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

[Zegras11]

I think these are the songs of mine that have come up. Maybe missed a couple.

14    When I'm Sixty-Four
21    Tell Me What You See
31    I'll Follow The Sun
44    The Fool On The Hill
58    Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
59    I Will
61    Yellow Submarine
62    Please Please Me

@Getzlaf15, do you have any list of all the ones reported so far that you can just copy/paste into here?

76Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

77I Should Have Known Better

78Please Please Me

79You Won't See Me

80I'm Down

81Yer Blues

82Glass Onion

83I'll Follow The Sun

84No Reply

85The Night Before

86It's All Too Much

87I Want To Tell You

88The Fool on the Hill

89Do You Want to Know a Secret

90Boys

91Tell Me What You See

92Wait

93Magical Mystery Tour

94From Me To You

95Mother Nature's Son

96When I’m Sixty-Four

97You're Going To Lose That Girl

98Love Me Do

99It Won't Be Long

100Girl

101Any Time At All

102Cry Baby Cry

103Good Morning Good Morning

104Dig A Pony

105The Word

106Fixing a Hole

107I Me Mine

108Martha My Dear

109Good Day Sunshine

110Being of the Benefit for Mr Kite

111Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)

112Tell Me Why

113Michelle

114Happy Just To Dance With You

115I'm a Loser

116Long Long Long

117Love You To

118Another Girl

119Money (That's What I Want)

120There's a Place

121Octupus's Garden

122Don't Bother Me

123She's A Woman

124Anna (Go To Him)

125Every Little Thing

126You Can't Do That

127Because

128Doctor Robert

129I'll Cry Instead

130Don't Pass Me By

131You Really Got a Hold Of Me

132Blue Jay Way

133Free As A Bird

134Julia

135Think For Yourself

136Getting Better

137What You're Doing

138Baby, You're a Rich Man

139One After 909

140Rock and Roll Music

141The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill

142All I've Got to Do

143I Don't Want to Spoil The Party

144Within You Without You

145I Need You

146This Boy

147Flying

148Not A Second Time

149P.S. I Love You

150When I Get Home

151You Like me Too Much

152Run For Your Life

153Yes It Is

154It's Only Love

155Sexy Sadie

156Maxwell's Silver Hammer

157Yellow Submarine

158Devil In Her Heart

159Slow Down

160For You Blue

161Mr. Moonlight

162I Wanna Be Your Man

163Hold Me Tight

164Little Child

165Good Night

166Thank You Girl

167I Will

168Baby It's You

169Birthday

170You Never Give me my money

171Real Love

172Misery

173Piggies

 

[heckmanm]

How was your trip to the Commonwealth?

Really enjoyed it.  Spent quite a bit of time traipsing around Jamestown/Williamsburg/Yorktown, met a few other iFriends for beers, and hit the major monuments on the DC Mall.

If we had stopped anywhere close to you, I would have reached out about meeting up, but when we crossed I-81 (in either direction) we were in "drive" mode.

 

[heckmanm]

I did miss one earlier.

25    Wait
35    Good Day Sunshine
38    Maxwell's Silver Hammer
40    Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
41    Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite!
45    I Want To Tell You
50    It's All Too Much
51    Magical Mystery Tour
52    Do You Want to Know a Secret
 

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Really enjoyed it.  Spent quite a bit of time traipsing around Jamestown/Williamsburg/Yorktown, met a few other iFriends for beers, and hit the major monuments on the DC Mall.

If we had stopped anywhere close to you, I would have reached out about meeting up, but when we crossed I-81 (in either direction) we were in "drive" mode.

Yeah, I'm 80 miles north from I-64 & 80 miles south of I-70 so not a quick stop off. 

Glad you had fun. Were the Cherry Blossoms still out when you were in DC? I think peak was a few days before you got there and it's been windy as hell for the last month.

 

[falguy]

76Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

77I Should Have Known Better

78Please Please Me

79You Won't See Me

80I'm Down

81Yer Blues

82Glass Onion

83I'll Follow The Sun

84No Reply

85The Night Before

86It's All Too Much

87I Want To Tell You

88The Fool on the Hill

89Do You Want to Know a Secret

90Boys

91Tell Me What You See

92Wait

93Magical Mystery Tour

94From Me To You

95Mother Nature's Son

96When I’m Sixty-Four

97You're Going To Lose That Girl

98Love Me Do

99It Won't Be Long

100Girl

101Any Time At All

102Cry Baby Cry

103Good Morning Good Morning

104Dig A Pony

105The Word

106Fixing a Hole

107I Me Mine

108Martha My Dear

109Good Day Sunshine

110Being of the Benefit for Mr Kite

111Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)

112Tell Me Why

113Michelle

114Happy Just To Dance With You

115I'm a Loser

116Long Long Long

117Love You To

118Another Girl

119Money (That's What I Want)

120There's a Place

121Octupus's Garden

122Don't Bother Me

123She's A Woman

124Anna (Go To Him)

125Every Little Thing

126You Can't Do That

127Because

128Doctor Robert

129I'll Cry Instead

130Don't Pass Me By

131You Really Got a Hold Of Me

132Blue Jay Way

133Free As A Bird

134Julia

135Think For Yourself

136Getting Better

137What You're Doing

138Baby, You're a Rich Man

139One After 909

140Rock and Roll Music

141The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill

142All I've Got to Do

143I Don't Want to Spoil The Party

144Within You Without You

145I Need You

146This Boy

147Flying

148Not A Second Time

149P.S. I Love You

150When I Get Home

151You Like me Too Much

152Run For Your Life

153Yes It Is

154It's Only Love

155Sexy Sadie

156Maxwell's Silver Hammer

157Yellow Submarine

158Devil In Her Heart

159Slow Down

160For You Blue

161Mr. Moonlight

162I Wanna Be Your Man

163Hold Me Tight

164Little Child

165Good Night

166Thank You Girl

167I Will

168Baby It's You

169Birthday

170You Never Give me my money

171Real Love

172Misery

173Piggies

Could you sort these randomly? 

 

[falguy]

I did miss one earlier.

25    Wait
35    Good Day Sunshine
38    Maxwell's Silver Hammer
40    Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
41    Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite!
45    I Want To Tell You
50    It's All Too Much
51    Magical Mystery Tour
52    Do You Want to Know a Secret
 

I also missed one

14    When I'm Sixty-Four
21    Tell Me What You See
21    Tell Me What You See
31    I'll Follow The Sun
44    The Fool On The Hill
58    Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
59    I Will
60    Getting Better
61    Yellow Submarine
62    Please Please Me
 

 

[Zegras11]

I also missed one

14    When I'm Sixty-Four
21    Tell Me What You See
21    Tell Me What You See
31    I'll Follow The Sun
44    The Fool On The Hill
58    Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
59    I Will
60    Getting Better
61    Yellow Submarine
62    Please Please Me
 

Could you sort these randomly (binky in order)

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Songs off my list so far

Grp   Song    My Rk

82    Glass Onion  51

83    I'll Follow The Sun  58

85    The Night Before  38

86    It's All Too Much  61

87    I Want To Tell You  40

88    The Fool On The Hill  10

102    Cry Baby Cry  42

104    Dig A Pony  53

106    Fixing A Hole  35

107    I Me Mine  13

116    Long, Long, Long  25

122    Don't Bother Me  23

 

[BobbyLayne]

49. Girl
53. It Won't Be Long
54. The Night Before
55. Julia
57. No Reply
60. I Should Have Known Better
63. Glass Onion

I'll Follow the Sun, I Want to Tell You, Wait, Any Time At All were all pretty close for me

 

[Zegras11]

All You Need Is Love
2022 Ranking: 54
2022 Lists: 15
2022 Points: 141
Ranked Highest by: @John Maddens Lunchbox (5) @Dinsy Ejotuz (6) @whoknew (8) @prosopis (9) @ProstheticRGK (13) @Tom Hagen (18) @ekbeats (18) @Just Win Baby (19) @Alex P Keaton (23) @BobbyLayne (24) @ConstruxBoy (25)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 48/7/78

Getz comments:  Five of the Bottom 10 Chalk list selected this one. And down goes Bobby Layne, leaving Krista4 as the only one without a song posted so far. I had this at #20 in 2019. Just could not find room for it on the 2022 list. Enjoyed the Elvis cover. The Echo cover was eckkk.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  43

2019 write-up: 

All You Need Is Love (single, 1967)

From @OrtonToOlsen:  "Love the lyrics and vocals but the ‘bun duh dunna dun’ really detracts from everything else."  For once, I agree with him on something (other than cats)!  I realize I've gone on and on about John's vocal in a variety of songs, but for some reason this is my favorite vocal from him.  It's not flashy or difficult like "Twist & Shout" or some of the others, but the tone in his singing here does it for me.  His voice sounds sleepy but sincere, and incredibly fluid and hypnotic; it almost feels like a lullaby to me, and I'm entranced by it.  The lyrics are lovely; Ringo summed them up as, "It was for love and bloody peace.  It was a fabulous time.  I even get excited now when I realize that's what it was for:  Peace and love, people putting flowers in guns."  [Requisite photo of dorky t-shirt I own.]  What I don't like in the song, and I dislike it enough to take this from a top 20 down to here, is the simplistic chorus and especially the "bun duh dunna dun."  It sounds cheesy, circus-y, and brings the song down.

Setting that aside, there's so much else to love, including the impressive production that I'll cover below.  With respect to the song itself, I love to try to keep time through the frequent tempo changes and especially love tapping out those alternating 4/4, 3/4 beats in the intro and the verses.  There's something about that dropped note that's charming; I'm just glad I wasn't Ringo.   I'm also a huge fan of Fifth Beatle George Martin's arrangement on this; starting with La Marseillaise (French national anthem) to open, through the coda with, among others, snippets of "Greensleeves" and "In the Mood," along with a bit of one of the Brandenburg concertos, the orchestration is outstanding.  Speaking of that coda, I love the sonic cornucopiaTM of it.  

While I said my write-ups might be truncated for a bit, the background of this song's coming to be is too important and interesting to skip.  Might sound quaint now, but the song was written for what was a very big deal at the time:  the first live international satellite television broadcast, a BBC show called Our World.  More than 20 countries were scheduled to participate, and the Beatles were selected to represent Great Britain in the "Artistic Excellence" portion of the show, much to their...indifference.  Brian Epstein showed up to the studio during one of the Sgt. Pepper's recordings, greatly excited to announce this to the lads, but he was met with yawns.  It didn't get better for him, as, when pressed by Epstein to be more enthused, John spoke for the group by telling him, "that's what you get for committing us to doing something without asking us first."  It seemed the Beatles saw this as a violation of their desire not to perform live anymore, but John unenthusiastically agreed that he'd write a song for it.

Several weeks later, Paul casually asked John if he'd written anything yet, and realizing that they had only a couple of weeks to prepare, John got down to writing the song.  The band recorded some backing tracks, including George on a violin(!), but when it came to the vocal, John boldly declared that he would not lip-sync but instead would do the lead vocal live.  Not to be outdone, Paul then stated that he would also play the bass live, and the two of them together talked George into performing a live guitar solo as well.  Luckily for Ringo, due to technical issues of microphone seepage from the orchestra that would be playing, the drums would have to be pre-recorded, though a last-minute decision did allow him to do a live version of the snare drum roll at the beginning.  Though the backing vocals were also pre-recorded, Paul was given a live mic for the show for the ad libs you hear at the end of the song.

