beatles song. 

 

[Zegras11]

Guess The Final Order Of The Top 15 Contest (after song #11)

fatguyinalittlecoat-7

Binky The Doormat-6

landrys hat-5

Pip's Invitation-5

Tom Hagen-5

lardonastick-4

Heckmanm-4

ekbeats-3

Simey-3

Shaft41-3

BobbyLayne-2

falguy-2

Murph-1

5 = exact guess, 3 = one off either way, 1 = guess made Top 15

 

Help!

fatguyinalittlecoat-5

Tom Hagen-3

Heckmanm-1

ekbeats-1

Simey-1

Shaft41-1

Pip's Invitation-1

falguy-1

Binky The Doormat-

lardonastick-

BobbyLayne-

landrys hat-

Murph-

 

[Zegras11]

With the posting of Help!, @Encyclopedia Brown becomes the first to have all 25 of their songs posted.



 

# of Songs to Have Appeared on The Countdown to Date (with 10 songs left!)

1 --Encyclopedia Brown---25

2 --anarchy99---24

3 --ManOfSteelhead---24

4 --Krista (Sharon)---24

5 --FairWarning---23

6 --Krista (Worth)---23

7 --Krista (TJ/Michael)---23

8 --OTB_Lifer---23

9 --Wrighteous Ray(Hub)---23

10 --Heckmanm---22

11 --DaVinci---22

12 --Oliver Humanzee---22

13 --Man Of Constant Sorrow---21

14 --Krista (Craig)---21

15 --Uruk-Hai---21

16 --Shaft41---21

17 --Guido Merkins---20

18 --ConstruxBoy---20

19 --rockaction---20

20 --Krista (Rob)---20

21 --Shaft41(Son1)---20

22 --murph---20

23 --Dwayne Hoover---20

24 --Westerberg---20

25 --Krista (Doug)---20

26 --Eephus---20

27 --Getzlaf15---20

28 --WhoKnew---20

29 --Pip's Invitation---19

30 --wikkidpissah---19

31 --Krista (TJ/Alex)---19

32 --Shaft41(Daughter)---19

33 --BinkyTheDoormat---19

34 --jamny---19

35 --shuke---19

36 --prosopis---19

37 --fatguyinalttlecoat---19

38 --zamboni---19

39 --landryshat---19

40 --AAABatteries---19

41 --DocHolliday---19

42 --Ted Lange as your Bartender---19

43 --ProsteticRKG---18

44 --jwb---18

45 --Dr. Octopus---18

46 --John Maddens Lunchbox---18

47 --Dennis Castro---18

48 --Krista4---18

49 --ekbeats---18

50 --Oliver Humanzee(Dad)---18

51 --yankee23fan---18

52 --Gr00vus---17

53 --PIK 95---17

54 --Wrighteous Ray---17

55 --turnjose7---17

56 --Krista (TJ/Holly)---17

57 --Alex P Keaton---17

58 --Shaft41(Son2)---17

59 --Krista (TJ/Slug)---17

60 --Simey---17

61 --WorrierKing---16

62 --Mac32---16

63 --Dinsy Ejotuz---16

64 --Neal Cassady---16

65 --Lardonastick---16

66 --Just Win Baby---16

67 --BobbyLayne---16

68 --falguy---15

69 --Ilov80s---15

70 --Tom Hagen---15

71 --pecorino---15

 

[Zegras11]

