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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)

DocHolliday said:
My goodness it is a fantastic song.  I have always loved it and that is due to the harmonies.  Only ranking 25 songs was really tough at the time and listening to songs like this that I had to leave off is painful. 
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this ^

i made my list with little regret, because the parameters be what they be - but my love for John made it difficult leaving both "Nowhere Man" and "Julia" off.

for as much as i adore sarcastic, bitter, edgy John - i'm drawn to his ballads more than Paul's or George's because i need to see the other side to balance all of his maddening complexities - did i mention my love for him yet?

he was my first love, in the musical sense ... and "Nowhere Man" was one of our best ever dates.

 
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Getzlaf15 said:
Nowhere Man
2022 Ranking: 28
2022 Lists: 21
2022 Points: 263
Ranked Highest by: @Encyclopedia Brown (2) @landrys hat (3) @Guido Merkins (5) @Murph (7) @ekbeats (7) @zamboni (9) @Alex P Keaton (10) @Westerberg (11) @turnjose7 (13) @simey (14) @wikkidpissah (14) @FairWarning (14) @krista4 (17)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 31/10/124

Getz: Moves up three slots from 2019. Many Top 15 votes...

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  13

2019 write-up:

Nowhere Man (Rubber Soul, 1965)

John was struggling to come up with a new song, battling ennui and isolation in the London suburbs.  After several hours of frustration, he decided to lie down, and while he did, "Nowhere Man" came to him.  Though the song was a reflection of some despondency in his own life, John adopted a more Paul-like approach, writing it as if talking about an allegorical character.  (And in fact this song was used in Yellow Submarine as a song about sad but charming little Jeremy Hillary Boob.)  

The three-part harmonies in this song are incredible, not just in the notes they sing, but because their dreamy presentation does such an amazing job of on the one hand vivifying the melancholy lyrics, but on the other also weaving into the song as if to tell John he's not alone.  Paul's high harmonies at the end are especially chilling.  These lyrics are astonishingly good, summoning universal feelings of isolation and loneliness, but with hopeful notes as well (e.g., "the world is at your command").  It's almost like John is having a conversation with himself, emphasizing the downbeat lyrics of the verses in a downward motion of notes, but then bucking himself up on the bridges with brighter vocals and reminders that everyone goes through this and it will get better - not unlike what Paul was saying to Julian in "Hey Jude."  John's vocal is particularly sweet and vulnerable, making it one of my favorites; my favorite part is the hopefulness when he sings that line, "the world is at your command."  Every Beatle is phenomenal in support of the song's feel.  George's little fills are perfectly on-time supplements, and he and John support the lyrics well on their terrific double-tracked guitar solo that spirals down through the chords evoking the loneliness, but then ends with that hopeful high harmonic played by George to flow into the next verse.  George's work on this song is so distractingly excellent that I only recently started noticing Paul's bass line, and now I find it impossible not to focus on it; I'm convinced it's one of his best.
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Great write-up @krista4.  Everyone for that matter.  There’s only a handful of songs that hit me on a level like this one does.  It’s perfect.

 
I'm still trying to find the guy who made my list so I can have a word.  How the hell do you leave off "Got To Get You Into My Life"?  

In all seriousness, the 2019 thread opened my eyes to so many good songs that I wasn't terribly familiar with up to that point.  Now, I've spent the last three years just freaking basking.  And my tastes have changed.  Which is why I was on the chalk list at first and will most likely end up on the least chalk list.  And I start to feel bad, leaving off upwards of 127 great songs. 

But then I don't, because Beatles, man.  

 
krista4 said:
OMG that kid drummer is incredible!  I loved him when wikkid originally posted them, but I think he's even better now.  I also love their front(wo)man.  :)

We need to find them and bring them to the thread.  It's a RINGO-KID SHOWCASE!!!
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their rendition of Boys is amazing (mostly bc the lead singer is so adorable)

I thought the same thing about the drummer!! I can't find it rn but there's another Beatles song where he's doing that signature Ringo move of sloshing his hi hat horizontally & I was like whoa. usually kid drummers (& quite a few adults) just want to be heavy pounders - this kid actually knows what he's doing.

