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

Getzlaf15 said:
It’s All Too Much
2022 Ranking: 118
2022 Lists: 4
2022 Points: 25
Ranked Highest by: OTB_Lifer (8) Krista (Worth) (20) @Pip's Invitation (25) Krista (Rob) (25)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: NR

Getz comments:  Another with four votes NR in 2019.
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Holy cow - just heard this for the first time (that I can remember anyways).  Kicks ###!  Love it.  Can’t believe I never stumbled upon this gem before.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Would not break my Top 100.  Maybe even Top 150.

I've listened to it so many times recently and it still does nothing for me.  Not disagreeing with how well John sings this. Just do not like it at all.
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This - not a fan either.

 
It's not that the Beatles "did not get good until Rubber Soul" but, in my opinion, the quality of their music began at a high level and just went up from there. My list includes nothing from the first two albums and only a couple from the Hard Days' Night / Help / Beatles for Sale era. They jumped levels at Rubber Soul then peaked around Revolver / Sgt Peppers. (And then there's Abbey Road which geez...)

The early songs that rise to Top 25 for me, like If I Fell (22) either have some personal connection or something about them sticks with me. The harmonies in If I Fell and the structure of the song--sublime.

 
Ok, I did this really quick and I could be missing one song. that I'm not going to try an d figure out...

Here's the songs that didn't get a vote:

 

A Taste Of Honey

Act Naturally

Ask Me Why

Baby It's You

Chains

Devil In Her Heart

Dig It

Doctor Robert

Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby

Good Night

Her Majesty

Hold Me Tight

Honey Don't

Honey Pie

I Wanna Be Your Man

I'll Get You

It's Only Love

Little Child

Maggie Mae

Matchbox

Misery

One After 909

Only A Northern Song

Piggies

Please Mister Postman

Sexy Sadie

Slow Down

The Inner Light

There's A Place

When I Get Home

Wild Honey Pie

Words Of Love

Yes It Is

 
Never went back and updated this by my *official Last 10 out* list had 17 songs. 

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22. From Me To You (155) - Traveshamockery!!!
23.
24.  Lady Madonna (77)
25.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Here, There and Everywhere

2022 Supplement:  In the book The Lyrics, Paul reiterates that, “if pushed,” he would name this as his favorite of all of his songs.  He mentions in that book that he and John were trying to emulate old-fashioned songs like Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” by having “a completely rambling preamble.”  Paul’s favorite aspect of this song is its seeming circularity, comparing it to going for a walk and suddenly arriving where you’ve started, but then finding you haven’t gone in a circle and instead have come to a different beginning of the path you were taking.  Somehow that all makes sense to me when I listen to this song, and it makes me love it even more.

Paul’s favorite line in the song is “Changing my life with a wave of her hand,” which he describes as the power of the little thing.  Changing a life while doing hardly anything.  Stunningly beautiful sentiment.

Guido Merkins

John did not hand out praise easily.  So when John told Paul “I think that’s the best one on the album” Paul knew that he had written a good song.  Here, There, and Everywhere from Revolver is one of many Paul McCartney ballads.  This one stands out, however, for several reasons.  First, the influence of the Beach Boys was in full flower here with those block harmonies.  Second, the intro in the style of songs from the 1930s which are full blown intros that are not repeated anywhere else in the song.  Third, the way each verse begins with “Here” or “There” and the bridge starts with “Everywhere.”  Once again, this suggests that Paul was thinking about the songs that he heard as a young boy from his Dad.

I love the minimal instrumentation including Ringo and George’s guitar after the line “....and if she’s beside me I know I need never care…”  And it’s a small detail, but I love the little bass run that Paul does during “each one believing that love never dies…”

In closing, this song will always have a special significance for me.  It was the first song my Mom told me to go listen to when, at the age of 12 having already inhaled both of the Beatles Greatest Hits album and asked her “what else do they have?”  I listened to it on my Mom’s old mono vinyl album with pops and clicks, but it’s not exaggerating to say that I heard that song and I was in love.  I don’t think I listened to anything else for a week.  Just that one song.  Over and over again.  I hadn’t heard any pop song that beautiful before.  I didn’t know what I was listening to.  Didn’t know about the Beach Boys influence.  Didn’t know how unusual the intro was.  Didn’t even fully appreciate the instrumentation.  I just know I loved those vocals.  It hit me right in the heart.
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I must be going the male menopause or something, because hearing that song again after all these years got me all weepy.  Haven't cried like that since my cat died a couple years ago.