# of Songs to Have Appeared in the Top 25 to Date (15 songs have been posted)

DocHolliday---11

Heckmanm---10

BobbyLayne---10

Oliver Humanzee(Dad)---9

WhoKnew---9

Ted Lange as your Bartender---9

shuke---8

DaVinci---8

Krista (Doug)---8

Krista (TJ/Holly)---8

Eephus---8

Krista4---8

Tom Hagen---8

Krista (TJ/Slug)---8

pecorino---8

Gr00vus---7

WorrierKing---7

Dennis Castro---7

Uruk-Hai---7

Oliver Humanzee---7

landryshat---7

falguy---7

ekbeats---7

yankee23fan---7

Just Win Baby---7

ProsteticRKG---6

FairWarning---6

Dr. Octopus---6

Wrighteous Ray(Hub)---6

murph---6

Westerberg---6

Encyclopedia Brown---6

Shaft41(Son2)---6

AAABatteries---6

Lardonastick---6

Simey---6

OTB_Lifer---5

turnjose7---5

rockaction---5

jamny---5

John Maddens Lunchbox---5

Shaft41(Son1)---5

Alex P Keaton---5

Getzlaf15---5

Ilov80s---5

jwb---4

wikkidpissah---4

Shaft41(Daughter)---4

Krista (TJ/Alex)---4

ConstruxBoy---4

BinkyTheDoormat---4

Krista (Rob)---4

prosopis---4

Dinsy Ejotuz---4

fatguyinalttlecoat---4

zamboni---4

Dwayne Hoover---4

Neal Cassady---4

Pip's Invitation---3

PIK 95---3

Krista (TJ/Michael)---3

Wrighteous Ray---3

Krista (Craig)---3

Krista (Sharon)---3

Shaft41---3

ManOfSteelhead---2

Man Of Constant Sorrow---2

Krista (Worth)---2

Guido Merkins---2

Mac32---2

anarchy99---1

 

[Zegras11]

We take another large tier jump (binky - crawl) up on the next song as we go from 511 points ( #11 - Help!) to 577 points (#10 song).

That's a 66-point difference.

Even more remarkable is that the next SEVEN songs are only separated by 51 points!

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Eleanor Rigby (From "Yellow Submarine")
2022 Ranking: 12
2022 Lists: 33
2022 Points: 497
Ranked Highest by: @heckmanm (1) Son2 (1) @Binky The Doormat (2) @Getzlaf15 (2) Daughter (2) @jamny (3) @Ilov80s (4) Rob (5) OH dad (6) @DocHolliday (7) @Wrighteous Ray hub (7) @MAC_32 (7) @AAABatteries (8) @Just Win Baby (8) @Shaft41 (9) @Ted Lange as your Bartender (9) @BobbyLayne (10) Slug (10)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 7/22/319

Getz: I had this at #1 in 2019. #2 in 2022. Not quite the voter and point total increases other songs have seen recently, so it falls from #7 to #12 this time. “Strawberry” had a vote in each of the #1-6 slots, “Rigby” had a vote in each of the #1-11 slots, for 21 of its 33 total votes.
Alice Cooper

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  36

2019 write-up:

Eleanor Rigby (Revolver, 1966)

I've mentioned several times here that I'm a sucker for cello in a rock song, and this is no exception.  Except maybe it's not really a rock song, but that's OK.  Of Paul's made-up worlds, this is the one I find most interesting, if a bit cruel.  Paul's vocal is gorgeous and pure, and the string arrangement is flawless.  Using the strings in place of the drumbeat in a rock/pop song was brilliant.  If I were ranking songs I found most impressive or "genius" by the Beatles, this would rank with "A Day In The Life," "Tomorrow Never Knows," and others near the top of the list. There's nothing I don't like about this song; it just leaves me a little cold.  Maybe it's supposed to - after all, it's a song about loneliness and isolation. The melancholy description of lives of futility brings me down, but at least it's in a particularly beautiful and poignant way.

After Paul strummed the idea of this song out on acoustic guitar, it was (unsurprisingly) George Martin's idea that the only accompaniment to the vocal be a double string quartet.  Paul actually was skeptical at first, worried that the song would sound too "Mancini," so while he agreed he directed he wanted the strings to sound "biting."  I think they successfully created that "biting" feel, to the horror of the string musicians.   Unlike traditional set-ups where one mic would be placed high over the musicians' heads, for this composition the mics were placed within an inch or two of each instrument, much to the musicians' discomfort.  In each take, one could hear the sound of the musicians moving their chairs back away from the mics, until George Martin told them to stop!  While it wasn't to the musicians' liking, this approach ultimately gave the song that biting yet lush sound on the strings.

Paul has said that he made up the name "Eleanor Rigby" based on Eleanor Bron, the lead actress in Help!, and then digging around for a last name he liked until he saw the shop name "Rigby & Evens" near the Bristol theater where Jane Asher was performing.  But there was a real Eleanor Rigby in Liverpool, born in 1895 and died in 1944.  If you're a crazy person, you can visit her tombstone in Liverpool as part of your Beatles fandom.

Mr. krista:  "That’s a troubling song.  First, it’s a very beautiful song.  I was trying to listen without listening to the lyrics, which bug me. That’s not how you evoke loneliness. But the strings sound so raw.  Not played with vibrato, it’s just ununununun. Like if Kraftwerk programmed a string quartet.  The mic is just picking up everything that happens.  But also cold, which really does evoke that kind of loneliness.  It’s not an easy song.  People must have thought, 'Where the #### are the Beatles.' Like, where’s the guitar?  The vocals are complex.  It’s like Schubert."

Suggested cover:  This is Paul's favorite cover of the song, and who am I to argue?  Ray Charles  Also, via excellent suggestion by @Ted Lange as your Bartender:  Wes Montgomery.  