The night of the broadcast arrived, and in addition to the Beatles and their wives and girlfriends, a variety of friends were enlisted to sit on the floor surrounding the band while it performed, including usual suspects Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Marianne Faithfull, Keith Moon, Graham Nash, and Keith Richards.  John was visibly nervous, perhaps because he couldn't use his lyric sheet as he normally would.  The broadcasters had decided to station an additional camera in the control booth, and when the broadcast began about 40 seconds early, they nearly caught George Martin and Geoff Emerick in a Scotch toast; they had to scramble madly to hide the bottle and glasses from the camera.  Another mad dash was then made to get the pre-recorded tape spooled back to its correct spot to start the song.  But somehow, despite everything that could go wrong with a live broadcast, everyone pulled it off! As mentioned, John's vocal is astounding, despite the fact he forgot to take his chewing gum out before they started and he did flub a couple of lyrics.  The orchestra hit all its marks perfectly.  George pulled off the guitar solo he'd been so nervous about, though he did hit an off note or two starting ~1:26.   Most amazingly, there were no technical glitches with the music, but the broadcast did lose video for a few seconds.

The song was then rushed into the studio for some overdubbing in order to release the single, but not much had to be done to it.  John redid two lines of flubbed vocal, and Ringo replaced the snare roll they'd made a last-minute decision to perform live.  A "wobble" was added to the end of George's solo to mask the bad last couple of notes.  Most people might not have even realized the single version wasn't precisely the same as the version they'd watched on TV a couple of weeks prior.

(By the way, for some reason I previously had this listed under Yellow Submarine.  While it was used on that as well as Magical Mystery Tour, based on how I've listed other songs this should probably be under the "Singles, etc." category.)

Mr. krista:  "Nice job. All-star cast.  I think one needs other things – food, shelter.  Love is definitely up there.  You need love before you need, say, a Nintendo 64.  But there are other things I’d put above love. So I disagree with the lyrical premise."

Suggested covers:  Nothing can replace that John vocal for me, but if you're Elvis Costello, you can surely come close.  Surprised to like this one, but I enjoyed their incorporation of other Beatles's motifs:  Echo & the Bunnymen.  Daniel Johnston gets to the heart of the matter.

2022 Supplement:  Good lord, do you see all those paragraphs up there?

Guido Merkins

In the summer of 1967 the Beatles were a big deal.  Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was a phenomenon.  Like Thriller or Nevermind later on, Pepper was THE album of the moment. Everyone was grooving on it.

The Beatles were asked to represent Britain on the Our World TV broadcast which was the first show that would be broadcast all over the world via satellite.  Days before the broadcast, John said “oh yeah, I need to write something for that.”  As usual, the pressure didn’t impact the quality of the work as All You Need Is Love was the PERFECT song for that summer.

All You Need Is Love is like most of the best of Lennon’s work.  Seemingly very simple, but with a depth that was more than it seemed on the surface.  “All you need is love, love is all you need” is just about as simple a message as can exist, but of course, if you think of the ramifications of what that means, and especially if you believe in a higher power, love IS all you need.  The world revolves around love and love is what makes human beings unique.

Apart from the philosophy of the song, the song is interesting.  First, John loved songs with changing time signatures, not because he did it on purpose, but because he would write lyrics first sometimes.  4/4, 7/4, 6/4 etc.  Second, there are several musical quotations in the song.  Greensleaves, Brandenburg Concerto, In the Mood, La Marsailles, and the Beatles own She Loves You are quoted in the intro (La Marsailles) and during the fade out (everything else.)  In fact, John singing “she loves you yeah yeah yeah she loves you yeah yeah yeah” is one of the great moments, IMO, in Beatles history.

All You Need Is Love is, in many ways, the Beatles at their absolute zenith.  Sure, they would have better songs, but released only weeks after Pepper, at this point the Beatles domination of popular culture was absolute.  Just as Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane were a part of Pepper because they led the sessions, All You Need Is Love is kind of a Pepper postscript.  They could only go down from here.  Brian Epstein would die soon after, then everything would change.

All You Need Is Love

64 List Rank: 75

64 List Voters/Points: 8/226

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 2 (19, 23)

64 List 26-64 votes: 6

 

[Zegras11]

 Drive My Car 
2022 Ranking: 62
2022 Lists: 12
2022 Points: 119
Ranked Highest by: @Anarchy99(9) @Gr00vus (10) @DaVinci(12) @heckmanm(14) @Dennis Castro (16) @jwb (19) @prosopis (19) @Shaft41 (20) and Daughter (20) @Dwayne Hoover (22) @FairWarning (22) 
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 45/9/87

Getz comments:  and one vote for Drive My Cart.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  53

2019 write-up:

Drive My Car (Rubber Soul, 1965)

It's the beep beeps, y’all.  It's just the damn beep beeps.

This clearly must be a Paul favorite since he still performs it all the time.  Or maybe it's one that's easier for a 70something man to sing.  In any case, it's a great rock song.  Or is it a great pop song?  Whatever, it's great.  But those damn beep-beeps.  Without beep-beeps, it would be top 30 at least.  I despise those beep-beeps.

What I do love:  every other damn thing.  That freaking groove, led by that bass line.  The guitar parts with all those bendy notes.  The arrangement of having the bass and guitar playing similar lines, which was a George idea based on Otis Redding’s “Respect.”  The super-clever non-beep-beep lyrics, including the double-entendres and sexual innuendos (including the title, which was a blues euphemism for sex).  The lyrics weren't originally as clever, as Paul tells it:  "The lyrics were disastrous and I knew it... The lyrics I brought in were something to do with golden rings, which is always fatal. 'Rings' is fatal anyway, 'rings' always rhymes with 'things' and I knew it was a bad idea. Well, we tried, and John couldn't think of anything…then we came back to it, and somehow it became 'drive my car' instead of 'gold-en rings', and then it was wonderful because this nice tongue-in-cheek idea came and suddenly there was a girl there, the heroine of the story, and the story developed and had a little sting, which was 'I actually haven't got a car, but when I get one you'll be a terrific chauffeur.”

Also there is cowbell.  

Beep beep, beep beep, NO!!!!!  

Mr. krista:  "That's pretty good.  The bass line is just murderous.  I like how his bass playing sounds better on each record.  I don’t if it’s better recording, or better budgets and more capable engineers, or better playing, but his bass is more and more integral in those rock songs. Ringo on tambourine, killer.  The way that groove holds together is amazing.  Deep feeling for groove, could work with Paul McCartney to make this heavy elasticity.  Same with The Word.  This is a ####### groove."

Suggested cover:  The Donnas

2022 Supplement:  As discussed in 2019, Paul wrote all the music of this song but couldn’t get a handle on the lyrics.  He brought it to John, and after hitting a wall together, they had a spot of tea, came back to the song, and started envisioning an LA girl who wanted a chauffeur.  The song filled in from there.  Paul admits to having a musical fascination with the back seat of a car (see, e.g., “The Back Seat of My Car”) and has stated that rock and roll owes more to Henry Ford than to Leo Fender:  “We know people shagged before the motorcar, but the motorcar gave the erotic a whole new lease on life.”  The “beep beep” part that I hate is a part of the song that Paul loves, as he is always proud to get “nonsense lyrics” into a song.  He and John sang the beep beeps in close harmony to get the effect of a horn.

Guido Merkins

Cars have been used as a euphemism for sex thoughout the blues and rock.  Robert Johnson’s Terraplane Blues being a prime example.  The Beatles were not nearly as known for sexual euphamisms as the Stones, but a good example of a song about sex is Drive My Car.

Basically, girl has a dream of being a star and she wants her guy to “drive her car.”  Lines like “I can show you a better time” and “you can do something in between” makes it clear that it’s not just a car she wants him to drive.  It’s cool that it’s a reversal of the usual roles where it’s the guy who’s after sex.  This time the girl is the aggressor.  The Stones would make it obvious this song was about sex, but the Beatles throw in “beep beep beep beep yeah”, which maybe kind of dsiguises the true intention.  

Paul struggled to come up with lyrics with this one, at first it was “you can buy me diamond rings”, which was bad, but the melody was good, so he and John worked on the lyrics and came up with this.  George also helped with the arrangement suggesting the idea of the guitar and bass playing the same line.  George claimed Paul played the solo on this one and it’s a real good solo.  

The opening song on Rubber Soul, Drive My Car also had a growing bass presence that had not been present on earlier Beatles records.  A great performance by all involved.

Drive My Car

64 List Rank: 74

64 List Voters/Points: 10/226

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 2 (14, 25)

64 List 26-64 votes: 8

 

[Zegras11]

I’ll Be Back
2022 Ranking: 87
2022 Lists: 4
2022 Points: 55
Ranked Highest by: @Shaft41 (5) OTB_Lifer (11) @Guido Merkins (13) @jwb (20)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 123T/1/8

Getz:  Big jump from 2019, with 47 more points. Great song!
JWB : I love their harmony on this song. 

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  140

2019 write-up:

I'll Be Back (A Hard Day's Night, 1964)

Damn beautiful.  Those three-part harmonies...swoon.  I love this structure that has no chorus but two different bridges, and a constant change between major and minor.  Are the major/minor changes meant to represent the waffling feel of the lyrics, such as:

You know, if you break my heart I'll go

But I'll be back again

'Cause I told you once before goodbye

But I came back again

The song is weird and complex and mesmerizing to me.  I'd say 99+% of people who say "I like the Beatles" don't know this song...that just tells you how great they were, for this to be such a forgotten song for them.

Mr. krista:  "That’s a weird song to end that album on.  Songs like that are probably the reason the Beatles are the most popular band of all time.  Those harmonies are so tight.  They have to harmonize and end on all those long vowel sounds.  Maybe it’s just not in my rock wheelhouse.  Oh, you have to harmonize, not just shout and spit."

Suggested cover:  This entire endeavor has been worth it to find this cover, which I hadn't previously heard:  Elliott Smith  Also if you like lady singers, Shawn Colvin

2022 Supplement:  A lovely and little-known song outside of Beatles fanatics, so I’m glad we’re writing it up.  I probably gave it short shrift in 2019 and would rank it much more highly today.  From that descending guitar riff to open, through the chilling harmonies, this is a spooky and compelling piece throughout.  John is in particularly great voice on this song, which is evidenced to me even more on these earlier takes that were released as part of the Anthology series:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FVcbxsTsuQ   And an attempt in 6/8 time:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ep4ML9meUM  Those trills he does on “so” and “go” are so beautiful, even as he complains that the vocal is too difficult!

Guido Merkins

I sometimes find it difficult to rank this song because I love it so much, but I’m not sure it deserves the amount of love I have for it.  My first cut at the rankings, I had it in the top 5, but then I thought, “no, that’s too high”, so I moved it into the 20s, but then thought “that’s too low”, so I ended up putting it in the middle.  I struggled with this one more than any other song.

So why do I love it so much.  First, I love the little 4 note riff that George play throughout the song and ESPECIALLY, the way the riff fades out at the end.  Second, speaking of the ending, I love how the 1st two Beatles album go out with a roar with Twist and Shout and Money, but A Hard Day’s Night goes out with that beautiful riff on a very melancholy song.  It’s almost like they are previewing Rubber Soul a year early.  Third, the song has no chorus, but 2 bridges, but not just any two bridges, two slightly different bridges.  Just insanely quirky and could only come from John Lennon.  Fourth, is the song in A or A minor.  It starts in A major, but quickly goes to A minor on the first chord.  I guess it’s in both.  

Interestingly, on Anthology 1, they have a version of the song in 6/8 time with John exclaiming, it’s too hard to sing.  So they settled on 4/4 time….mostly.  John has a 2/4 measure in there too.  