 
Hey, just a note that I'm also going to post a ChalkyChalk list also of the final Top 25 songs.

You'll get one point if you voted for song #25, and 25 points if you voted for the #1song in the countdown.  

I might wait until it's over to post it though.  Want to avoid confusion and mucking up the thread too much. 

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Hey, just a note that I'm also going to post a ChalkyChalk list also of the final Top 25 songs.

You'll get one point if you voted for song #25, and 25 points if you voted for the #1song in the countdown.  

I might wait until it's over to post it though.  Want to avoid confusion and mucking up the thread too much. 
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I'll just wait for @Binky The Doormat to explain this to me later (sooner)

 
BobbyLayne said:
Getzlaf15 said:
Hey, just a note that I'm also going to post a ChalkyChalk list also of the final Top 25 songs.

You'll get one point if you voted for song #25, and 25 points if you voted for the #1song in the countdown.  

I might wait until it's over to post it though.  Want to avoid confusion and mucking up the thread too much. 
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I'll just wait for @Binky The Doormat to explain this to me later (sooner)
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you ####in' ##### ...   :lmao:

QUESTION AUTHORITY!!!!

 
maybe this collection of smart people in here can step me through this ...lets go a piece at a time

* for the purpose of this effort - are we good with the general concept of "chalky" below?  

chalky = ranking a song in the top 25 on your personal list that is also ranked in the top 25 by the group.

 
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There are four lists left that have not had any of their Top 10 songs posted yet.

 
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Binky The Doormat said:
maybe this collection of smart people in here can step me through this ...lets go a piece at a time

* for the purpose of this effort - are we good with the general concept of "chalky" below? 
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there is but one definition of "chalk" in regard to matters such as this ...

it is derived from sports betting (originated with horse racing, when odds at the wagering parlors were updated on a blackboard), where chalk is used to describe an overwhelming favorite.

ergo, the higher (no, NOT LOWER) consensus ranked songs (say, top 10 for argument's sake), will be considered "chalk".

the more selections you have way up there that match the consensus, the more of a chalk player you are.  

:deadhorse:

 
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Getzlaf15 said:
There are four lists left that have not had any of their Top 10 songs posted yet.
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I think I’m one of them - unless I’ve missed something my top 11 are still off the board plus two others - so depending on #26 I’ll either have just under or just over 50% of the consensus top 25.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
We Can Work It Out
2022 Ranking: 29
2022 Lists: 25
2022 Points: 262
Ranked Highest by: @Encyclopedia Brown (4) @Ted Lange as your Bartender (4) @Eephus (6) @worrierking(9) @Uruk-Hai (10) @Westerberg (10) @Dinsy Ejotuz (12) Daughter and Son1 (14) @Yankee23Fan (15) @MAC_32 (15)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 19/14/176

Getz:  Eleven more votes and 86 more points than 2019, and still dropped 11 slots from back then. Next tier from #30 Hey Bulldog, with 24 more points. The next three songs have 263, 264 and 265 points. So it was quite the battle for the #25 slot, which finished at 270 points.
First song to get 25 votes. Only six of them were in the Top 10.
I had this at #20, down five slots from 2019's #15.

Krista4

My 2019 ranking:  47

2019 write-up:

We Can Work It Out (single, 1965)

This whole thing was a bad idea.  Whose idea was this?  I don't mean the song; I mean ranking the songs.  Killing me.  

Anyway, love this song.  Always a big fan of songs where Paul and John each contributed significantly, and in this one George also made a major impact.  It's no surprise that Paul wrote the optimistic verses as he tried to work through his relationship with Jane Asher, a relationship that will also be at the heart of, and treated more negatively in, "You Won't See Me" and "I'm Looking Through You."  John contributed the more downbeat bridge, but it was George's idea to put the bridge in waltz time.  Nifty thought that raises the song to a whole new level.   As usual in these collaborative songs, the verses show their optimism in sunny major chords, while the bridge falls into a minor key to emphasize the pessimism.  Both Paul and John are in excellent voice on this song, but I think Paul's the standout with that pure vocal sound and those high harmonies; it's one of my favorite Beatles performances from him.  This was the first song in which the Beatles used the harmonium that would later show up more frequently, and I love the use of the volume pedal on it by whoever was playing it.  