I just sent this song to my son.  He's a Senior at Clemson and he has fallen hard for a girl.  This song will probably put him over the edge. 

Terrific write up @krista4 and @Guido Merkins.  Great work.  Squeezed a few more tears out of me.

 
ekbeats said:
I must be going the male menopause or something, because hearing that song again after all these years got me all weepy.  Haven't cried like that since my cat died a couple years ago.

I just sent this song to my son.  He's a Senior at Clemson and he has fallen hard for a girl.  This song will probably put him over the edge. 

Terrific write up @krista4 and @Guido Merkins.  Great work.  Squeezed a few more tears out of me.
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Can he get Trevor Lawrence's autograph for me?  TIA

 
I've mentioned the Sirius top 100 rankings a few times.  This is how my top 25 fared vs.the Sirius list:

  • 10 of my top 25 in their top 25
  • 24 of my top 25 in their top 100
  • Apparently maybe not a total Traveshamockery - From Me To You went unranked in their top 100


*I just realized I was using the old list and I've been unable to find the 2021 list.

 
ekbeats said:
I must be going the male menopause or something, because hearing that song again after all these years got me all weepy.  Haven't cried like that since my cat died a couple years ago.
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A good cry is good for the soul.

I can't listen to "The Long and Winding Road" without crying. If I need a release, sometimes I will listen to it. If I don't want to cry and feel deep sadness, I won't listen to it. 

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Ok, I did this really quick and I could be missing one song. that I'm not going to try an d figure out...

Here's the songs that didn't get a vote:

 

A Taste Of Honey

Act Naturally

Ask Me Why

Baby It's You

Chains

Devil In Her Heart

Dig It

Doctor Robert

Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby

Good Night

Her Majesty

Hold Me Tight

Honey Don't

Honey Pie

I Wanna Be Your Man

I'll Get You

It's Only Love

Little Child

Maggie Mae

Matchbox

Misery

One After 909

Only A Northern Song

Piggies

Please Mister Postman

Sexy Sadie

Slow Down

The Inner Light

There's A Place

When I Get Home

Wild Honey Pie

Words Of Love

Yes It Is
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The songs from this list that would have a decent-to-good shot of making my top 100 are Doctor Robert, I Wanna Be Your Man, It's Only Love, One After 909, Only a Northern Song, Sexy Sadie, Slow Down and There's a Place. 

Doctor Robert and Sexy Sadie are the biggest no-vote shockers for me. 

Along with Revolution 9, my bottom 5 probably includes A Taste of Honey, Piggies, Wild Honey Pie and Honey Pie. 

Dig It, Her Majesty and Maggie Mae would probably be pretty low (Binky: high) because they barely qualify as songs. 

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Can he get Trevor Lawrence's autograph for me?  TIA
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Trevor kept to himself.  Just football, family, girlfriend and church.  My son was friends with Etienne and Tee Higgins.  Great guys.  Funny story about Etienne... If you remember, Travis Etienne could have gone pro after his Junior year and been a 2nd round draft pick.  Everyone thought he would come out.  Instead he decides to stay at Clemson for his Senior year because he loved the college experience and he wanted to win another Natty.  Everyone at Clemson was ecstatic to have Etienne back, and very thankful.  