2022 Supplement:  So only a “crazy person” would visit the Eleanor Rigby tombstone?  Obviously.  [Scribbles out entries in July 2022 itinerary.]

Paul grew up with a lot of old ladies around, in part due to the odd jobs he would do like mowing a lawn.  He says that this song was based on one old lady he got along well with, with whom he would go around and just chat, and later delivered groceries to her and listened to her stories.  He can’t remember her name now, which he says is the trouble with history:  “Even if you were there, which I obviously was, it’s sometimes difficult to pin down.”  Ah, if only he admitted this about his often-inconsistent retellings of the Beatles’ stories.  Paul has also said that there is a connection between the ”stabbiness” (OK, my word, not his) of the strings in this song and the mummified mother in Psycho, connecting her to Eleanor as another “elderly woman who had been left high and dry.”

Whoever he had in mind, Paul definitely had the obvious theme of loneliness when he crafted the song.  He points out the vague idea of a woman picking up the rice after a wedding – she isn’t necessarily a cleaner, but whoever she is, she is ruing the idea that she is at most an observer, with no hope of having a wedding of her own.  Paul sees this song as a breakthrough for him, lyrically, and cites no less than Allen Ginsburg and William S. Burroughs – the latter having marveled at how much story Paul got into three verses – as admirers of the poetry of the song.

Fun fact:  Paul was thinking of “Nivea” cold cream when he mentioned the face in a jar by the door, because it was his mum’s favorite and is still something he uses to this day.  Now if I could only figure out what Ringo uses for his youthful appearance, I might (appear to) live forever.

Guido Merkins

Paul has a reputation, in some ways justified, of not putting a lot of thought into lyrics.  Hello Goodbye and Let Em In are kind of examples of this.  However, Paul can come up with some really great lyrics full of meaning and pathos when he chooses.  Yesterday is a good example, Eleanor Rigby is a better example.

Apparently Paul was vamping on an Em chord on a piano at Jane Asher’s house and started making up this melody which, eventually, became Eleanor Rigby.  The story of this name is quite interesting as Paul claims he used Miss Daisy Hawkins, which he didn’t like because it sounded made up.  So he used Eleanor from Eleanor Braun, the female lead in the Help film and Rigby from the name of a store he saw.  Only later was a headstone discovered in the Woolton Cemetery only steps away from where John and Paul first met with the name Eleanor Rigby and the name McKenzie on another stone close by.  So perhaps it was something stuck in his subconscious, but that tombstone has become a popular tourist attraction in Liverpool, even though Paul claimed to not use that as inspiration.

Anyway, the theme of the song is about lonely people.  Phrases like “picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been” and died in the church and was buried along with her name” and “nobody came” and “darning his socks in the night when there’s nobody there (Ringo contributed this) and “ah, look at all the lonely people (George) fits in with this theme of loneliness.  Jane Asher turned Paul onto Vivaldi, hence the Vivaldi like strings, a double string quartet.

This song announces itself as the type of song that will be around long after there is any living memory of the Beatles.  Just sounds like a classic, something that’s always been around. Stuff like this wasn’t expected from rock and roll bands before the Beatles.  Eleanor Rigby is a great example of the Beatles widening the playing field for bands.  I can’t prove it, but I don’t think you get to Bohemian Rhapsody without Eleanor Rigby.  Not because they are alike, but more because I’m not sure anybody would assume opera was fair game for a rock record, until Rigby.

“There's nothing I don't like about this song; it just leaves me a little cold.”

This is exactly how I feel about it too. It’s a brilliant accomplishment, but not one I revisit much unless I’m playing Revolver in full.

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

Suggested covers:  If you don't like this you can't be my friend:  Dolly Parton.  Also there's this:  Lil Wayne.  And also this:  The Damned.

Just like the Carpenters fantastic treatment of Ticket to Ride, reinterpreting the Beatles works better.

I am sure this wasnt the first ballad treatment of Help, but it works well. Australian icon John Farnham was having trouble transitioning from teen star to adult star. The decision to replace Glenn Shorrock in  Little River Band with him was met with widespread derision. This cover of Help was around the same time.

it wasnt until his 1986 success with You’re the Voice that he became an australian megastar. 

John Farnham - Help

 

[simey]

Help! [Blackpool Night Out, ABC Theatre, Blackpool, United Kingdom]

I ranked this song as my #24 favorite, but it could have been ranked in the teens for me as well. So many in my rankings are equal as favorites, but I had to assign them a number.  I think this song is fun to sing to. I love the energy in it, and the harmonies are great. John's feelings towards his lyrics really come through in his vocals.