I'll Be Back

64 List Rank: 73

64 List Voters/Points: 6/227

64 List Top 5: 1 @Shaft41 (4)

64 List Top 10: 1

64 List 1-25 votes: 2 (11)

64 List 26-64 votes: 4

 

[Zegras11]

Savoy Truffle
2022 Ranking: 80
2022 Lists: 5
2022 Points: 73
Ranked Highest by: @Man of Constant Sorrow(2) @ManOfSteelhead (4) @Binky The Doormat(11) @heckmanm (18) @Shaft41 (22)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 66/2/44

Getz: Chalk race tightens up a tad...
2 --ManOfSteelhead---638.5
5 --Shaft41---569
7 --Man Of Constant Sorrow---520.5
11 --BinkyTheDoormat---360.5

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  179

2019 write-up:

Savoy Truffle (White Album, 1968)

I get that it's supposed to be humo(u)rous.  "Oh, Eric Clapton's teeth are all rotted out, but he loves chocolate soooooo much!"  I don't need to hear about all the chocolates Eric Clapton likes, and I cringe when I hear the beginning "creeeee-am tangerine."  What I do like is the jazziness of it all - especially the horns and the organ.  Apparently George later apologized to the brass players for making their sound "dirty" through the distortion, but, as he explained to them, it's the way he wanted it.  I'm with George on that decision.  This is also a song where I think Ringo's drumming stands out by virtue of his refusal to stand out.  I need to do a separate "Ringo" write-up in here soon, but what I love most about him, evidenced well on this song, is his commitment to the support of the song, the subtle ways in which he makes a song better without making it about him.  Listen closely to his work on this one, hitting the perfect groove at every moment.   

Mr. krista gets the humo(u)r:  "I think it’s funny.  And I think it’s funny that these bad-assed, drug-addled rockers are chocoholics.  Everybody’s heroin-addled and Clapton just wants a Milky Way.  And it rocks.  It’s a pretty good rock song.  The drums are good, and horns are good."

Suggested cover:  @Eephus might disapprove of this countdown, but I'm stealing his suggestion for a cover of this one anyway.  Ella Fitzgerald.      Getz suggets: Dahni Harrison

2022 Supplement:  I associate both this song and “Glass Onion” with @manofsteelhead and apologize to him again that I don’t enjoy this any more today than I did three years ago.    I have a little contest with myself when it comes on the Beatles Channel to see if I can turn the channel before they get to “tannn-ger-ine.”  (I always lose.)

There are probably worse songs about candy.  There’s “The Candy Man” by Sammy Davis, Jr.  That song really sucked.  But there are also better songs about candy, like “I Want Candy” by Bowwowow (sp?) and “Chocolate Jesus” by Tom Waits.  Marcy Playground’s “Sex and Candy.”  Iggy Pop with “Candy,” which wasn’t good by any means but better than this.  And most notably, the Velvet Underground’s “Candy Says,” while not really about candy, inspired the name of our cutest pinhead kitten, who smells like diapers but purrs all the time.  Here he is wondering why his head is so small but his belly so big that it’s spilling over the side of the box:  https://imgur.com/FqbLNrR

Guido Merkins

Eric Clapton’s relationship with George Harrison was well-known. What might not be so well-known is that Eric had a sweet tooth.  He loved sweets.  He had problems with his teeth, but he still couldn’t stop eating them.  Seems like it wouldn’t be fertile ground for a song, but Savoy Truffle proves that it was.

George described it as basically reading a candy box to get the lyrics.  So you come up with things like cherry cream, coconut fudge, cream tangerine, apple tart before declaring that “you’ll have to get them all pulled out after the Savoy Truffle.”  

The lyrical content isn’t exactly deep, but the song is still great because it’s a funky track.  Great drumming, a funky organ, and a great, distorted horn section.  Lewisohn in his book describes Harrison as being really happy with the horns, but that they were a bit too clean, so he apologized to the horn section, then said “distort it.”  They did and it sounded great.  

The song is also notable in that John has no participation, which is a common occurrence in the later years.  For all of the vitriol George has for Paul, IMO, it was John that showed the most disdain for George’s songs.  Also, in this period, George usually wrote songs with deep meanings.  Savoy Truffle is notable in that it’s not deep, but it’s just a great sounding track.

Savoy Truffle

64 List Rank: 72

64 List Voters/Points: 6/231

64 List Top 5: 1 @ManOfSteelhead (4)

64 List Top 10: 1

64 List 1-25 votes: 3 (18, 22)

64 List 26-64 votes: 3

 

[Zegras11]

Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
2022 Ranking: 96
2022 Lists: 6
2022 Points: 42
Ranked Highest by: @neal cassady (9) @DaVinci (19) @Pip's Invitation (20) @Oliver Humanzee (21) @Murph (24)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 101/4/16

Getz: fyi... Devin = mr krista = oliver humanzee.    Five songs today, and just OH as the only one with his first song to be posted.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  52

2019 write-up:

Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey (White Album, 1968)

Last-minute downgrade out of the top 50; if I downgrade "Drive My Car" for the lyrics, I have to do the same here.  The lyrics are dumb.  Really dumb.  But that's probably not what bothers some people most about this song.  There's a significant love/hate element here; yes, it's that firemen's bell.  For me, it what takes the song waaaaay up in my rankings.  I mean, remember, I'm a person who's a sucker for cowbell, so if you kick that up a few notches to an outrageously loud firemen's bell.  Heaven!

The story is that John and George were playing so incredibly loud that Paul gave up on the bass part and stood next to Ringo playing that bell as loud as he could, so much so that he had to take breaks after each take to rest his sore shoulders.  Geoff Emerick called the result "raucous and unpleasant"; I call it bliss. Poor Emerick with his delicate ears ended up with a headache after the session, while I'd give my left arm to have been there during the violent frenzy. I'm not going to deconstruct this one because I don't care about anything but that this ####### rocks.  Hard.   

C'mon, c'mon!!!

Mr. krista:  "Great song.  Mint jam. Love the 16th or 32nd notes on the ride cymbal.  Like the half-time/double-time breakdown.  Slows down and builds tension on the “take it easy” part.  [Plays it on his leg.]"

Suggested cover:  The Feelies

2022 Supplement:  Knowing I’d unfairly downgraded this song out of my top 50 in 2019, I re-auditioned it this year and saw it come in just off this year’s list at #31.  Yeah, yeah, another one where perceived peer pressure got in my way.  John was at the top of his game again both in his vocal and in his guitar work, whether inspired by the maharishi’s words (George’s story) or his new relationship with Yoko (John’s version).  If you don’t love this one, then you’re…well, probably normal.  Other than whoever voted it in their top 25, not many people love it more than I do, and I get it.  There’s something not just about the song itself, though, but about the joy with which they performed it, that does it for me.  Given what we’ve been told about the White Album sessions, the excitement in this one overjoys me because it seemed to overjoy them.  Plus, this is an all-time favorite for playing anonymously on TouchTunes at a bar to leave the people playing country music struck by shock and awe.

And now for something completely different, listen to the Esher demo version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzEJKh1Fq3o So Dylan-y.  It’s OK to admit how much you miss the firemen’s bell.

Guido Merkins

The White Album was a return to a more rock and roll sound for the Beatles.  John especially wanted to go back to more of a guitar driven sound.  Some of the Beatles rawest guitar driven songs are on the White Album and Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey is one of them.

George lost interest in the guitar at some point for the sitar.  Maybe because he realized he would never be a great sitarist, he started focusing on the guitar again.  This rebirth resulted in far rawer and louder guitar playing, perhaps by listening to his friend Eric Clapton, he realized he had to change.  Much to his credit, he did exactly that.  Monkey featured some of the loudest, rawest guitar in the Beatles catalog.  

What do the lyrics mean.  John claimed that it was inspired by things the Maharishi would say like “come on is such a joy” and “everybody’s got something to hide.”  Later in life, John claimed it was about he and Yoko being in love and others around them being uncomfortable, but since the song was written before John and Yoko actually got together, I’m not sure.  I tend to agree more with George’s story.

In any event, Monkey is another great rocker on Side 3 of the White Album where they put most of the harder rocking songs.

Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey

64 List Rank: 71

64 List Voters/Points: 10/240

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 2 (20, 21)

64 List 26-64 votes: 8

 

[Zegras11]

Lovely Rita
2022 Ranking: 160
2022 Lists: 3
2022 Points: 7
Ranked Highest by: @Encyclopedia Brown (22), @lardonastick (24), Krista (Sharon) 25.
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 134/1/4

Getz comments:  Out first song to have 3 voters, but only 7 total points. Only had one vote for 4 pts in 2019. Two of the three voters have their second song appear...

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  68

2019 write-up:

Lovely Rita (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967)

I've told the background story on this one before, but I love it and will mention it again.  With the advent of parking meters in central London, Paul set out to write a protest song against the authorities.  Paul being Paul, though, he couldn't help but turn it into a sunny, sweet love song:  "I was thinking it should be a hate song... but then I thought it would be better to love her."   Paul.  He used the American term "meter maid" because he thought the term "maid" was sexy.

While I might often prefer more personal songs to Paul's made-up worlds, this is a huge exception.  In addition to being ####### charming, this song is musically compelling, and the whole band sounds like they're having a riot with it, all of them playing comb-and-scratchy-EMI-issued-toilet-paper and adding various grunts and sighs and twirls.  The heavy breathing at the end (which I looooove) was John's notion, with the others joining in until they all collapsed in fits of laughter.  The highlight of the entire song for me is the enthusiastic "Rita!!" ~1:12 that leads into that fantastic piano part.  The bass line compels the song along exceptionally as Paul builds the story with a playful and seemingly mischievous glee - I mean, "tow your heart away"?  Awesome.  This song is the first one in which Paul started his practice on Sgt. Pepper's of recording his bass alone in the studio after the other tracks had been laid down.  Geoff Emerick credits this with the rich, melodic, and intricate bass lines that characterize the album.  This song might be inconsequential, but of the "slighter" Beatles songs it's one of my favorites, and there's no way to listen without a huge smile.

Fun fact:  Emerick almost got his public musical debut here, as he came up with the idea to sub the piano solo that replaced the guitar solo George had struggled with.  Paul loved the idea and told Emerick he should play it, but to Emerick's later regret he demurred, worried about his lack of skill.  Instead, George Martin added a honky-tonk solo in his usual jaunty style, with that extra "wobble" brought out through some Emerick effects.  

Mr. krista:  "I thought it was funny.  In England do they call them meter maids?  The song’s fun and it rocks.  It’s like the second or third best song on this record that I don’t really like that much."

Suggested cover:  I am dying here:  Fats Domino

2022 Supplement:  In “The Lyrics,” Paul expanded upon his inspiration for this song, mentioning that there was one particular militaristic-looking meter maid on whom he’d based the song:  “I know it’s a terrible thing to say, but those meter maids were never good-looking.  You never heard anybody say, ‘God, that’s one stunning parking attendant.’”  Paul also indicated that perhaps he wished to suggest a threesome in the lyrics:  “…the speaker seems slightly miffed by the fact that he and Rita end up on the sofa ‘with a sister or two.’  The line suggests that he might quite like to have been alone with her rather than to have the sister or two as third and fourth wheels.  Of course, another implication is the possibility of ‘making it’ not only with Rita but with the sister or two in tow.”

Well.  There you have it.  Perhaps they all could have done it in the road.

Fun fact:  Among those witnessing the recording of this song were the members of Pink Floyd, who came to the session at the request of Norman Smith, a former Beatles engineer who was then producing Floyd’s debut album.   Nick Mason recalls that, “They were God-like figures to us.  They all seemed extremely nice, but they were in a strata so far beyond us that they were out of our league. … We sat humbly and humbled, at the back of the control room while they worked on the mix, and after a suitable (and embarrassing) period of time had elapsed, we were ushered out again.”  

Guido Merkins

Paul heard the term “meter maid” somewhere as an American term for a female traffic cop.  He liked the term so he started writing a song around that term, hence, “lovely Rita meter maid.”

Lovely Rita is on the Sgt Pepper album on the B Side.  As is most everything on Pepper, it was recorded in a lower pitch and sped up so the voice would sound higher.  George Martin playing the cool, honky tonk style piano solo.  I also love Lennon singing “lovely Rita meter maid….” background vocal awash in tons of echo.  This is one of those sessions that George Martin described as chaos, which at this point was the exception, but starting with Magical Mystery Tour, would be more often.  Screams, sighs, moans, and the kitchen sink was applied at the end during the long fadeout.