The athletes at Clemson get special tutoring, all in the same area.  My son, who runs track, was getting tutoring about a week after Etienne made the announcement.  While he's getting tutored he hears a Chinese tutor in the next cubicle over grilling someone about not completing an assignment.  "I'm very disappointed in you.  You let me down, and you let yourself down."  My son and his own tutor look at each other awkwardly, trying not to laugh.  When my son gets up to leave he walks by the cubicle and sees it's Travis Etienne.  My son busts out laughing to the point where the entire room looks at him.  Imagine sacrificing millions to come back another year and you get some 10th grade Chinese student lecturing you over a missed homework assignment.

 
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.

 
Chalk Rankings Top 10. #66 = 107 pts. each Sponsored by: Travis Etienne's Chinese Tutor

1 --Krista (Sharon)---1107.5

2 --ManOfSteelhead---1050.5

3 --anarchy99---997

4 --fatguyinalttlecoat---884

5 --Shaft41---874

6 --Krista (TJ/Michael)---867

7 --Man Of Constant Sorrow---830.5

8 --BinkyTheDoormat---746.5

9 --Wrighteous Ray(Hub)---727.5

10 --Krista (Worth)---689.5

 
Getzlaf15 said:
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
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Oh!  I was thisclose finally to having one of mine posted.  I originally had this slotted at #24, then sent Getz a last-minute switch to put another song in its place.  @ProstheticRGK, I think you might have had this as one you predicted I would have in my top 25, and you were right at the time.  BUT, the one I inserted in its place was also on your list of predictions.  :)  

 
Whoops, I just noticed a spoiler regarding my list in this write-up.  Oh noes.  That's what happens when I don't know the order they will be posted!

 
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Getzlaf15 said:
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.
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While it didn’t make my top-25, I truly love this song.  Mrs APK and I have been singing it together in the car for almost 30 years now, and I still can’t perfectly hit the harmony.  @krista4 had the perfect writeup.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
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.
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When Another Girl was posted, I said:

"I'd venture to say Paul shortly thereafter rewrote this as I'm Looking Through You and made it worse. I'll get to my feelings on that one when it appears."

So here we are.

It has some of the auto-pilot-ness (not necessarily a bad thing) that I referenced in my take on You Won't See Me, but my bigger issue is that it seems out of Paul's depth. Specifically, when he growls "you're not the same" at the end of the first verse and does similar things at the end of the other verses, it just seems forced to me. In college I would sarcastically yell "yeah Paul!" when those parts came on. He sounds tough on those passages, but given how he sings the rest of it, and how poppy the music is except for the stabby guitar parts that accompany the growling vocal parts, he's not conveying tough. His voice (when not imitating Little Richard or Ray Charles) and persona don't have the gravitas to pull this off -- not in 1965, anyway. Yes, I think John could have pulled it off, but John probably would have written the song in a much different way that wouldn't have made the angry part seem like it came out of nowhere. As written and performed, I find the song impressive but not convincing. 

The lyrics and the stabby guitar parts are very good, though. And the "why tell me why" part was cribbed by Buffalo Springfield for a song on their debut album the following year, so they clearly thought Paul was doing something right. 

 
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Getzlaf15 said:
No Reply
2022 Ranking: 70
2022 Lists: 7
2022 Points: 92
Ranked Highest by: @rockaction(5) @Shaft41(10) @Anarchy99(11) @fatguyinalittlecoat (13) @Uruk-Hai (23)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 82/1/25
2 --anarchy99---890
4 --Shaft41---768
5 --Krista (TJ/Michael)---763
8 --fatguyinalttlecoat---675
11 --rockaction---514.5

Getz:  Just missed my cut again. A'99 with 15th song.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  107

2019 write-up:

No Reply (Beatles for Sale, 1964)

My write-ups are going to be lacking in energy today.  This is a great song.  I don't know why it's not in the top half, except that other songs are instead.

I'll try to do better on the next write-up. Maybe I’ll edit these later.

Mr. krista:  "You creepy stalker.  Take a hint, man."

Suggested covers:  The Flames - the song is just ok, but that album cover is mint.  Gary Holton & Casino Steel - again not a good song, but in this case worth watching for the video.  Hey, the lyrics say "telephone," so let's show a phone!  There's a reference to looking through a window, so let's have him at a window!  I didn't stick around to see how they acted out "I nearly died."