 

[Zegras11]

Found these randomly just now....
The Bangles - Across The Universe (Live 06/25/1999). 

Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - Rain (Beatles Cover)

The Bangles - Because (Live Video Cover)




 

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

Found this randomly just now....

The Bangles - Because (Live Video Cover)

Susanna Hoffs insta-click  

 

[Zegras11]

Susanna Hoffs insta-click  

always.  added two more  to that post

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

always.  added two more  to that post

Doing the lord’s work here sir 

 

[falguy]

Susanna Hoffs insta-click  

Didn't know she was so vertically challenged. 

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Didn't know she was so vertically challenged. 

I'd ask her a few things, but I wouldn't ask her to change a light bulb.

 

[pecorino]

My list:

1. Tomorrow Never Knows

2

3

4

5

6

7

8. Strawberry Fields Forever

9. Across the Universe

10

11. Eleanor Rigby

12

13. The Long and Winding Road

14. Oh! Darling

15

16. Dear Prudence

17. She's Leaving Home

18. For No One

19. Got to Get You Into My Life

20. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away

21. Help!

22. If I Fell

23

24. A Hard Days Night

25. I Want You (She's So Heavy)

 

[Zegras11]

1.--Hey Bulldog(30)

2.--Eleanor Rigby(12)

3.--Help!(11)

4.--A Hard Days Night(15)

5.--Get Back(26)

6.--Ticket To Ride(16)

7.--Day Tripper(32)

8.--

9.--I Feel Fine(51)

10.--I Want To Hold Your Hand(21)

11.--

12.--Rain(42)

13.--She Loves You(38)

14.--Things We Said Today(37)

15.--I Should Have Known Better(93)

16.--Mother Nature's Son(104)

17.--I Saw Her Standing There(43)

18.--

19.--Hello Goodbye(56)

20.--We Can Work it Out(29)

21.--Helter Skelter(35)

22.--

23.--Paperback Writer(47)

24.--Two Of Us(41)

25.--

 

[pecorino]

I go away for a weekend and miss lots of fireworks here. I'll echo Pip's sentiments about Tomorrow Never Knows, my #1. He said it all perfectly. I'll add a note. Sometimes I like to listen to a performer's entire catalog in order. Usually takes a few weeks as I don't listen to them exclusively. IIRC, Miles Davis took me over a year. Anyway, try a little experiment (I find the effect will be heightened if you abstain from listening to the band for several weeks first). Try listening to all of the Beatles albums in order. Theirs is easy to do in a couple of days. Tomorrow Never Knows is a clear turning point for the band and, since they're the greatest band in history, a clear turning point in popular music more broadly. It's under three minutes in length, but a complete game-changer. It's listenable  but experimental. It's trippy but somehow makes sense.

Have you dug into Michael Hedges, yet? I'm telling you, get on it. Tuning/Banter/Gospel/Tomorrow Never Knows

 

[MAC_32]

With the posting of Help!, @Encyclopedia Brown becomes the first to have all 25 of their songs posted.



 