This was a double-a-side single along with "Day Tripper," still to come, the first double-a-sided single released in the UK.  In the US, the popularity was tracked separately, with this song hitting #1 but "Day Tripper" only reaching #5.  Probably not at the level of Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields for "best double-a-single ever," but should be in the conversation. 

Mr. krista:  "Pretty good single.  The lyrics are funny to me.  It’s about working it out, but it’s all about hectoring the other people into agreeing with your point of view.  And time will tell you that I’m right.  Those are really bad arguing tactics, Sir Paul.  I still think it’s a really good song; it just makes me laugh.  It’s a song about cooperation, but it’s so not."

Suggested cover:  Here we have it, my favorite cover of any Beatles song:  Stevie Wonder

2022 Supplement:  Oddly enough, Mr. krista seemed to have it right in 2019 analysis, as Paul has recently acknowledged the selfishness of the song, pointing out that “we can work it out” should have been the simple message without adding “try to see it my way”:  “…you can spread a good message: ‘We can work it out.’  If you wanted to say it in one line, it would be ‘Let’s not argue.’  If you wanted to say it in two lines:  ‘Let’s not argue / Listen to me.’  Obviously, that is quite selfish, but then so is the song.”

Paul recounts writing this immediately after an argument with Jane Asher, feeling that he could only work it out (see what I did there) while it was fresh in his mind.  Though he tried both to work out his feelings with the song and work out his relationship with Jane as the song optimistically predicted he could, they did break up soon thereafter.  One thing I’ve noticed in reading Paul’s words is how often he discusses Jane’s mother Margaret, and in discussing this song and the subsequent break-up, he has relayed that losing Jane led to losing Margaret, which was devastating to him as if he had lost a mother for the second time.  His affection for the Asher family, who let him live in their home and treated him fully as a son, and his wonder at seeing such a “posh” lifestyle that was miles from what he’d ever known before, make me think he might have loved being part of the family more than having strong affection for Jane, lovely as she was.

Please follow me for more armchair psychoanalysis of people I don’t know.

Guido Merkins

John and Paul were both complete songwriters.  Both could write words and music and both created many different styles of song.  Often the stereotype is that John writes songs that are moodier and Paul writes songs that are happy.  These are too simple to be true (John wrote Julia and Paul wrote Helter Skelter), however within these stereotypes, there is an element of truth.  They often worked best together when John put a little weight behind Paul’s sunnier outlook.  Sometimes they did this song by song.  Sometimes they did it within the same song. We Can Work It Out is perhaps the best example of this.

Paul wrote We Can Work It Out after a disagreement with Jane Asher saying “We can work it out, we can work it out” the very optimistic verse.  John wrote the impatient middle “life is very short and there’s no time…”  The most distinctive element of the song is the harmonium played by John and the waltz time during the middle, suggested by George.  Also I love the ying and the yang of the song, a trick the Beatles would use in the future on songs like A Day in the Life and Getting Better.  

Important to note that there was great disagreement over which would be the A side on this single, We Can Work It Out or Day Tripper.  Paul and George Martin wanting We Can Work It Out and John wanting Day Tripper.  The solution was a first for the Beatles, and maybe a first for anybody, a double A sided single.  This is something the Beatles would use several other times in the future to keep the peace between the very competitive John and Paul.
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I prefer the other side of the single but this is still great. The way the words just roll off is very compelling. And the harmonium is a great touch.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
My apologies.... I allowed a list to be changed that didn't affect any part of the countdown early on where someone had not had a song posted yet. My eye ball test failed here as it changed #28 and #27 and I just noticed as I was finished with the write up here.  With all the links, tagging and color changes, It just takes too long to redo at this point.  So I will post #28 pretty quickly after this one.