OK, let me try to do a better job here.

Did John get cheated on a whole lot?  Cuz I just realized how many of his songs are about being cheated on.  I can't imagine bland Cynthia would have gotten that much action.  John, I would not have cheated on you, even with Paul.   

John described this as his version of the song "Silhouettes," which had been a hit for the NY group, The Rays.  I didn't know that song and just listened to it; it's nifty.  John wrote this one for Tommy Quickly to use, but he didn't - I always wonder about these people who passed on what became Beatles songs.  The Beatles's publisher **** James complimented John that this was the first song he'd written with a complete story.  I'm not sure why that was important, but I guess it was to **** James.

Something I love about the song is how dark it is for the time.  Even in 1964 they were starting to move away from the cheery pop into a deeper, more adult place.  I love the way John can glide between the moodiness of the verses and into that crazy-catchy middle eight with ease.  The change in feel and tempo on the middle is jarring but still works, in large part due to the Paul's gorgeous high harmonies that sound nearly unhinged.  I wonder if the middle was contributed by Paul?  Always enjoy the songs where they've both contributed their own styles like that.  Ringo's bossa-nova-style drumming and his changes are fantastic throughout this song.

Fine, maybe I would have cheated on John with Paul.  But not with Ringo!

2022 Supplement:  What was I thinking in 2019?  I totally would have cheated on John with Ringo.  In the road.

Guido Merkins

The Beatles typically started albums with loud rockers or pot boilers as George Martin called them, like I Saw Her Standing There or A Hard Day’s Night.  But by the end of 1964, the Beatles were tired. Two years of Beatlemania first in Europe, then everywhere else, was wearing on them.  Beatles For Sale’s cover sleeve tells the story.  Not the smiling Beatles of Please Please Me or the fun loving Fabs of A Hard Day’s Night, the cover for Beatles For Sale showed 4 unsmiling faces that might as well have said “would you just take the ####### picture…”

Anyway, the album took on the same tone as the cover, and therefore, they decided to start the album with No Reply, which was an acoustic number, of all things.  John was the main writer, with a little help from Paul but the song takes on the story of a guy who is calling his girl who isn’t answering the phone, but he knows she’s there because he can see her silhouette in the window.  John claimed he got the idea from a song called Sillouettes at 50s song by the doo *** group the Rays.  Anway, No Reply was a bit more introspective and not just boy-girl love song, which was more typical earlier, no doubt influenced by Bob Dylan.

The best part of the song is the middle (if I were you….).  The way the music swells and the fact that it switches to more of a rock beat with the rest of the song being more of a Latin beat.  Also, John and Pau’s harmonies are exquisite on this part.  It’s one of the most exciting part of any Beatles song up until that point and the group liked the song so much that it was even in the running for a single, until John came up with I Feel Fine.  **** James, the Beatles music publisher was really impressed with the song because it told “a whole story.”  
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This one definitely seems very Dylan to me, thanks to the complex-at-the-time lyrics and folky overtones. I do like how the bursts of "No reply," "I nearly died," etc. convey sudden bursts of anguish. Pulls it off much better than I'm Looking Through You. Ringo's bossa nova beats are a standout for me as well. 

 
Getzlaf15 said:
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.
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If I Fell is one that I had forgotten about until Krista’s original thread and it just barely missed my top 25 this time around. Just a beautiful song.

 
You can't make this #### up.  So get this, right after I sent my son the dreamy, hopeful ballad “Here, There and Everywhere”, my ex wife calls me up and tells me that my son's love interest completely screwed him over Saturday night and made out with his roommate!  So the next song on the list, “I’m Looking Through You” is the perfect next text message to send to him.  Life imitating art.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Girl
2022 Ranking: 69
2022 Lists: 6
2022 Points: 93
Ranked Highest by: Shaft41(Son1) (4) Krista(Craig) (8) Krista(TJ/Michael) (9) @Guido Merkins(10) @rockaction (12) @fatguyinalittlecoat (20)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 78/3/2
5 --fatguyinalttlecoat---779
10 --rockaction---618.5
12 --Krista (Craig)---484

Getz: Last song with six voters. First song with four, Top 10 votes. Only five more songs that don’t have at least 10 votes.