# of Songs to Have Appeared on The Countdown to Date (with 10 songs left!)

1 --Encyclopedia Brown---25

2 --anarchy99---24

3 --ManOfSteelhead---24

4 --Krista (Sharon)---24

5 --FairWarning---23

6 --Krista (Worth)---23

7 --Krista (TJ/Michael)---23

8 --OTB_Lifer---23

9 --Wrighteous Ray(Hub)---23

10 --Heckmanm---22

11 --DaVinci---22

12 --Oliver Humanzee---22

13 --Man Of Constant Sorrow---21

14 --Krista (Craig)---21

15 --Uruk-Hai---21

16 --Shaft41---21

17 --Guido Merkins---20

18 --ConstruxBoy---20

19 --rockaction---20

20 --Krista (Rob)---20

21 --Shaft41(Son1)---20

22 --murph---20

23 --Dwayne Hoover---20

24 --Westerberg---20

25 --Krista (Doug)---20

26 --Eephus---20

27 --Getzlaf15---20

28 --WhoKnew---20

29 --Pip's Invitation---19

30 --wikkidpissah---19

31 --Krista (TJ/Alex)---19

32 --Shaft41(Daughter)---19

33 --BinkyTheDoormat---19

34 --jamny---19

35 --shuke---19

36 --prosopis---19

37 --fatguyinalttlecoat---19

38 --zamboni---19

39 --landryshat---19

40 --AAABatteries---19

41 --DocHolliday---19

42 --Ted Lange as your Bartender---19

43 --ProsteticRKG---18

44 --jwb---18

45 --Dr. Octopus---18

46 --John Maddens Lunchbox---18

47 --Dennis Castro---18

48 --Krista4---18

49 --ekbeats---18

50 --Oliver Humanzee(Dad)---18

51 --yankee23fan---18

52 --Gr00vus---17

53 --PIK 95---17

54 --Wrighteous Ray---17

55 --turnjose7---17

56 --Krista (TJ/Holly)---17

57 --Alex P Keaton---17

58 --Shaft41(Son2)---17

59 --Krista (TJ/Slug)---17

60 --Simey---17

61 --WorrierKing---16

62 --Mac32---16

63 --Dinsy Ejotuz---16

64 --Neal Cassady---16

65 --Lardonastick---16

66 --Just Win Baby---16

67 --BobbyLayne---16

68 --falguy---15

69 --Ilov80s---15

70 --Tom Hagen---15

71 --pecorino---15

I had 4 total ranked 11-50 and have 9 of the top 10

 

[MAC_32]

  I really enjoyed that one.  My write-ups there were (believe it or not) more detailed, because I really dove into history of the guys post-1969 more than I did for the Beatles thread where I figured a lot of people would already know so much of it.  We had fewer people since not as many are interested in that period, but the discussions were fabulous.   That thread was a fun time for me, and I'm glad for you, too.   

I appreciate the labor of love from all of you. I don't even have enough time to absorb this information, let alone produce it. The pace of play was too much for me, but it'd have needed to be our current led zep rate for me to keep up. I look forward to back tracking and dive into all I missed, but who knows when that'll be. Had 4 different interruptions just writing this post 

 

[pecorino]

Every time I see the opening to the film A Hard Day's Night, it is mandatory to shout, "Watch your step, George."

So funny. The song doesn't do a ton for me and reviewing my list, I'd wished I'd had it out of the top 25 (placed it at #24) when I see songs like I've Just Seen a Face or Hey Bulldog did not make my cut. Tough to beat yourself up over Hard Day's Night, but I'm second guessing that one.

 

[Zegras11]

Yesterday
2022 Ranking: 10
2022 Lists: 35
2022 Points: 577
Ranked Highest by: OH Dad (1) Son1 (1) @lardonastick (2) @fatguyinalittlecoat (2) Slug (2) @PIK95 (3) @Tom Hagen (3) @MAC_32 (3) @falguy (4) @Yankee23Fan (4) @AAABatteries (4) @Wrighteous Rayhub (4) @ekbeats (4) Daughter (5) @pecorino (5) 
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 15/16/225

Getz: Two #1 and One #24 votes from finishing #4. Twenty more votes and 352 more points than 2019, to gain five slots.
FIFTEEN Top FIVE votes. One three songs had more.
23 Top 10 votes.
Although it came close to finishing #4, it was really never close while counting the votes. It was ranked very well on 8 of the last 11 ballots that came in. 

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  24

2019 write-up:

Yesterday (Help!, 1965)

I didn't purposefully rank "Helter Skelter" and "Yesterday" next to each other, but I like the way this turned out, showing the incredible diversity of the Beatles and in particular the breadth of Paul's songwriting talent.  As Yankee mentioned above, Paul somehow developed this reputation as the soft, "ballad" guy despite having written songs that in my opinion showed much wider range than the others, so he wanted to write the hardest rock song he could, specifically to out-rock The Who, and I think he accomplished that.

But we're not here to talk about "Helter Skelter"!  We've moved on!  Instead I'll discuss what is merely the most covered and most played song in history.  The song was innovative at the time for using a string quartet, redefining what "pop" or "rock" could be.  It was also the first solo song by a Beatle, since no others joined Paul on the recording.  Unlike when they were going their separate ways on, for instance, the White Album, this wasn't a sign of splintering of the group, but instead was confirmation of its strength and security.  It's not that Paul didn't want to include anyone else, but that when he played the song to the others, they liked it and couldn't come up with any way to improve upon it, suggesting to Paul that he should record it solo.  Paul recorded his vocal and guitar in only a couple of takes, thinking the song was done.  