Got To Get You Into My Life
2022 Ranking: 27
2022 Lists: 21
2022 Points: 264
Ranked Highest by: @jwb (1) @DocHolliday (3) @Dwayne Hoover (3) @Gr00vus (6) @Dr. Octopus (7) @DaVinci (9) @turnjose7 (11) @Just Win Baby (13) @ConstruxBoy (14) @MAC_32 (14) @Guido Merkins (15) @Uruk-Hai (15) 
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 20/13/167

JWB - #1. Got To Get You Into My Life – The perfect marriage between early and late Beatles. That Paul said it’s about weed makes it all the better.

Getz: Drops seven slots from 2019.

Krista4

My 2019 ranking:  61

2019 write-up:

Got To Get You Into My Life (Revolver, 1966)

There's Motown and there's Stax, and I'm Stax.  I love the horns, but they aren't Stax horns; with Memphis horns I'd rank it even higher.  The expansive jazzy feel of this song is phenomenal, though I wish they'd punched up the sound of the drums more in the mix.  I'm a huge fan of Paul's vocal throughout - he hits everything with extraordinary feeling - but I especially love the grittiness he gives to the chorus.  Geoff Emerick said that there was so much excitement for Paul's vocal that at one point during the recording John burst out of the control room to shout his encouragement.  George's guitar makes a brief but memorable appearance starting with the third chorus that punches everything up even more.  By the finish, the energy is off the charts. 

I always liked the lyrics to this and was disappointed to find that Paul wrote this as an ode to pot.  As an urgent plea to a lover, I like it better.

Mr. krista:  "Of course I like it.  It’s a big brassy Motown song, but still so British.  An American would never do the [singing] “I didn’t know what I would find theeere.”  Reminds me of all the good 70s theme songs.  Like Good Times.  Reminds me of the Good Times theme song.  Would be a great theme song for a comedy in the 70s that featured black people."

Suggested cover:  I didn't look for any others.   Earth, Wind & Fire

2022 Supplement:  As discussed elsewhere (I think?), the Beatles were introduced to pot by one of Bob Dylan’s entourage.  Paul expanded on the story in The Lyrics, saying that Dylan had disappeared into a back room of their hotel suite, and the Beatles thought he’d gone to the bathroom, until “Ringo came out of that back room, looking a bit strange.”  He told the others that Dylan had some weed (or whatever they called it then), and they asked him what it was like.  “Well, the ceiling is kind of moving; it’s sort of coming down.”  That was enough for the other Beatles to leap up eager to try it, too.  They were taking puffs, thinking it wasn’t working, so they just kept puffing and puffing and, “Suddenly, it was working.  And we were giggling, laughing at each other.  I remember George trying to get away, and I was sort of running after him, like a cartoon chase.” 

Paul, as he so often did, enjoyed the idea of masking an ode to pot as something else, something that wouldn’t get caught up by the censors.  (As an aside, it’s so quaint to think of “censors” objecting to “pot songs.”)  He made the song joyous, because that is how they viewed the drug at the time, before their experiences turned darker with other drugs, especially for John.  He’s described the song as “a rather sunny-day-in-the-garden type of experience.”  As much as the brass adds to this song, I think you can really hear what he describes more in this earlier take without brass, released in the Anthology series:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPHon-sZpr8    

Guido Merkins

Paul’s ode to pot, Got to Get You Into My Life is typical of Paul.  Not outward writing a song about drugs, like John would with Dr Robert, but masking it as a love song.  Got to Get You Into My Life shows that Paul loved Motown and was listening to their songs to get ideas for his own.

Got to Get You Into My Life announces itself right from the beginning as an R&B influenced number with the awesome horn section.  Some hints to the songs real muse are the lines “I was alone I took a ride” and “another road where maybe I could see another mind there.”

The best parts of the song is Paul’s growl during the lines “got to get you into my life” and the awesome horns throughout.  Ringo is super solid here, as usual and George Harrison’s huge guitar riff near the end of the song really brings the song to another level.  And Paul’s thumping bass make the Motown connection obvious.