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  73

2019 write-up:

Girl (Rubber Soul, 1965)

It's a rare John song that John actually liked!  This goes higher or lower on my list daily based on how irritating I find the spliff-sucking sounds that particular day, but I always find them at least mildly irritating.  I've read that maybe they were supposed to be intakes of breath from love or lust for this "girl," but it doesn't make it any less irritating.  Aside from that, I love the song, and it's a favorite of my cat, The Squirrel (featured in a photo earlier in this thread), since I sing it to him substituting "Squirr-r-r-rel" for "gir-r-r-rl."  Perhaps I shouldn't have admitted that.

Moving on!  This song is hypnotic to me, with its gorgeous, languorous melody, sung by John with such longing, and some stunningly beautiful if depressing lyrics.  It's one of those songs where the lyrics take it to a new level in my estimation, from the opening plea of "Is there anybody going to listen to my story, all about the girl who came to stay?" to the descriptions of the kind of girl he's talking about.  I feel like I can exactly picture this girl from lines like...oh hell, I'm just going to copy all the lyrics here.  They're that special:

Is there anybody going to listen to my story

All about the girl who came to stay?

She's the kind of girl

You want so much it make you sorry

Still you don't regret a single day

Ah, girl, girl, girl

When I think of all the times

I tried so hard to leave her

She will turn to me and start to cry

And she promises the earth to me

And I believe her

After all this time I don't know why

Ah, girl, girl, girl

She's the kind of girl who puts you down

When friends are there

You feel a fool

When you say she's looking good

She acts as if it's understood

She's cool, ooh, oo, oo, oo

Girl, girl, girl

Was she told when she was young

That pain would lead to pleasure

Did she understand it when they said

That a man must break his back

To earn his day of leisure?

Will she still believe it when he's dead

Ah, girl, girl, girl

Girl

I find the bolded lyrics particularly evocative and poetic.  John has said the last lines I bolded were a criticism of Christianity, but I prefer to interpret them more broadly.  Another part of the song that I particularly dig is the bridge with its hammering eighth-notes; the vocal was inspired by a Beach Boys song that had "la la la"s in the bridge, but the Beatles wanted to use something else, so they substituted "dit dit dit."  Or did they?  Apparently what they really sang, to amuse themselves and trick the ever-naive George Martin, was a word that is not allowed on this family friendly site.  Rhymes with "dit."   I also love the Greek-inflected ending, which was a Paul contribution based on having heard some bouzouki music on holiday in Greece.

I feel like, when Squirrel is not around for me to sing the song to him, I just sink into this song and stay there, and it's a pleasurable place to be despite the glum lyrics.  It feels old-world and comfortable to me.  

Mr. krista:  "I really like it.  I like the changes.  I like the plink plink plink part at the end.  Songs like that are so outside of my canon that it would never occur to me to write something like that.  I don’t know how they come about, but it’s so interesting that people do.  It’s like you’re dragging the name across a bowling alley floor.  Squeeeeek. But you’re right.  What are you doing?  You’re trying to write pop music, nobody will want that.  But wait, they do.  I guess I like that song because it reminds me how much I don’t ####### know.  I don’t know why that’s good.  It’s good because the Beatles are better than me at everything."

Suggested cover:   Joe Jackson does a helluva job live, and makes that part I dislike into sighs.  Rhett Miller leaves that part out entirely.

2022 Supplement:  Those breathy intakes that irritated me when I wrote this up in 2019 were apparently a favorite part of the song for the Beatles, so what do I know.  John loved them.  Paul loved them:  “My main memory is that John wanted to hear the breathing, wanted it to be very intimate… The engineer then went off and figured out how to do it. We really felt like young professionals.”  Ringo loved them: “’Girl’ was great – weird breathy sound on it.”  Obviously they’re right, being the best band ever to exist, while I’m the person singing this to my cat.  