Naturally, it was George Martin who then suggested adding the string quartet instead of finishing there, which Paul was initially skeptical of, believing that it wouldn't be proper for a rock group.  Martin convinced him to give it a try, assuring Paul they would just drop the string part if it didn't work.  They sat down together the next day at Martin's house to see if they could sketch it out.  Paul described this collaboration:  “We’d sit down and it would be quite straightforward because I’d have a good idea of how I wanted to voice it.  Or George would show me possibilities... There was just one point in it where I said, ‘Could the cello now play a slightly bluesy thing, out of the genre, out of keeping with the rest of the voicing?’  George said, ‘Bach certainly wouldn’t have done that, Paul.’  I said, ‘Great!’  I mean, obviously it was my song, my chords, my everything really, but because the voicing now had become Bach’s, I needed something of mine again to redress the balance.  So I put a 7th in, which was unheard of.  It’s what we used to call a blue note, and that became a little bit well known.  It’s one of the unusual things in that arrangement.”  (You can hear this "blue note" just after "she wouldn't say" in the second bridge.) 

The melody for "Yesterday" first came to Paul in a dream.  When he awoke, it seemed so familiar that Paul was afraid he had inadvertently copied an existing song, so he played it for a few friends who all confirmed they'd never heard it before.  The lyrics didn't come in the dream, though; as a placeholder, he initially sang the opening lines as "scrambled eggs, oh, my baby, how I love your legs."  I still sing the song aloud as "scrambled eggs" to amuse myself juvenilely.  

I love that this song is more subtle than many of the other Paul "love" songs.  I do appreciate how the song establishes itself immediately with the word "yesterday," followed by a 1/2 beat too long pause, to tell us that we're going to spend the rest of our time evoking loss.  We don't really know what happened - the song actually has few differing lyrics - but somehow it still kindles a compelling sense of loss without those descriptors.  The song also doesn't reach a resolution, as John pointed out in an interview as a possible flaw, but that doesn't make it incomplete.  So much of life remains unresolved that I think this sense of its being incomplete is what makes the song so universally understood and appreciated.  Who among us hasn't had a relationship end in an unsettled fashion?  I'd expect we all have experienced that feeling of an incomplete ending, for which we'll not ever get the answers we want.  

In terms of the music itself, of course I love Paul's simple but poignant delivery.  It's amazing that the guy who shredded in "Helter Skelter" can also capture such loneliness in a pure way, without being at all overwrought.  The string arrangement, again a breakthrough at the time, is my favorite of George Martin's arrangements, though some credit goes to Paul for this as well; in agreeing to the strings, he insisted that they remain pure and without any vibrato. The arrangement's perfection is in supplementing the song without intruding on it, always finding ways to bring us back onto the vocal; for instance, listen for how the viola(s) provide a low harmony beginning partway through the third verse.   And the melody...ohhhhh, uncomplicated as it might seem on the surface, there's so much going on, from the hopeful rise of the first line of each verse followed by the melancholic fall of the second...  The way the last line of the verse enhances the longing and despondency by the drop off, "yes-ter-da-a-a-ay"...  The descending bass notes as a counterpoint to Paul's vocal rise on "had to go"...  

This is a song that, now that I've written it out, I wish I had put higher.  Damn it.

Fun fact:  Before recording it himself, Paul offered the song to two singers, Billy J. Kramer and Chris Farlowe, who each rejected it.  Maybe a not-so-fun fact for those two guys.

Fun story:  Paul was especially (understandably) proud of this song, which sometimes drove the other Beatles crazy.  Paul claimed George once said, "Blimey, he's always talking about 'Yesterday'; you'd think he was Beethoven or somebody."  But it was John who was sometimes irritated and sometimes amused by always being congratulated for his work on a song that he had little or nothing to do with:  "I sat in a restaurant in Spain and the violinist insisted on playing 'Yesterday' right in my ear.  Then he asked me to sign the violin.  I didn't know what to say so I said 'OK,' and I signed it, and Yoko signed it.  One day he's going to find out Paul wrote it.  But I guess he couldn't have gone from table to table playing 'I Am The Walrus.'"

Mr. krista:  ""It's anti-nostalgia.  Not every break-up song can evoke regret like this.  It reminds me of my favorite genre of literature, which can be described as 'old man sits in chair and reckons with troubling past and then either dies or doesn't, whichever is most tragic.'  I usually don’t like the strings, but these seem in service of the song. I’d like to hear a naked version. I like hearing super-successful person in despair.  It’s such a special song.  When they’re just like everyone…regretting…"

Suggested cover:  Marvin Gaye

2022 Supplement:  In 2019, I said I wish I had ranked this higher, and indeed in 2022 I have vaulted it all the way…checks notes…one slot above where it was last time.  Baby steps.