There is a version of Got To Get You Into My Life on Anthology 2 that is interesting, but really different from the finished version.  Heavy harmonium and much slower.  In this case, they were correct to speed it up and go with the Motown treatment

This is one of the few songs that someone did a really good cover of, Earth Wind and Fire covered this for the Sgt Pepper Movie by the Bee Gees, one of the only redeeming parts of that horrendous film.
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This is another one I remember from the radio when I was very young, though it was probably the EWF version. Which I think may be even better than the original, but it’s close. 

Did Paul invent jazz rock with this song? Wouldn’t sound out of place on a Chicago or Blood Sweat and Tears record in the early ‘70s.

My friend who was too busy to submit a list hates the Beatles version (and doesn’t care for any Paul tunes on Revolver) but loves EWF’s.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Chalk Rankings Top 15. #27 = 146 pts. each Sponsored by: Homes For Clowns

1 --ManOfSteelhead---2185.5

2 --Krista (Worth)---2042.5

3 --Guido Merkins---2037

4 --FairWarning---1919

5 --Krista (Craig)---1894

6 --anarchy99---1879

7 --Encyclopedia Brown---1864.5

8 --Dwayne Hoover---1856.5

9 --ConstruxBoy---1818

10 --Shaft41(Son1)---1782

11 --Man Of Constant Sorrow---1768.5

12 --Oliver Humanzee---1759.5

13 --Getzlaf15---1744

14 --Shaft41---1742

15 --Krista (Sharon)---1739.5
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Top 10 baby!

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Nowhere Man
2022 Ranking: 28
2022 Lists: 21
2022 Points: 263
Ranked Highest by: @Encyclopedia Brown (2) @landrys hat (3) @Guido Merkins (5) @Murph (7) @ekbeats (7) @zamboni (9) @Alex P Keaton (10) @Westerberg (11) @turnjose7 (13) @simey (14) @wikkidpissah (14) @FairWarning (14) @krista4 (17)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 31/10/124

Getz: Moves up three slots from 2019. Many Top 15 votes...

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  13

2019 write-up:

Nowhere Man (Rubber Soul, 1965)

John was struggling to come up with a new song, battling ennui and isolation in the London suburbs.  After several hours of frustration, he decided to lie down, and while he did, "Nowhere Man" came to him.  Though the song was a reflection of some despondency in his own life, John adopted a more Paul-like approach, writing it as if talking about an allegorical character.  (And in fact this song was used in Yellow Submarine as a song about sad but charming little Jeremy Hillary Boob.)  

The three-part harmonies in this song are incredible, not just in the notes they sing, but because their dreamy presentation does such an amazing job of on the one hand vivifying the melancholy lyrics, but on the other also weaving into the song as if to tell John he's not alone.  Paul's high harmonies at the end are especially chilling.  These lyrics are astonishingly good, summoning universal feelings of isolation and loneliness, but with hopeful notes as well (e.g., "the world is at your command").  It's almost like John is having a conversation with himself, emphasizing the downbeat lyrics of the verses in a downward motion of notes, but then bucking himself up on the bridges with brighter vocals and reminders that everyone goes through this and it will get better - not unlike what Paul was saying to Julian in "Hey Jude."  John's vocal is particularly sweet and vulnerable, making it one of my favorites; my favorite part is the hopefulness when he sings that line, "the world is at your command."  Every Beatle is phenomenal in support of the song's feel.  George's little fills are perfectly on-time supplements, and he and John support the lyrics well on their terrific double-tracked guitar solo that spirals down through the chords evoking the loneliness, but then ends with that hopeful high harmonic played by George to flow into the next verse.  George's work on this song is so distractingly excellent that I only recently started noticing Paul's bass line, and now I find it impossible not to focus on it; I'm convinced it's one of his best.

Mr. krista:  "Paul’s part at the end - that’s the best.  I love how the chime-y 12-string sounds like The Byrds if The Byrds were really good. Love how George Harrison really owned that sound. Particularly great lyrics.  That would have been an incredible band name – it says a lot without really saying anything.  Like I love the band Police Teeth…I don’t know what it means."