Fun song in the more lighthearted section of the album after the heaviness of Within You Without You and before the mindblowing A Day In the Life to end the album.  

Lovely Rita

64 List Rank: 70

64 List Voters/Points: 11/256

64 List Top 5:  0

64 List Top 10: 0 

64 List 1-25 votes: 2

64 List 26-64 votes: 9 (24, 24)

The song that benefited the most from the 1-64 lists.  #160 to #70.

 

[krista4]

Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey

64 List Rank: 71

64 List Voters/Points: 10/240

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 2 (20, 21)

64 List 26-64 votes: 8

Lovely Rita

64 List Rank: 70

64 List Voters/Points: 11/256

64 List Top 5:  0

64 List Top 10: 0 

64 List 1-25 votes: 2

64 List 26-64 votes: 9 (24, 24)

The song that benefited the most from the 1-64 lists.  #160 to #70.

 for both of these jumps!

 

[heckmanm]

Yeah, I'm 80 miles north from I-64 & 80 miles south of I-70 so not a quick stop off. 

Glad you had fun. Were the Cherry Blossoms still out when you were in DC? I think peak was a few days before you got there and it's been windy as hell for the last month.

There were a few blossoms still on some trees, but for the most part, we missed them.  We talked to someone at the wedding that said they peaked a week or two earlier.

 

[Zegras11]

If I Fell
2022 Ranking: 67
2022 Lists: 10
2022 Points: 96
Ranked Highest by: @PIK95(4) @turnjose7(12) @ManOfSteelhead(14) Krista(Sharon) (14) @Shaft41(17) @Eephus(19) @pecorino (22) @FairWarning (24)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 92T/1/19

Getz: YT live from 1964. Nice increase this time!  Nine more votes and 77 more points lead to the song moving up 25 spots. Pecorino goes down!!  Only two left that haven’t had a song posted! 

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  55

2019 write-up:

If I Fell (A Hard Day's Night, 1964)

Never let it be said that John couldn't or wouldn't write a helluva ballad.  This really isn't my kind of song; it's not just that overall I prefer rockers to ballads, but this one sounds so old-fashioned.  Despite the old-timey sound, though, the lyrics are a bit precarious for the time, as they seem to suggest that the author is planning to leave his wife for another woman.  Not that John would ever do that, of course.

The sublime harmonies and unison singing sound to me as full and lush as on any Beatles song, despite being only two-part harmonies (in some cases double-tracked).  Some of this sound might have come from the fact that John and Paul insisted on singing close in on the same microphone during the recording.  The Beatles frequently performed this one in concert, which is a marvel to me given the fact they could barely hear themselves over the screams.  One of the intriguing parts of this song is that it's difficult or impossible to identify what is the melody v. the harmony.  While Paul stays on the higher "harmony," and John does begin the song on melody, the two voices rise and fall, winding over and crossing each other repeatedly, sometimes stopping to sing in unison, weaving in and out of upper and lower harmonies.  When I try to sing along, I realize that I've jumped from the John part to the Paul part and vice versa, and I'm not sure if I'm ever actually following the melody or the harmony.

Another of the most fascinating aspects of this song that elevates it to such a high level for me is the structure.  The song starts with a preamble that's not repeated again, in a minor key that then goes through a few key changes before getting to the song's primary key.  The first verse then proceeds normally, but the second verse is suddenly truncated in the middle of a line to lead into a bridge.  Within that bridge, the key again slips into a minor key on the words "and I."  That pattern is then repeated for a truncated third verse/bridge, but then the fourth verse is a repeat of the third verse, but extended instead of truncated, leading to a conclusion with a new guitar fill.  Notice one thing that's missing?  No chorus!

One more little tidbit to notice is the lyric, “And I found that love was more than just holding hands."  Is that John indicating he's grown from (or making fun of) their prior effort, "I Want To Hold Your Hand"?

This song shows up in a scene that might be my favorite in the whole movie, when the guys are setting up their equipment and John starts singing the song to Ringo.  So cute!  That probably elevates it another several spots for me.

Mr. krista:  "It’s really interesting.  I have nothing to say you haven’t.  You schooled me pretty good on that song there.  It’s dreamlike in that it doesn’t go anywhere but you feel like you’ve traveled somewhere, but it never repeats, and the beat stays the same."

Suggested cover:  Sananda Maitreya (fka Terence Trent D'Arby)  DAY-UM.

2022 Supplement:  I sold this one short in 2019 and would have it ~40 on my re-ranking this year.  Those harmonies are too perfect to have outside of my top 50.  I mentioned in 2019 that I’m never sure which is the melody and which is the harmony as Paul and John seem to trade it, but this home demo of the song from John might tell me I’ve been thinking of the melody wrong:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-ahSfJjqPw  (By the way, there’s something so sweet about that demo that it breaks my heart.) 

John wrote the lyrics to this song while on a plane, using the back of a Valentine’s Day card:  https://imgur.com/n3GUHfF .  The card sold at Sotheby’s in 1988 for £8580.  I can’t imagine what it would be worth today.

Guido Merkins

My gateway drug for the Beatles was the Red Greatest Hits album.  Even back then, I always wondered why If I Fell wasn’t on the album.  In my mind, it’s always been one of the Beatles best songs.

This is an instance where the tone of the song completely obscures the fact that this one quirky little song.  First, it is John doing that John thing and basically putting his insecurity on display, wanting the girl, but not wanting to get hurt. Second, that intro….so unique in the world of popular music in 1964.  The intro is not repeated anywhere else in the song, so it’s like one of those old tin pan alley songs from the 1940s with an intro that stands on its own separate from the rest of the song. Also with the intro, it walks down from Ebm, to D, to C#, to Bbm, which really gives you almost no clue as to the key to the rest of the song (D major).  It goes past that D chord so fast that you have no clue.  It really doesn’t settle in until it gets to the Em chord (just holding hands).  Third, the verses are major and the bridge parts are minor.  The song basically has no chorus.  Also, a D9 chord, not at all typical of a pop record in 1964.

However, it’s difficult to notice anything like that because, the fact is, this is one of the best vocals on record from anyone.  John and Paul singing together in harmony for most of it.  So much so that it’s hard to figure out who’s singing lead and who’s singing harmony.  The mono version is flawless.  The stereo version, Paul’s voice cracks the second time they go to “if our new love was in vain.”  

Songwriting this complex was unheard of in 1964.  Heck, it’s pretty much unheard of today.  For those that think that the Beatles didn’t get “good” until Rubber Soul, yep, you’re wrong.  This stands up with anything they ever did.

If I Fell

64 List Rank: 69

64 List Voters/Points: 10/259

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 2 (12, 14)

64 List 26-64 votes: 8

 

[Zegras11]

Hello, Goodbye
2022 Ranking: 56
2022 Lists: 12
2022 Points: 136
Ranked Highest by: Shaft41(Son2) (2) @Dinsy Ejotuz (10) @AAABatteries (13) @prosopis (13) @Dwayne Hoover (14) @Anarchy99 (15) @Dennis Castro (18) @Yankee23Fan (19) @Just Win Baby (24)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 62/4/48

Getz comments:  So four of the bottom ten chalkers picked this one. For me, if fell from #8 to #19, this time. 

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  141

2019 write-up:

Hello, Goodbye (single, 1967)

Paul's song about duality, and he said, unsurprisingly, that it was meant to advocate for the positive side of duality.  Sunny, cheery Paul.  He even used "ebony ivory" as one of the dualities in an interview about the song.  Hmmmm...ebony and ivory...where have I heard that?  

My favorite parts of this song are the violas and the coda, which was nicknamed the "Maori Finale."  Overall the song all feels too slight for my taste, and despite Paul trying to make a substantive statement with the lyrics they fall flat for me.  I don't have much to say about this one - nice melody and an interesting ending, but not enough to get ranked higher.

Mr. krista:  "It’s a good song that seems totally trivial. I mean, so cheesy."

Suggested cover:  The Cure

2022 Supplement:  According to Alistair Taylor (who worked with Brian Epstein and was called “Mr. Fixit” by the Beatles), Paul composed this on a harmonium, instructing Taylor to sit at the other end and hit a note while Paul did the same, and then when Paul shouted a word he was to shout the opposite.  I treat some of Taylor’s stories with suspicion, but this one seems about right for Paul.

Even with the duality being front and center in the lyrics, for some reason this song was called “Hello Hello” through its first 16 takes, including this one, which was later released in the Anthology series:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud3TMKw7A-c

The Beatles put together a series of promo videos for this one that were…interesting.  Such as the one with hula dancers at the end:  https://vimeo.com/436562046

Or the one in their Sgt. Pepper’s uniforms – wtf is John doing  https://vimeo.com/269302327

Those videos make me enjoy the song more.  Pretty fun.  Still wouldn’t rank it any higher, though.

Guido Merkins

Songs don’t always have to be meaningful and deep.  Sometimes they can just sound good.  Someone asked Paul about how he writes songs and Paul, as an example said, say the opposite of what I say.  So, high became low.  Yes became no.  Stop became go.  And hello became goodbye.

Hence was born another #1 single.  Hello Goodbye is a great sounding track.  Love the guitar and the bass and, of course Ringo.  Great vocal.  The best part is the ending with the “Heba…heba hello.”  It reminds me of Ticket to Ride where they go off into another universe at the end.  Paul tells the story of the ending as they did it and it wasn’t quite right, then he had the engineer put full echo on Ringo’s tom toms and it came alive.

As far as the video, it’s also one of my favorite of their promotional videos.  They pulled out the Spt Pepper costumes and mime the song.  It shows them at different times in regular clothes, the Sgt Pepper clothes and even dressed in the old colarless jackets waving like the young Beatles.  There are hula dancers and at the end we see the Beatles dancing with the hula girls, John especially mugging for the camera and doing and exaggerated twist.  The funniest part, IMO, is Ringo’s comically small drum kit.  Great video.  Always entertaining.

Hello, Goodbye

64 List Rank: 68

64 List Voters/Points: 8/262

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 3 (13, 13, 19)

64 List 26-64 votes: 5

 

[Zegras11]

If I Needed Someone
2022 Ranking: 76
2022 Lists: 6
2022 Points: 81
Ranked Highest by: @Dr. Octopus(4) @zamboni(4) @Binky The Doormat(6) @Tom Hagen(17) @Pip's Invitation(19) Krista(Worth) (25)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 63/3/48

Getz:  Dr Octopus and Tom Hagen each post their first song. And we are down to five left….Oh, and Binky posts his third straight song (#’s 5-6-7 on his list) and that makes five of the last six songs where he's had a song listed.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  81

2019 write-up:

If I Needed Someone (Rubber Soul, 1965)

Having sat in on a recording session of The Byrds in August 1965, George was inspired to write this song by Roger McGuinn's 12-string riffs on "The Bells Of Rhymney."  McGuinn had in turn been inspired by...The Beatles, including George's 12-string Rickenbacker work on A Hard Day's Night:  "I first saw The Beatles on television in 1963, in New York. It was the clip with all the screaming girls. I loved the music! I got it right away and started playing folk songs with a Beatle beat down in Greenwich Village."  

This song has such an amazing groove, starting with that dreamy opening riff.  George's guitar work throughout is just brilliant, and those harmonies, sung off-the-beat or syncopated as most of the melody is, are not just gorgeous but due to the off-beat timing seem to drive the song along, increasing the tension and leading in and out of the bridge.  I love the bridge's upbeat tempo and tambourines, giving it just enough of a different texture to feel satisfying but not interfere with the song's smooth groove as a whole.  I often feel like George's songs, more than any other Beatle's, should be longer.  There's so much complexity and texture in sometimes seemingly straightforward packages that I'd like to have heard them given even more time to develop.