Paul has described falling out of bed and finding this song in his consciousness as “like finding a £10 note on the street.”  I’d say it was more like finding a £1,000,000,000 note* on the street given how lucrative the song became, but who am I to quibble.  Paul worked on this so much during the filming of Help!, including composing the middle eight on set, that Richard Lester threatened to take the piano away if he heard the song again.  Paul’s ascribes some of Lester’s annoyance to the fact that it still had the “scrambled eggs” lyrics at the time.  During a break in the filming, Paul and Jane Asher went on holiday in Portugal, and in the back seat of the car during the three or so hours to their villa, Paul worked out the lyrics to the song,** going for something sad because he thought people liked sad songs.  Although for years Paul didn’t think this was about his mother, he now realizes that a lot of the lines might have subconsciously have been about that loss – “Why she had to go I don’t know, she wouldn’t say” or even the line about not being half the man he used to be, since he’d lost his mother half a life ago.  He identified this song that’s become more poignant for him as he’s grown older and has so many more “yesterdays” than he had as a 22-year-old.

Fun fact:  Paul worked with Delia Derbyshire possibly to make this into an electronic avant-garde thingie, but they eventually went back to the original arrangement instead.  Shades of McCartney II to come?

*Fun fact I just learned:  “The Bank of England £100,000,000 note, also referred to as Titan, is a non-circulating Bank of England banknote of the pound sterling used to back the value of Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes. It is the highest denomination of banknote printed by the Bank of England.”

**Writing or reading in any seat in a car, but particularly the back, would be insta-hurl for me.  You feeling me, simey and Pip’s wife?

Guido Merkins

Songwriting can very much be an activity that you sit down and do and sometimes the results can be very good.  Also, what can happen is sometimes a song can come to you without very much effort from the songwriter.

Paul McCartney wakes up one morning with the melody going around his head and he’s not sure what it is.  He goes to the piano and finds the chords and starts making up words “Scrambled eggs, oh baby how I love you legs….”  Paul goes around to the other Beatles and George Martin and everyone he knows and asks if they know this song.  None of them do.  So Paul starts to finish a song that came to him in a dream.  This song would only become the most recorded song in the history of music.  Not bad for a dream.

Yesterday is a song that sounds like it’s always existed.  I can see why Paul thought it might be a standard or something that he heard from his Dad because it sounds a bit like that.  In any event, when it came to the recording, George Martin and the other Beatles agreed that drums didn’t belong on it and none of them really thought they could add anything to Paul’s acoustic guitar, but Martin thought strings might be appropriate.  Paul didn’t want anything too extravagant that might verge on schmaltz, so Martin suggested a string quartet.  Paul thought it was a good idea.  Paul suggested that the last verse the quartet would go to this kind of sad, bluesy thing and Martin thought that sounded corny, but they tried it and it’s the best part of the song, IMO (around 2 minutes in).

Obviously a great song.  So why wasn’t it a single?  Well, Paul explained that they were a rock and roll band and didn’t think it was appropriate to be released as a single.  Also, it was just Paul on the record so Paul didn’t want that either.  So they just stuck it on the B side of the Help album.  Another case where the embarrassment of riches is on full display.

 

[pecorino]

I just read my write-up of "Across the Universe" for the first time, and I don't think it's a very compelling argument to convince @MAC_32 and others that it's phenomenal.  Oh well.

Man of Constant Sorrow was supposed to write an official write-up of it for all of us, but he never got to it.  :(  

I over-rank this song because of a personal connection. When I was in 9th grade, our English teacher taught us lots of literary devices (like similes, metaphors, alliteration, etc) and the main assignment was to recite something that was written and identify all of those devices in the piece. We could choose something from literature or from Dr Seuss, from poetry or from songwriting. When he said we could play the song if we did lyrics, I knew I'd do a Beatles song. Started thinking about Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds but went with Across the Universe instead. It's beautifully written with great imagery plus I wanted to expose my classmates to a Beatles song that they probably hadn't heard. Had so much fun with it, he let me do another for extra credit. Chose I am the Walrus and it did not go as swimmingly.

 

[Zegras11]

I had 4 total ranked 11-50 and have 9 of the top 10

We still have the same four that have all of the rest of their songs to be posted.

Up to 11 that have 8 out of 9 still left to be posted...

 

57 --Gr00vus---17

58 --turnjose7---17

59 --Krista (TJ/Holly)---17

60 --Simey---17

61 --WorrierKing---17

62 --Mac32---17

63 --Dinsy Ejotuz---17

64 --Neal Cassady---17

65 --Lardonastick---17

66 --Just Win Baby---17

67 --BobbyLayne---17

68 --falguy---16

69 --Ilov80s---16

70 --Tom Hagen---16

71 --pecorino---16

 

[pecorino]

Paul Erdos (famous mathematician) used to say that the most beautiful pieces of mathematics were written in "The Book" essentially by the hand of God channeled through a human being. You could just tell the pieces that were transcendent and those of mere mortals. If there is such a thing as "The Book" for music, you can find Phish's rendition of Tweezer from Tahoe (Tahoe Tweezer), Zappa's Peaches En Regalia (Peaches),  darn near anything from Hendrix (Little Wing), or Hedges, who you are getting to know (Aerial Boundaries); but on page one would be Yesterday.