Guido Merkins

Rubber Soul had the Beatles expanding their musical vocabulary.  Paul going into French music with Michelle and John answering with the German/Greek Girl.

Girl was written mostly by John about his dream girl, which he claims turned out to be Yoko.  I’ve always thought that was strange since the bridge of the song portrays the “girl” as not being very nice (she’s the kind of girl who puts you down when friends are there you feel a fool.)  

Anyway, the song is very interesting in that it has a very German beat, IMO, like a two step.  But it also has a bit of a Greek vibe with the acoustic guitars with a capo very high on the neck so it sounds like a bouzouki, a Greek stringed instrument.  The end of the song with John and George both playing the “bouzouki” style guitars together.  I also love the “###-###” background vocals, John loved to slip on a little smut on a record.  Lastly, Lennon’s vocal is very intimate, hearing the intake of breath as he sings.  Was the girl so hot that Lennon was breathing heavy or was he referring to inhaling pot, I don’t know, but it’s an interesting sound.  

This is a song that I have always liked, but in the last 5 years or so it has really risen in my rankings of Beatles songs.  It is one of John’s best 10 songs, IMO.
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The lyrics are some of John's best, and his vocal on the verses displays just the right amount of pathos. The breathing/inhaling and the "dits" or whatever always felt kind of gimmicky to me. 

 
ekbeats said:
It really sucks seeing your child's heart get broken.  I wish I could fall on that grenade for him, but that's not the way life works.  Still sucks though. 
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As much as we wish it didn't, it happens to almost everyone. You just gotta do whatever you can to support them. 

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Here, There and Everywhere
2022 Ranking: 68
2022 Lists: 7
2022 Points: 94
Ranked Highest by: @Guido Merkins(3) @FairWarning(10) @fatguyinalittlecoat (12) @Oliver Humanzee (15) @Ted Lange as your Bartender (16) @ManOfSteelhead (18)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 55T/6/60

Getz comments:  Guido goes back-to-back and Fatguy nails a three-peat and four of the last five to be posted. Binky starts to sweat. Guido's last paragraph is  :thumbup:

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  51

2019 write-up:

Here, There and Everywhere (Revolver, 1966)

I've heard and read interviews with Paul in which he says this is the favorite of his songs.  John loved it, too, deeming it one of his favorites of all the Beatles songs.  I've wondered if John's opinion of the song influenced Paul's thinking; when I've read about their friendship, it's seemed to me that Paul was often hoping for John's approval.  Paul has mentioned John's praise of the song as "one of the nicest little moments" they had together.

This is one of those perfect songs that I don't rate more highly simply because love songs are not one of my preferred genres.  Still, Paul's haunting almost-falsetto vocal set against the shimmering backing vocals are irresistible.  Paul has stated that he wanted to sound like Marianne Faithfull with the near-falsetto, and his vocal was recorded at a slower speed then sped up for the recording to give it more of the high-pitched, boyish sound.  While the short introduction and the first verse address the "here," and the second verse contemplates the "there," my favorite part of the song is the "everywhere," which is covered in the bridge.  The second verse glides upward to a new key for the bridge, where the backing vocals also cease and are replaced by a more prominent guitar; it's this wobbly, slightly menacing guitar riff (starting ~1:02) followed by the lead vocal falling back down into the original major key that's my favorite part of the song.

Mr. krista:  "Did you notice that the song is in three different time signatures?  [We listen several more times as we count it out.] I like how it works with the previous song ("Love You To").  It’s like the Eastern and Western counterparts to the same sentiment – live for the day type thing.  I like it more than I thought I did.  It really rewards conscious listening, or whatever I do while I’m playing a baseball game on my phone.  Those really beautiful multi-tracked harmonies and guileless presentation show you how much he loved Pet Sounds.  Both those records probably alienated large chunks of their fanbase."