This is one where it's worth mentioning how wonderful the lyrics are, too.  As you might have figured out by now, I'm not much of a traditional romantic, so the "I love you"s don't do it for me in love songs.  The genius in these lyrics is how hypothetical, conditional, and non-comital they are - check out the "if" and "I guess" and "maybe"s here, but then with the bold declaration of being "too much in love":

If I needed someone to love

You're the one that I'd be thinking of

If I needed someone

If I had some more time to spend

Then I guess I'd be with you my friend

If I needed someone

Had you come some other day

Then it might not have been like this

But you see now I'm too much in love

Carve your number on my wall

And maybe you will get a call from me

If I needed someone

Mr. krista:  "It’s such a good jam.  His songs are so dreamy.  It produces such interesting sonic experiments.  Like that jangly 12-string, it starts turning up across the world in other songs.  Such an expressive guitar player."

Suggested cover:  James Taylor (I'm not posting the cover by The Hollies, which reached #20 on the charts, because George himself didn't care for it.)

2022 Supplement:  This is the first George song for which Getz will be providing a live version of a Beatles performance.  Wait, I don’t know the order of the rankings, so how do I know that?  Sadly, this was the only George song the Beatles ever performed in a live show.  At least they chose one of his best, with the beautiful sparkling guitar and interesting harmonies. 1966 Candlestick Park

As I mentioned in 2019, George spoke derisively of the Hollies’ cover, and the Hollies blamed George for the song stalling at #20 on the charts as a result.  But Graham Nash was one of the group of musicians who became part of the live telecast of “All You Need Is Love” and appeared to have smoothed relations with the Beatles by then.  Not smoothed enough, it seems, since George later rejected Crosby, Stills and Nash for a recording contract when they auditioned for Apple Records.  Since I feel sorry for Nash, here’s the Hollies’ version of the song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6mIMbAq03E

Guido Merkins

When one speaks of the Beatles influence, us Beatles nuts tend to think that the Beatles influenced everyone, but we don’t think of who influenced the Beatles.  It is true that their early influences are well established, but the truth is, even when they were famous and popular, other less famous groups were still influencing them.

One such group is the Byrds.  Now, the Byrds went and saw A Hard Day’s Night and were influenced by the Beatles.  The Byrds described themselves as “folkies going to the movies to see the rock guys” and from that experience, they got one of the most important things for their career.  George Harrison’s 12 String Rickenbacker which Roger McGuinn used in his own way for the Byrds biggest hits.  That sound coming back at them, but in a slightly different, folkier way had a tremendous influence on the Beatles.  One such example is the early take of And Your Bird Can Sing, which was VERY Byrds influenced (with the word Bird in the title.)  They went in a slightly different direction after that, though.

But one song which retained it’s Byrds influence was George Harrison’s If I Needed Someone from the Rubber Soul album.  The song also had elements of Indian classical music with the droning sound over the guitar riff.  George used a capo on the 7th fret with D major guitar shapes (same as Here Comes the Sun.)  The song’s lyrics are about Pattie. 

The best bits are the main riff, the harmonies, and George’s vocal.  Great song.  One of George’s best and certainly his best up to that time.

But if you want to hear worst, go listen to the performance of this song in Japan in 1966.  The evening show is much better, but the afternoon show???  Yikes.  One of them talked about how polite the Japanese audience was and it was a shock, because they were used to not being heard.  Suddenly they were heard by the audience, and by themselves and it wasn’t pretty.  But such was life when you have been playing the world since 1963 and couldn’t hear yourself.  

If I Needed Someone

64 List Rank: 67

64 List Voters/Points: 9/265

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 1 (6)

64 List 1-25 votes: 3 (18, 19)

64 List 26-64 votes: 6

 

[Zegras11]

Oh! Darling
2022 Ranking: 59
2022 Lists: 10
2022 Points: 129
Ranked Highest by: @Wrighteous Ray (6) @FairWarning @ManOfSteelhead (7) @Dr. Octopus (9) @turnjose7 (14) @pecorino (14) @Westerberg (16) @PIK95 (19) @shuke (19) @zamboni (20)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 73/3/32

Getz comments:  Last song with 10 voters. Two more with 12, and then it’s 13+. Shuke with a 3-peat!

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  77

2019 write-up:

Oh! Darling (Abbey Road, 1969)

Paul was so determined to do this in a throwback style that he had Geoff Emerick record this with 50s-style tape echo and tracked his vocal directly from the speakers (rather than through headphones) to get a "live audience" quality.  The story behind the recording is equal parts sweet and sad.  Paul would come into the studio every day before the other Beatles arrived in order to record this vocal.  Day after day (alone on a hill?), he'd record a shredding version, and, according to Emerick, George Martin "would frequently announce triumphantly, 'That's it; that's the one,' but Paul would overrule him, saying 'No, it's not there yet; let's try again tomorrow."  Paul just couldn't quite get it to match what he had in his head that he wanted to hear.  But unlike prior songs, he would never sing it in front of the others, nor did he play any recordings of it to seek their input, perhaps because at that point he didn't want to hear their negative remarks.  It tells us how bad the vibe was among the band at that point, and I hate picturing Paul on his own trying over and over to get this perfect, though I admire how dedicated he was to getting it just right.  Such a contrast to the sessions for "This Boy," where you can hear Paul encouraging John that he can get that solo right.

Despite the sorta sad circumstances, he delivered, though.  Maybe he wasn't used to these blistering vocals by this time - it was a long time after his "Kansas City" or "Long Tall Sally" days - but he pulled it off.  Even John complimented this song, though he let it be known he wished he could have done that vocal instead and that he would have done it better as it was more in his style.

Mr. krista:  "It’s very very good.  Very heavy.  Good heavy blues doo-*** stuff.  The breakdown…[sings the doodoodoo]…is in a lot of rock songs.  Fats Domino type song.  The vocals are great.  It’s the best you ever hear Paul, really beltinit out a bit."

Suggested cover:  Florence + the Machine

2022 Supplement:  In the marathon solo sessions in which Paul worked on this song, he tried every conceivable setup – standup mic, hand mic, etc. – except that one thing he did not try was using headphones.  Instead he sang along with the backing track being played over speakers, as he wanted to imagine he was singing it to a live audience.  It’s a bit ironic, then, that he has never played this song at any of his shows.  I understand it’s outside of his range now, but I’m surprised he didn’t attempt it when his vocal cords were younger.

We were treated to an early rendition of this song in the Get Back documentary, with Paul at the piano on their last day at Twickenham while the crew is packing up the rest of the gear (song starts ~1:28):  

Guido Merkins

By 1969 Paul’s perfectionism in the studio was getting on the other Beatles nerves.  Songs like Obla-Di Obla-Da and Maxwell’s Silver Hammer had tested their patience as they went through lots of takes to get something that only Paul could hear.

So it’s not very surprising that when Paul was struggling to get a vocal sound on a new song Oh Darling, that he started coming into the studio early every morning to sing it.  Paul was looking for a certain sound and thought that he could only get it by coming in several days in a row.  Several days in a row, he’d come in, do a vocal and say “nope, that’s not it. I’ll try again tomorrow.”  Needless to say, he finally got it.

Oh Darling harkens back to Paul’s bluesier efforts on She’s A Woman and I’ve Got a Feeling.  It is an absolutely brilliant vocal performance.  Using all the tricks he had learned, the Little Richard whail, the growl, parts that are sweet and soulful.  John said in interviews that he thought Paul didn’t sing it very well and that he could have done it better.  Not sure what drug John was on when he said that because it might be Paul’s best vocal ever, at least until Maybe I’m Amazed a year later.  

My Dad once said that he loved that song, but who did the original.  I told him it was written by McCartney but I see what he meant.  It sounds very much like a New Orleans R&B song or something we call “swamp pop.”  Great Fats Domino style piano, great guitar and great drumming by Ringo, and George on bass.  What a great, soulful song.

Oh! Darling

64 List Rank: 66

64 List Voters/Points: 10/281

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 1 (7)

64 List 1-25 votes: 4 (14, 18, 19)

64 List 26-64 votes: 6

 

[Zegras11]

Lady Madonna
2022 Ranking: 77
2022 Lists: 10
2022 Points: 80
Ranked Highest by: @Binky The Doormat (5) Shaft41(Daughter) (6) Krista(Rob) (16) @Shaft41(19) Krista(Doug)(19)
@Anarchy99(20) @MAC_32(22) @AAABatteries(24) @Alex P Keaton(24) @shuke(25)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 59T/5/51

Getz: First song with 10 voters. Krista(Doug) now on the board. That leaves seven to go. 7 of the 10 voters had this is the 19-25 range, so not a ton of points there. A'99 with his 14th song.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  120

2019 write-up:

Lady Madonna (single, 1968)

As a piano player, I probably rate the songs with good piano higher than others might.  Love the piano in this, though I'm not usually a fan of too much boogie-woogie style.  Overall the song's a great groovy-bluesy number that catches you immediately with that hook.  The main reason it doesn't get to the top half of my rankings is the lyrics.  Paul has said it's a tribute to working-class mothers, or all mothers, or all women, and I've no reason to think he's not sincere, but...the lyrics just sound condescending to me.  It might be the "Did you think that money was heaven sent" line.  I'm not sure; I know that the lyrics fall flat to me.  If this were mostly an instrumental with only the "Seeeee how they ruuuun" vocal part, I'd rate it higher.

Mr. krista:  "I don’t know.  I don’t like that song that much.  I’m not sure I know why.  It’s the brahpbrahpbrahpbrahp.  Try typing that.   It’s annoying."

Suggested covers:  Fats Domino.  Junior Parker.  Since we had a Beatles cover of a Buck Owens song earlier, seems fair to post the Buck Owens cover of this one.  I think Paul sounds like Elvis in this vocal, so I'll also post Elvis stumbling all over it.

2022 Supplement:  Still don’t know why I can’t get into this song much, since everyone including Paul seems to love it.  It’s still a favorite at his live shows.

Paul has said that this is a tribute to women in general, inspired by his having seen a National Geographic photo of a Malayo-Polynesian woman surrounded by her children.  "She looked very proud and she had a baby. And I saw that as a kind of Madonna thing, mother and child… You know, sometimes you see pictures of mothers and you go, 'She's a good mother.' You could just tell there's a bond and it just affected me, that photo."  This is the photo in question:  https://imgur.com/MWtBwwB

He's also relayed, however, that a song portraying a nurturing mother was influenced by the loss of his own mother when he was 14.  He says that the line about how she manages “to feed the rest” is particularly poignant, as he saw himself as being left out, one of “the rest.” 

Paul has identified the recurring line, “see how they run,” as his favorite part of the song, lending a slightly darker theme based on “Three Blind Mice” mixed with abiding childhood memories of women’s stockings.  The repetition was a device he’s called “one of the most powerful components in songwriting” but, like everything else, was self-taught given that none of the Beatles formally studied music.  

Guido Merkins

In the early years, George Martin was the primary piano player when the Beatles needed it on a track.  However, by 1968 Paul has gotten proficient enough to play a New Orleans boogie woogie in the style of Fats Domino that you hear on Lady Madonna.

The lyrics are kind of a nod to all those hard working women out there.  Was Paul thinking about his mother Mary or was he thinking of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or maybe it was a combination of both?  We don’t know exactly.  But Paul wonders how she feeds her kids, and how she’ll pay the rent, and if she wonders if the money was “heaven sent.”  Could apply to either I guess.

Great piano lick, great distorted guitar, and the horns, some of them real and some of them the Beatles vocalizing horns.  Despite John not liking the song, it was another #1 hit.

Lady Madonna is a return to a more rock and roll sound, which several other artists were also doing as a reaction maybe against the psychedelic 1967.  Much has been written about  Jumpin Jack Flash and Beggar’s Banquet being a return to roots and giving the Stones credit for the movement after the psychedelic 1967.  But Lady Madonna was released before both.  I’m not saying the Beatles were the first to get back to roots.  Not sure who that could be credited to, but I know Lady Madonna was before Jumpin Jack Flash by about a month and Beggaars Banquet by 9 months.  Just food for thought….