 

[Zegras11]

Guess The Final Order Of The Top 15 Contest (after song #10)

fatguyinalittlecoat-8

Shaft41-8

Binky The Doormat-7

Heckmanm-7

Tom Hagen-6

Murph-6

landrys hat-5

Pip's Invitation-5

lardonastick-5

ekbeats-4

Simey-4

BobbyLayne-3

falguy-2

5 = exact guess, 3 = one off either way, 1 = guess made Top 15


 

Yesterday

Shaft41-5

Murph-5

Heckmanm-3

fatguyinalittlecoat-1

Tom Hagen-1

ekbeats-1

Simey-1

Binky The Doormat-1

lardonastick-1

BobbyLayne-1

Pip's Invitation-

falguy-

landrys hat-

 

[Wrighteous Ray]

Wrighteous Ray 2.0 here.  I want to say how much I appreciate being able to be part of this group.  I have learned so much about the Beatles themselves and their songs and much more.  If I were to do my top 25 today, it would be totally different than what I submitted.  I think that at any given time in our lives, each person's favorite Beatles songs might be different than previous choices.   Because of the almost unbelievable wealth of songs done by the Beatles and the great variety in them,  any incident that has involved us, any good thing or bad thing that has happened to us, what's going on in the world and a multitude of other factors will affect us and our choices.  And I think that is one of the best things about their songs.  They are there for us, no matter what we need or feel.

I am not going to share my reasons for picking any of the rest of my songs because(1) they are usually not very interesting and (2) there is no way I can add anything to the great information others have shared.  The only exception to this is Two of Us, which was my #11, although it could easily have been higher.  I love this song for all the reasons others who like have described.  It just makes me feel good and I always find myself kind of bouncing along to it.  But what makes this one special to me is that it always makes me think of my best friend.  Now we have never done most of the things described in the lyrics, but we have done a heck of a lot of fun stuff and supported each other through the parts that weren't so much fun. And the lines, "You and I have memories, Longer than the road that stretches out ahead" are so true and I look forward to many more memories being made on that road with my daughter and best friend, Krista.

 

[simey]

Yesterday

**Writing or reading in any seat in a car, but particularly the back, would be insta-hurl for me.  You feeling me, simey and Pip’s wife?

I feel you, sister. Last weekend when I saw my friend that I haven't seen in a long time, we were laughing about how sea sick I got during an all day snorkel excursion in Kauai. It was brutal. Motion sickness is the suck.

I love Paul's voice in Yesterday. It wasn't in my Top 25, but I think it's a wonderful song. Sometimes picking favorites to make a Top 25 list comes down to eeny, meeny, miny, moe.  

 

[simey]

Yesterday

This is the song that I thought fatguy was practicing to play. I was wrong, but he did have it in his rankings.

 

[krista4]

Well now my Mom made me cry again.    By the way, everyone loves your thoughts and they are not boring.

Mr. krista has said that the way he shows love to other people is by cooking for them.  I show love for people, including the FFA, by sharing my excitement about stuff, whether it's Beatles or movies or food...  As in, I want everyone to be able to share all the beautiful stuff in the world that I see.  In real life, I take people on trips or to experience new things, whether a new restaurant or a hike or a show or a beautiful locale I know of.  On this site I've done that when I can, like when I sent a good pillow to someone who needed one (because I really love my pillow), or bought a meal for two people I've never met at Geja's in Chicago because they'd never been, or hooking people up in Nicaragua.  Whatever it might be.  Those opportunities don't always arise, so when I say these threads are a labor of love for me, I mean that.  If you've read my write-ups, which no one does, you'd know that I pour my heart and soul into them, not just talking about the technical merits or history of a song but also bringing all of my personal and sometimes (previously) private connection to them.  I do that because the best part is when someone else can share that excitement.

I'm deeply flawed so don't take the above as meaning I'm great.  I'm just trying to explain why it hurts me so deeply when someone rejects those efforts as "less than" somehow.  It's not just the time spent but how hard I try to make it personal so that others can share in the joy and connection.

I know I said I was done with the topic earlier, but I didn't know my mom would read and post.   

Enough of my psychological breakdown, and back to the countdown...really!