Suggested cover:  Of course Emmylou

2022 Supplement:  In the book The Lyrics, Paul reiterates that, “if pushed,” he would name this as his favorite of all of his songs.  He mentions in that book that he and John were trying to emulate old-fashioned songs like Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” by having “a completely rambling preamble.”  Paul’s favorite aspect of this song is its seeming circularity, comparing it to going for a walk and suddenly arriving where you’ve started, but then finding you haven’t gone in a circle and instead have come to a different beginning of the path you were taking.  Somehow that all makes sense to me when I listen to this song, and it makes me love it even more.

Paul’s favorite line in the song is “Changing my life with a wave of her hand,” which he describes as the power of the little thing.  Changing a life while doing hardly anything.  Stunningly beautiful sentiment.

Guido Merkins

John did not hand out praise easily.  So when John told Paul “I think that’s the best one on the album” Paul knew that he had written a good song.  Here, There, and Everywhere from Revolver is one of many Paul McCartney ballads.  This one stands out, however, for several reasons.  First, the influence of the Beach Boys was in full flower here with those block harmonies.  Second, the intro in the style of songs from the 1930s which are full blown intros that are not repeated anywhere else in the song.  Third, the way each verse begins with “Here” or “There” and the bridge starts with “Everywhere.”  Once again, this suggests that Paul was thinking about the songs that he heard as a young boy from his Dad.

I love the minimal instrumentation including Ringo and George’s guitar after the line “....and if she’s beside me I know I need never care…”  And it’s a small detail, but I love the little bass run that Paul does during “each one believing that love never dies…”

In closing, this song will always have a special significance for me.  It was the first song my Mom told me to go listen to when, at the age of 12 having already inhaled both of the Beatles Greatest Hits album and asked her “what else do they have?”  I listened to it on my Mom’s old mono vinyl album with pops and clicks, but it’s not exaggerating to say that I heard that song and I was in love.  I don’t think I listened to anything else for a week.  Just that one song.  Over and over again.  I hadn’t heard any pop song that beautiful before.  I didn’t know what I was listening to.  Didn’t know about the Beach Boys influence.  Didn’t know how unusual the intro was.  Didn’t even fully appreciate the instrumentation.  I just know I loved those vocals.  It hit me right in the heart.
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This didn't make my 36 because ... I have no idea why. It's one of the songs that moves me the most -- particularly as I have gotten older -- and Paul's vocal is one of his best. The wobbly guitar riff that comes in during the bridge is one of my favorite subtle Beatles moments. 

 
Getzlaf15 said:
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.
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The intro doesn't do much for me by itself, but it sets up the main melody that comes in at 20 seconds extremely well. In the hands of lesser acts, this would sound like teen idol dreck from the very early '60s, but the Beatles make it much more than that, for all the reasons in the write-ups above. 

 
On today's date in 1962, the Beatles donned matching suits for the very first time to record their also very first radio show, "Teenager's Turn,  Here We Go," in front of a live teenage audience.  They played three cover songs:  "Memphis, Tennessee," "Dream Baby," and "Please Mister Postman."  The show was broadcast the next day on BBC Light Programme, a radio station that played light entertainment from 1945 to 1967.

 
Pip's Invitation said:
This didn't make my 36 because ... I have no idea why. It's one of the songs that moves me the most -- particularly as I have gotten older -- and Paul's vocal is one of his best. The wobbly guitar riff that comes in during the bridge is one of my favorite subtle Beatles moments. 
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Honestly, if I could re-rank my songs this would be VERY high on my list, maybe even top 10. @krista4 really summarized it best.  That one line just resonates with me.  

Paul’s favorite line in the song is “Changing my life with a wave of her hand,” which he describes as the power of the little thing.  Changing a life while doing hardly anything.  Stunningly beautiful sentiment.
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This is the magic of the Beatles.  They turn a simple phrase and a simple lyric into something amazing, where you can actually visualize it.  It's sheer brilliance, masqueraded as the ordinary.

 
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