Another interesting thing is if you go watch the promotional video, it has the Beatles working in the studio on Lady Madonna, except they aren’t.  They are really working on Hey Bulldog.  Somebody synched the video to Hey Bulldog and it’s on Youtube and it’s brilliant!!!!!

Lady Madonna

64 List Rank: 65

64 List Voters/Points: 11/287

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 4 (15. 16. 24. 25)

64 List 26-64 votes: 7

 

[Zegras11]

1---Hey Bulldog---

2---Get Back---

3---Eleanor Rigby---

4---Help!---

5---A Hard Days Night---

6---Two Of Us---

7---I Want To Hold Your Hand---

8---Day Tripper---

9---She Loves You---

10---I Feel Fine---

11---Let It Be---

12---While My Guitar Gently Weeps---

13---Ticket To Ride---

14---Rain---

15---I Saw Her Standing There---

16---Hey Jude---

17---Paperback Writer---

18---Mother Nature's Son---95

19---Hello Goodbye---69

20---Here Comes The Sun---

21---Norwegian Wood---

22---Things We Said Today---

23---All You Need Is Love---75

24---A Day in the Life---

25---The Night Before---85

26---With A Little Help From My Friends---

27---Abbey Road Medley---

28---In My Life---

29---Can't Buy Me Love---

30---The Fool on the Hill---88

31---I Should Have Known Better---77

32---I've Just Seen a Face---

33---We Can Work it Out---

34---Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da---76

35---Penny Lane---

36---Nowhere Man---

37---Magical Mystery Tour---93

38---Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band---

39---Yellow Submarine---157

40---Eight Days A Week---

41---Strawberry Fields Forever---

42---Please Please Me---91

43---If I Fell---69

44---All My Loving---

45---Lady Madonna---65

46---You Won't See Me---79

47---No Reply---

48---Boys---90

49---The Ballad of John and Yoko---

50---Blackbird---

51---Don't Let Me Down---

52---She Said She Said---

53---Taxman---

54---Helter Skelter---

55---You've Got To Hide Your Love Away---

56---And Your Bird Can Sing---

57---Yesterday---

58---I am The Walrus---

59---Something---

60---Here, There and everywhere---

61---You Can't Do That---126

62---You're Going To Lose That Girl---97

63---Come Together---

64---The Long and Winding Road---

 

[Alex P Keaton]

If I Needed Someone

64 List Rank: 67

64 List Voters/Points: 9/265

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 1 (6)

64 List 1-25 votes: 3 (18, 19)

64 List 26-64 votes: 6

This song has really grown on me and moved up my list.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

In this run, we have for me:

19 — If I Needed Someone 

20 — monkey monkey song

27 — Savoy Truffle

49 — Drive My Car 

And from 65-96(98):

65 — Hello Goodbye (last cut)

78 — Lady Madonna

88 — If I Fell

 

[Binky The Doormat]

This song has really grown on me and moved up my list.

MORE GEORGE!!!

 

[Zegras11]

MORE GEORGE (less Binky)!!!

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Here’s what I can remember from the Beatles portion of the road trip. Siri didn’t really pull any deep cuts.

Please Please Me:

Love Me Do

With the Beatles:

nothing

A Hard Days Night:

title track

Can’t Buy Me Love

Beatles for Sale:

Eight Days a Week

Help!:

title track

Ticket to Ride

Yesterday

Rubber Soul:

Nowhere Man

In My Life

Revolver:

nothing (!)

Sgt Pepper:

title track

With a Little Help from My Friends (not together)

Magical Mystery Tour:

title track

I Am the Walrus

Hello Goodbye

Strawberry Fields Forever

White Album:

Dear Prudence

Abbey Road:

Come Together 

Something

Here Comes the Sun

Let It Be:

Get Back

Singles:

I Want to Hold Your Hand

We Can Work It Out

Hey Jude

 

[krista4]

Here’s what I can remember from the Beatles portion of the road trip. Siri didn’t really pull any deep cuts.

Speaking of deep cuts, the Deep Tracks station on Sirius played Neil's "Rockin' in the Free World" the other day.   Such an unknown track!   

It did remind me, though, that one time OH participated in a music draft here and took that song #1 overall.  Don't remember what the draft theme was, but people shamed him greatly for it.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Speaking of deep cuts, the Deep Tracks station on Sirius played Neil's "Rockin' in the Free World" the other day.   Such an unknown track!   

It did remind me, though, that one time OH participated in a music draft here and took that song #1 overall.  Don't remember what the draft theme was, but people shamed him greatly for it.

I would have come to his defense if I was in the FFA at the time!

The ACOUSTIC version of RITFW might be considered a deep track. The electric version? No way.

 

[krista4]

I would have come to his defense if I was in the FFA at the time!

The ACOUSTIC version of RITFW might be considered a deep track. The electric version? No way.

It was a live electric version.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

It was a live electric version.

Probably from the Weld live album, then. As that version wasn’t played much on commercial radio, it may technically meet their definition of deep track, but the song itself does not.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Probably from the Weld live album, then. As that version wasn’t played much on commercial radio, it may technically meet their definition of deep track, but the song itself does not.

The old Sirius version of that channel - The Vault, I think it was called - ran a lot of alternate versions and called them deep. The XM counterpart didn't do as much of that, instead played more of what most would think of as deeper cuts. 

Both were miles more eclectic than FM classic rock radio, but I preferred XM's take.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

reaction.

 

[DocHolliday]

Speaking of deep cuts, the Deep Tracks station on Sirius played Neil's "Rockin' in the Free World" the other day.   Such an unknown track!   

It did remind me, though, that one time OH participated in a music draft here and took that song #1 overall.  Don't remember what the draft theme was, but people shamed him greatly for it.

The acoustic version of Rockin in the Free World is great.   The electric version is even better.   I remember watching PJ and Neil crush that song at the MTV music awards in 93.   That is probably my favorite version if I had to choose.  They all looked like they were having a blast and nailed that song.  
 

Definitely not a deep track in any way.   I wouldn’t turn the channel no matter what channel it was on though.  Ever.   

 

[Zegras11]

Back in the USSR
2022 Ranking: 40
2022 Lists: 16
2022 Points: 202
Ranked Highest by: Rob(4) @ConstruxBoy (5) @Dwayne Hoover (7) @wikkidpissah(8) @Dennis Castro (9) Alex (9) @rockaction (9) Doug (10) Daughter (12) @Wrighteous Ray (hub) (12) 
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 52/7/64

Getz:  Moves up 12 spots with nine more votes and 138 more points.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  71

2019 write-up:

Back in the U.S.S.R. (White Album, 1968)

Written by Paul as a parody of Chuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A."  My favorite part of this song is the whooshing jet sounds and tire screeches.  When your favorite part of a song is jet sounds, maybe you'd think it would be ranked lower, but no, this is a great thundering rocker that gets me dancing.  It's silly and tongue-in-cheek and a rocking blast.  George is an absolute standout on lead guitar here.  Like every sentient human, I also like the little Beach Boys tribute in the middle, which was suggested by Mike Love himself while they were all hanging at the Maharishi's joint.  And not to get too political but any song that pisses off the apparently-unaware-of-parody John Birch Society is A-OK in my book.

The song is notable for the absence of Ringo, with Paul filling in on most of the drum parts.  It could have used some Ringo, as I find the drums slight behind-the-beat and muddy, but this is one of two songs (the other being "Dear Prudence") recorded while Ringo had temporarily quit the band.  Some have blamed Ringo's departure on Paul's constantly complaining about how he played the toms, but Ringo tells it more diplomatically:  "I left because I felt two things: I felt I wasn't playing great, and I also felt that the other three were really happy and I was an outsider. I went to see John...I said, 'I'm, leaving the group because I'm not playing well and I feel unloved and out of it, and you three are really close.'  And John said, 'I thought it was you three!'  So then I went over to Paul's and knocked on his door. I said the same thing: 'I'm leaving the band. I feel you three guys are really close and I'm out of it.' And Paul said, 'I thought it was you three!'  I didn't even bother going to George then. I said, 'I'm going on holiday.' I took the kids and we went to Sardinia."

WHOOOOSH!  SCREECH!

Mr. krista:  ""It’s like California Girls but about the Soviet Union.  I think it's funny.  Obviously tongue-in-cheek.  Tight little rocker.  I like the jet sounds and the Beach Boy ooo-eeee-ooos".

Suggested covers:  Not great sound quality but gotta show how much better this is with a drummer:  Beach Boys & Ringo.  Special delivery for @Yankee23Fan:  Billy Joel.  Personal favorite:  Dead Kennedys

2022 Supplement:  Why did I have this so low in 2019?  Dummy.  I’d find a way to slide it into the top 50 now.  It rocks, and the lyrics, including the play on the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, and Ray Charles,  are incredibly clever as they parody someone proud to be in the USSR rather than the West.  Paul has said that, as they started working through all the Soviet territories and stereotypes, the song kinda wrote itself.  There’s the reference to “daddy’s farm,” representing collectivism.  The disconnecting of the phone, referring to phone tapping.  “Georgia” meaning Soviet Georgia rather than US Georgia.  And of course they worked in their usual wink-and-a-nod naughty bits, including “show me round your snow-peaked mountains way down South” and “come and keep your comrade warm.”

But “Ukraine girls really knock me out” is depressing me at the moment I write this, on February 26, 2022.

Guido Merkins

The Beatles were fans of both the Beach Boys and Chuck Berry, so why not write a song that pays homage to both?

Back in the USSR was a homage to Back in the USA by Chuck Berry and Surfin USA or California Girls by the Beach Boys.  Instead of talking about girls in the USA, they would discuss girls in the USSR.  Mike Love suggested in Rishikesh that they even name drop places in the USSR.  So you get Ukraine girls that really knock me out and Moscow girls that make you scream and shout and Georgia which is always on their mind. 

Musically, you’ve got the muscular Chuck Berry riff and beat along with the Beach Boys harmonies.  Paul played drums on this song as this was during the time that Ringo had temporarily quit during the White Album.  George plays a blistering solo with Paul also contributing some lead guitar.  John plays bass.  Paul plays drums in Ringo’s absence.  Apparently they felt like the snare drum needed some help, so George overdubbed a snare drum part.  Also throughout the recording was the sounds of a jet airplane, taken from the EMI library.  

Back in the USSR wasn’t without controversy as some right wing conservative groups thought the song was pro communist (wackos.)  In any event, Back in the USSR was a great album opener for the White Album and one of the better Beatles pure rockers and fades straight into Dear Prudence.

Back in the USSR

64 List Rank: 64

64 List Voters/Points: 12/287

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 1 (6)

64 List 1-25 votes: 3 (18, 21)

64 List 26-64 votes: 9

 

[Zegras11]

I’m Looking Through You
2022 Ranking: 66
2022 Lists: 7
2022 Points: 98
Ranked Highest by: Krista(Worth) (5) @Encyclopedia Brown (5) @Wrighteous Ray(hub) (6) Krista(Sharon) (7) @Man of Constant Sorrow (18) @Anarchy99 (19) @Uruk-Hai (24)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 76/4/29

Getz:  Finding it kinda odd that the same voters keep coming up and rarely is anyone with 0-2 votes so far get something posted. Figured that would change by now. 25 of the 71 voters will have 23-25 songs appear in the final 65 to be posted. A'99 and Sharon each post song #16.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  37

2019 write-up:

I'm Looking Through You (Rubber Soul, 1965)

Written around the same time and due to the same circumstances as "You Won't See Me" - that is, Paul's dissatisfaction with his relationship with Jane Asher, and in particular his being "disillusioned over her commitment" due to her absences to Bristol for her acting career.  Paul might be known for writing beautiful ballads, but I'd say his break-up songs are just as good; the lyrics for both this song and "For No One" (still to come) are devastating.  These in particular are just killer:

Your lips are moving, I cannot hear

Your voice is soothing, but the words aren't clear

You don't sound different, I've learned the game

I'm looking through you, you're not the same

Why, tell me why, did you not treat me right? 

Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight 

You're thinking of me the same old way

You were above me, but not today

The only difference is you're down there

I'm looking through you and you're nowhere

Lyrics aren't always important to me, but these speak to me of relationships where one person has started to move on, to see the other person in a new way, but the partner might now realize it yet.  In addition to the lyrics above, this one always hits me hard:  "You don't look different, but you have changed."  To me, it's that moment when I've seen the person in a new light; they don't look different, but they've changed in my eyes.  Jane Asher had a lot of gorgeous love songs written about her, but I'm not sure it was worth it to have to be the subject of these, too.  Maybe after this is over I'll do my list of most crushing "#### you" song lyrics.  

In addition to the powerful lyrics, two aspects of this song lead to its high placement on my list.  First are the vocals - Paul's double-tracked lead vocals provide a lovely melody, and John's harmonies weave in and out perfectly.  My favorite part of the song is the guitar, though.  The song starts with an acoustic guitar that leads you to believe this is going to be folk-rock song.  Then, as the vocal climbs in the register becomes more aggressive, ending each verse with the song title and then "you're not the same" or "you're nowhere," the lead guitar part becomes an electric stabby riff.  That freaking riff!  Not nearly so well known as other Beatles riffs, but it's one of my favorites (I have another favorite, generally lesser-appreciated riff coming in the top 20).   Another tiny guitar part that I love, so small I'm almost embarrassed to mention it, comes after each of the times that Paul sings "Why, tell me why, did you not treat me right?"  Just after that line, the guitar plays two notes that sound slightly off-tune, and each time I think it's the guitar is repeating the question, like "Yeah, why?"  A tiny part of the song that delights me every time.

Ringo alert!  Ringo played organ(!) and matchbox cover on this song.

For the most part, I'm sticking with the "official" versions of these songs, except for a few off Let It Be where I'll insist on rating the "naked" versions.  While I'm rating the UK Rubber Soul version, this one has a different first-take version that is cool enough that I wanted to post it, too:  bonus!

Mr. krista:  "Great, another great Paul jam made greater by a great guitar jam.  I like those needlie needlie nees.  [Attempts to sing guitar parts.]  That's a great band, that can do those needlie nees.  Lots of guitarists try to do the needlie nees but it sucks.  Like Guns N Roses, try to do the needlies nees, and it's garbage.  These guys rock the needlie needlie nees."

Suggested cover:  Steve Earle doesn't do much inventive here, but I listen to this cover all the time; just love his voice so much.

2022 Supplement:  So close!  In my 2022 re-rankings, Getz can attest that this originally appeared as my #24, then lost out due to a last-minute switch with “I’ve Got A Feeling.”  Get Back bias?  Probably.  But I’d always loved that song and watching the documentary solidified it.

I’m surprised to see that Paul didn’t write this song up in The Lyrics, since he usually hits the favorites, and I think this is well-regarded.  Maybe he avoided it because of its acid lyrics?  He does include “Too Many People” in his write-ups, so I’m not sure.

Sometime after my 2019 write-up, I listened to this description of all the problems with this song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpgRj5ryiR4  What a killjoy.  I still love it.

Guido Merkins

Paul’s relationship with Jane Asher inspired a number of songs.  Rubber Soul’s I’m Looking Through You is one of them.

Paul had an argument with Jane so he could see right through her.  “Why tell me why did you not treat me right.  Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight” and “you don’t look different but you have changed” are some of the lyrics that reveal the origins of the song.

Great vocal.  Great guitar on the track too.  Also great percussion throughout with Ringo playing, apparently, a match box.  And Ringo apparently plates the organ on the “you’re not the same….” part.  Pretty cool.

One of the other cool things about this song is the, obvious mistake at approx 1:20 in the song of a tambourine falling.  Seek it out at your own peril because once you hear it, you can never unhear it.  Personally, I like mistakes, so it doesn’t bother me.  There is a very different version of this song on Anthology 2, much slower and without the “why tell me why” part.  It’s interesting, but not as good as the final version, IMO.

I'm Looking Through You

64 List Rank: 63

64 List Voters/Points: 13/298

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 1 (24)

64 List 26-64 votes: 12

 

[Zegras11]

I’m So Tired
2022 Ranking: 72
2022 Lists: 7
2022 Points: 85
Ranked Highest by: @Oliver Humanzee(3) Krista(TJ/Michael) (8) @fatguyinalittlecoat(11) @landrys hat (12) @simey(20) @Man of Constant Sorrow(21) @turnjose7(22)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 77/4/28

Getz comments:  Interesting to see the ranking is pretty similar (72/77) to 2019, but it took 57 more points to stay there.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  10

2019 write-up:

I'm So Tired (White Album, 1968)

As I alluded to in my discussion of "I"m Only Sleeping," I've had chronic insomnia since I was about 15 years old.  I love this song because it perfectly encapsulates my nearly nightly struggle.  I can't adequately explain if you haven't experienced it, but John starts with a sleepy vocal, and that's how I start my night...I'm so tired, and all I want to do it sleep.  But then, John's sudden change in tone and the increasing urgency with which he sings the next lines completely captures what happens to my mind as soon as I lie down - my brain starts being bombarded with thoughts, of everything that has happened, everything that might happen, everything I've done right or wrong, everything everyone else has done right or wrong, everything.  It's indescribable, except John describes it, not even just in words but more so in mood.  His weariness and exhaustion, then that increased urgency, and finally his wailing of "I'd give you everything I got for a little peace of mind" is me, pretty much every night.

For a long time I figured this song couldn't be fully loved and appreciated by anyone without insomnia, and then I found out it's Champion Sleeper Mr. krista's favorite Beatles song!  Turns out the atmosphere it sets with its ever-increasing tension could be appealing even to normal people.  The heaviness of the song, the tempo changes, the pauses (that too-long pause ~1:03 kills me in a good way), the spot-on vocal...everything comes together to make it musically interesting for anyone.  This song is in excellent company with "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Across The Universe" as one of the few that John himself continued to love throughout his life.

Fun fact:  this song was part of the fuel for the "Paul is dead" whackos' fire, as they claimed that John's spoken gobbledy#### at the end, when played backwards, said, "Paul is dead, man. Miss him, miss him, miss him!" 

Mr. krista:  "I am tired.  I haven’t slept.  My favorite Beatles song.  Lennon’s best vocal since "Twist and Shout."  Lyrics are just perfect.  Having an idea for a song and just writing a song, nothing ambitious about it.  No bass might be a plus because it doesn’t get in the way.  It’s simple, the changes all make sense.  It’s heavy. All about Ringo going through those time changes.  And it just ends. Mint jam."

Suggested cover:  Alex Chilton (!)

2022 Supplement:  Top 10/25 alert!  This song, which was my #10 in 2019, not only dropped out of my top 10 this year, but didn’t even make the top 25.  Why?  Yoga.

Wait, let me explain.  Despite tons of suggestions and good advice from people throughout my life, including some here, nothing I tried had ever improved my sleep habits.  Then a couple of years ago, I started doing yoga, and more recently became obsessed enough that for many months I did it nearly every day.  And, wonder of wonders, my sleep improved.  Now, I’m not saying I get eight solid a night, or even seven, but I regularly get more like six instead of struggling to get 4-5 hours.  It makes a huge difference not only in my health, but in my love for the song.  Still love it, and still in my top 30, but it doesn’t speak to me as fiercely as it once did.  

This was nearly a fully formed song for John in the Esher demos, which was unusual.  He comically runs into “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” at the end, too:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1PTHFH2Vog  Take 7 was released in the 50th anniversary release includes some cool guitar parts from George:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeFh5euFzRE

Guido Merkins

Apparently John had some trouble sleeping in Rishikesh so he wrote a song about it called I’m So Tired which is one of the better songs on the White Album.

The best part about the track is that vocal.  It sounds like John is tired.  He does a great job of conveying that.  Also, he sings it very very well.  Just a classic Lennon vocal.  I like the little guitar walkup into the verses too.  Also, the lyrics tell you what is keeping him awake.  He’s off of substances during the retreat and so his “mind is on the blink” and maybe he should “fix himself a drink.”  Lennon said that the line “my mind is set on you” was referring to Yoko who he had already met and was beginning to form and attachment to.  Apparently he got letters from her during the trip. 

I think it’s interesting that John has, at least, 3 songs about his sleep.  I’m Only Sleeping, I’m So Tired, and #9 Dream about an actual dream he had.  Most of the biographies about John you read talk about his laziness and how much he likes to sleep.  His songs seem to back that up.  

At the end of the song, there is this whispering by John.  If you play it backwards it sounds a bit like “Paul is dead man, miss him miss him miss him.”  Lewisohn said that John is actually saying “monsieur monsieur, how about another one.”  The White Album was THE album when looking for clues to Paul’s death.  This is but one of them.

I'm So Tired

64 List Rank: 62

64 List Voters/Points: 9/300

64 List Top 5: 1 @Oliver Humanzee (3)

64 List Top 10: 1

64 List 1-25 votes: 4 (12, 21, 22)

64 List 26-64 votes: 5

 

[Zegras11]

The Ballad of John and Yoko
2022 Ranking: 61
2022 Lists: 8
2022 Points: 120
Ranked Highest by: @Gr00vus (1) @DaVinci (4) @Man of Constant Sorrow (9) @shuke (9) @Dwayne Hoover (13)  @Murph (14) @wikkidpissah (17) Krista(TJ/Holly) (24)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 42/6/95

Getz comments: The last song with less than 10 votes.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  56

2019 write-up:

The Ballad of John and Yoko (single, 1969)

Written by John on his honeymoon as a snapshot of his wedding to Yoko, this song features only Paul and John, handling all the vocals and instruments.  I not only love the groove, but the song always makes me happy because, after so many years of tension, John and Paul sound like they're just enjoying recording together.  It might be that rekindled enthusiasm that led to the Abbey Road sessions being so much more successful than the Let It Be ones. 

I find the lyrics to this song to be, while self-absorbed, hilarious at times, such as the lines, "The newspapers said, she's gone to his head; they look just like two gurus in drag."  John couldn't resist inserting some controversy into the lyrics, though, including the references to "Christ" and being crucified, harkening back to his "more popular than Jesus" comment and leading to this song being banned in some locales.  He even managed to offend Spain as well, by saying they got "married in Gibraltar near Spain," when Spaniards considered Gibraltar part of their country.  

This song might not have amazing technical merit compared to others, but it just makes me happy.  I love the build of instruments, especially Paul suddenly coming in with maracas following that big pause after the bridge.  Love John's guitar part that goes into a Spanish-sounding vibe at the end.  Most of all, I adore Paul's jabby harmonies in the last verses.  I love to think of the two of them turning out this song after the years of misery.  Geoff Emerick described the session as being a magic time of "two old school chums...with the sheer joy of making music together," and that session convinced Emerick to return and engineer the Abbey Road record.

Mr. krista:  "I think it’s a good song.  I’ve always liked that song.  Remember it was only a few years before that that they went to play Shea Stadium again and didn’t sell out after being 'more popular than Jesus. 'They’re going to crucify me' – hey things go to your head a little bit.  It might be forgivable though when you’re like 20 and sell out Shea Stadium and everyone’s telling you you’re Jesus.  I like the guitar, the kind of Spanish-y stuff."

Suggested covers:  A little something for everyone, or for no one:  Dave Edmunds  Widespread Panic  Teenage Fanclub

2022 Supplement:  Still love this one, maybe even more than I did, in large part due to the happy interactions between Paul and John when they were recording this, the only Beatles song with just the two of them performing.  An earlier take, Take 7, shows more of this as, recording this without the other members of the band, they jokingly call each other “Ringo” (Paul took the drum part for this song) and “George”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwzHeAnFqrk   Listen through to the end to hear their pure enjoyment of recording together.

Guido Merkins

John often accused Paul of going off by himself and doing songs without the other Beatles.  John wasn’t completely innocent in this.  When John got hot to record, he would sometimes exclude the other Beatles.  So when John had a song he wanted recorded called the Ballad of John and Yoko and George and Ringo weren’t available, he got Paul and said “lets record it.”

Paul playing drums and bass and singing harmony with John playing guitar and singing lead, at one point, John turned around and said “a little faster Ringo” and Paul said “OK George” they proved that they still had unbelievable chemistry when they got together to make music.  It was like being the Nurk Twins again (an early iteration of the Beatles before George when the other members all left the band.)

The song is basically a diary of John’s wedding to Yoko at Gibraltar.  “Taking a plane into Paris.”  “Honeymooning down by the Seine, Peter Brown called say you can make it OK you can get married in Gibraltar near Spain.”  But the most controversial line is “Christ you know it aint easy, you know how hard it can be.  The way things are going, they’re gonna crucify me.”  After the Christ statement in 1966, John was really pushing the envelope.  

It was yet another #1 in 1969 backed with Old Brown Shoe. Another great single.

The Ballad of John and Yoko

64 List Rank: 61 Ringo Bingo!!

64 List Voters/Points: 15/304

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 1 (9)

64 List 1-25 votes: 1

64 List 26-64 votes: 14
 

 

[Zegras11]

The Ballad of John and Yoko

64 List 26-64 votes: 14
 

When I posted the question asking which song would get the most 26-64 votes, this was leading all songs by a few votes and I thought a shoe in to win it.  But it wound up tied for second with 14.

 

[Zegras11]

Sgt Peppers Lonely Heart’s Club Band
2022 Ranking: 64
2022 Lists: 9
2022 Points: 109
Ranked Highest by: Krista(TJ/Alex)(7) Krista(Sharon)(8) @whoknew(10) @jamny(11) @ConstruxBoy (13) @DocHolliday (16) @Dwayne Hoover (19) @turnjose7(20) Shaft41(son2) (21)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 54/5/61

Getz: Finally a song where many that voted for it have had few songs appear so far. WhoKnew, jamny, ConstruxBoy, DocHolliday, DwayneHoover, S41(son2).  Sharon has her 17th song posted to take that lead.  And we cross the 20% mark of all votes appearing.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  70

2019 write-up:

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967)

Gah, so many iconic aspects of this song.  Raise your hand if you don't get a little chill when you hear that guitar intro.  [No hands are raised.]  Guitar riff - brilliant.  Ringo's drum fills - brilliant.  John, Paul, and George's vocals - brilliant.  Handing off between the vocals and the instrumental French-horn-led #### - brilliant.  (The cheesy laughing and gasping from the audience - not at all brilliant.)  I'm excited every time I hear this, but I can't rank it more highly because it's not a fully formed song; it's more of an intro.

To be a "concept" album, Sgt. Pepper's doesn't really revolve so much around the concept, and John has said he contributed nothing to the concept idea, but before it veers off into other ideas, this song combines with "With a Little Help From My Friends" to start concept off strong.  While I assume people in this thread know all of the background on the concept, I'll summarize a little of it in case of drive-bys.  After their Candlestick Park concert in August 1966, the Beatles had had enough of the madness and decided to stop touring.  It wasn't just the insanity at the shows themselves, but all the surrounding chaos - the threats coming in the US due to John's "more popular than Jesus" comment, the craziness surrounding their escape from the Philippines, the controversy surrounding their show at the Budokan in Japan, etc.  Touring was a total ####### drag.  After going their separate ways for vacation, on the way back from a safari Paul came up with the idea of a fictitious band that the Beatles could take the place of, perhaps to create some distance between them and the fans.  According to John (WARNING:  unreliable narrator):  "As I read the other day, he said in one of his 'fanzine' interviews that he was trying to put some distance between The Beatles and the public – and so there was this identity of Sgt. Pepper. Intellectually, that's the same thing he did by writing 'He loves you' instead of 'I love you.' That's just his way of working."  

I already did a partial write-up of this when talking about the Reprise, so the only other thing I'll mention here is that album cover, one of the most well-known of all time.  It's a fascinating mish-mosh of 58 individuals, known and not-so-well-known, from actors and singers to writers and artists to philosophers and a guru or two.  John had lobbied to include Jesus and Hitler, but was overruled.  Gandhi was nixed as being possibly sacrilegious, while Elvis didn't make it because they thought he was too big and would object.  Of the people whose permission they sought to put on the cover, only one declined as not willing to do it without payment:  Leo Gorcey of the Bowery Boys.  Shark move, dude.  Nice interactive analysis of the people on the cover here.  

Mr. krista:  "I really like the guitar that’s super-fuzzy and weird.  I know Bob Pollard of Guided by Voices always talked about it, that the whole concept was taken directly from this ####, alter egos to allow them to do total nonsense, everything’s a tape experiment and can’t be reproduced live by four people. It’s hard to say because I feel like I’ve heard that song more than any song in the world."

Suggested cover:  I know it's bad sound quality, but who TF cares:  Jimi

2022 Supplement:  Along with everything I described in my 2019 write-up, the band had nearly being electrocuted in their final San Francisco show and then “chucked in the back of a stainless steel minitruck” after leaving the stage, and said, “####, that’s enough.”  Then - another Mal Evans alert -   Paul says that the name “Sergeant Pepper” came from his misunderstanding Mal when he asked for “salt and pepper” while on a flight from Denver shortly thereafter.  He came up with the idea of the alter egos and even sketched out what they’d look like, in front of a floral clock symbolizing that time stood still because the clock was made of flowers.  He also envisioned that they would be seen receiving a trophy from the “Lord Mayor of London.”

Why yes, Paul also says he had been dropping acid in Denver.   Here’s the sketch:  https://imgur.com/NX90UGN

Guido Merkins

It’s now been more that 50 years ago today that one of the most iconic opening tracks in rock history took place.  The legendary Sgt Pepper album couldn’t exist until Paul wrote the song Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The story goes that Paul was influenced by these long band names that people were coming up with then and then he sees salt and pepper on an airplane and this idea of Sgt Pepper came from that.  Eventually, Paul envisioned recording an album as this fictitious band to free them up from having to be the Beatles.  The song Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the reprise opened and closed the show.  So lyrically, the songs are just kind of “hello, we are Sgt Pepper’s band and we hope you will enjoy this show” and “Sgt Pepper’s band again, goodnight and we hope you enjoyed the show.

What you hear when you put it on is interesting.  First, you hear the crowd milling about and the band tuning up. Then a blast of guitar opens the song.  Then into the verse and the crowd applauds, some horns, laughter from the crowd.  Then applause at the end as they introduce Billy Shears who is really Ringo to sing With A Little Help from My Friends.  Really, I find it hard to listen to one without the other.  They don’t make sense apart.

The best part of the song is, of course, that searing guitar.  The rest of it is OK, but it’s not a song, per se, it’s just an intro to the album.  The sound effects are really cool and if you are listening to the mono vs the stereo, different.  The 2017 mix tried to bring the mono sound effects into the stereo and it does a real good job.  I would recommend it.

Another interesting thing about the song is that only three days after it was released, Jimi Hendrix played it with Paul and George in the audience at the Saville Theater.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

64 List Rank: 60

64 List Voters/Points: 12/308

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 4 (17, 20, 21, 25)

64 List 26-64 votes: 8

 

[simey]

All of these are also on my list:

21  I'm So Tired
27  I'll Be Back
31  I'm Looking Through You
34  If I Needed Someone
40  The Ballad of John and Yoko
45  If I Fell
46  Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
59  Oh! Darling

 

[heckmanm]

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

64 List Rank: 60

64 List Voters/Points: 12/308

64 List Top 5: 0

64 List Top 10: 0

64 List 1-25 votes: 4 (17, 20, 21, 25)

64 List 26-64 votes: 8

Personal RINGO BINGO here, as I had it at #60 

 

[heckmanm]

7 of the last 9 on my list.

156 - Maxwell's Silver Hammer (38)
110 - Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite! (41)
109 - Good Day Sunshine (35)
93 - Magical Mystery Tour (51)
92 - Wait (25)
89 - Do You Want to Know a Secret (52)
87 - I Want To Tell You (45)
86 - It's All Too Much (50)
76 - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (40)
74 - Drive My Car (14)
72 - Savoy Truffle (18)
68 - Hello, Goodbye (31)
67 - If I Needed Someone (63)
64 - Back in the USSR (21)
63 - I'm Looking Through You (64)
62 - I'm So Tired (46)
61 - The Ballad of John and Yoko (28)
60 - Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (60)

 

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Back in the USSR: 47

Sgt Pepper: 55

——————

I’m So Tired: 82

The Ballad of John and Yoko: 92

 

[falguy]

7 of the last 9 on my list.

156 - Maxwell's Silver Hammer (38)
110 - Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite! (41)
109 - Good Day Sunshine (35)
93 - Magical Mystery Tour (51)
92 - Wait (25)
89 - Do You Want to Know a Secret (52)
87 - I Want To Tell You (45)
86 - It's All Too Much (50)
76 - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (40)
74 - Drive My Car (14)
72 - Savoy Truffle (18)
68 - Hello, Goodbye (31)
67 - If I Needed Someone (63)
64 - Back in the USSR (21)
63 - I'm Looking Through You (64)
62 - I'm So Tired (46)
61 - The Ballad of John and Yoko (28)
60 - Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (60)

 

The updates from the weekend took a huge toll on my list as well.

14    When I'm Sixty-Four
21    Tell Me What You See
31    I'll Follow The Sun
32    All You Need Is Love
39    Back In The U.S.S.R.
41    Hello, Goodbye
44    The Fool On The Hill
47    If I Needed Someone
52    The Ballad Of John And Yoko
53    Drive My Car
54    Lady Madonna
55    Oh! Darling
58    Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
59    I Will
60    Getting Better
61    Yellow Submarine
62    Please Please Me
63    Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
 

 

[Zegras11]

The updates from the weekend took a huge toll on my list as well.

14    When I'm Sixty-Four
21    Tell Me What You See
31    I'll Follow The Sun
32    All You Need Is Love
39    Back In The U.S.S.R.
41    Hello, Goodbye
44    The Fool On The Hill
47    If I Needed Someone
52    The Ballad Of John And Yoko
53    Drive My Car
54    Lady Madonna
55    Oh! Darling
58    Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
59    I Will
60    Getting Better
61    Yellow Submarine
62    Please Please Me
63    Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
 

21 Tell Me What You See

41 Hello, Goodbye

39 Back In The U.S.S.R.

55 Oh! Darling

54 Lady Madonna

58 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

47 If I Needed Someone

61 Yellow Submarine

63 Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

62 Please Please Me

59 I Will

53 Drive My Car

44 The Fool On The Hill

52 The Ballad Of John And Yoko

32 All You Need Is Love

31 I'll Follow The Sun

60 Getting Better

14 When I'm Sixty-Four

 

[heckmanm]

The updates from the weekend took a huge toll on my list as well.

14    When I'm Sixty-Four
21    Tell Me What You See
31    I'll Follow The Sun
32    All You Need Is Love
39    Back In The U.S.S.R.
41    Hello, Goodbye
44    The Fool On The Hill
47    If I Needed Someone
52    The Ballad Of John And Yoko
53    Drive My Car
54    Lady Madonna
55    Oh! Darling
58    Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
59    I Will
60    Getting Better
61    Yellow Submarine
62    Please Please Me
63    Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
 

It makes sense that it happens though. I had 13 songs that came out before #64, so about 80% of the remaining picks are going to be on my list. 

 

[MAC_32]

 for both of these jumps!

Glad I could help with both Monkey and Rita. Not top 25er's, but always were going to be in the 64.

 

[rockaction]

Rockin' in the free world is always a good thing.