Suggested cover:  Low

2022 Supplement:  I can’t imagine being a person who could be trying to write a song, lie down, and then find “Nowhere Man” pop out from, ummmmm, nowhere:  “I remember I was just going through this paranoia trying to write something and nothing would come out so I just lay down and tried to not write and then this came out, the whole thing came out in one gulp.”

I also can’t imagine how the Beatles managed to sing this one live.  How can you do the harmonies like that through all the screaming?  Just another example of what an incredible live band they were.  Enjoy this version of the nearly isolated vocals on this track:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUTOhJcqL90  What the hell does Paul do at the end of this song?  It’s beyond fantastic.

Guido Merkins

I think it’s safe to say that Rubber Soul represents the height of John Lennon’s creativity as a Beatle for sure.  Similar to In My Life, John was struggling to come up with something good and when he let it go, the whole of Nowhere Man came to him.  Lyrics, melody, etc.  

My experience with Nowhere Man makes it impossible to grade fairly. My mom was one of those screaming Beatles teenagers.  When I became old enough to recognize music, I realized my mom listened to the Beatles quite a bit.  I had experience with the early stuff.  A Hard Day’s Night, Help, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand….that era.  I guess I thought that’s all there was.

Then came into my life the ‘Red” Greatest Hits album.  The A side of that cassette plus half of the B side were all songs I was familiar with.  However, when it came to the stuff starting with the Rubber Soul material, I was unfamiliar.  Out of that material, the one that most knocked me out was Nowhere Man.  It’s hard to explain why.  I identified with the lyrics.  I loved the sound, especially the strange sounding guitars and the solo with that ringing sound at the end.  And I loved the vocals.  The lead vocal with that sound which sounded different to me at the time (I don’t know that I had learned about John’s vocal sound) and the harmonies.  I didn’t know at the time that those guitars were drenched in treble and that ringing sound was something called a harmonic.  I hadn’t recognized the uniqueness of John as a lead singer yet or realized how good the Beatles were as harmonizers.  The whole thing just struck me as something different and special and, at the time, it was difficult to imagine that this was the same band that had done She Loves You or Love Me Do.  It just sounded so different.

When I got older and became a musician myself I realized why my ear was drawn to the line “Making all his nowhere plans for nobody…”  In the key of E, going from F#m to Am is INCREDIBLY unique and underscores again John’s quirkiness as a songwriter.  Someone who was trained would never do that, but John was just looking for a sound….and he got it.
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Another one I remember from when I was young. Some of the best lyrics and harmonies in the entire Beatles catalog, which is saying a lot.

 
otb_lifer said:
there is but one definition of "chalk" in regard to matters such as this ...

it is derived from sports betting (originated with horse racing, when odds at the wagering parlors were updated on a blackboard), where chalk is used to describe an overwhelming favorite.

ergo, the higher (no, NOT LOWER) consensus ranked songs (say, top 10 for argument's sake), will be considered "chalk".

the more selections you have way up there that match the consensus, the more of a chalk player you are.  

:deadhorse:
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Those of us that are chalky have our opinions validated by thousands of other people. You non-chalky people must look inward for validation of your opinions. Good luck with that. 

:whistle:

 
ConstruxBoy said:
Those of us that are chalky have our opinions validated by thousands of other people. You non-chalky people must look inward for validation of your opinions. Good luck with that. 

:whistle:
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im'ma go a step further ...

i do think a few of the lists submitted after the "chalk talk" started may have been contrarian simply for contrarian's sake. 

like "LOOK AT ME, I LOVE ONLY THE DEEP CUTS!!!1!1!!1 YOU CHALK EATERS ARE #######!!!1!"

cynical? sure. 

modicum of truth? also sure. 

now, in fairness, their catalog is so deep and rich, that, yes, not including a majority of their mega hits is plausible, no question. 

but ... ehhh - i don't buy that we're 100% pure here.  

as far as mine?

i believe my list was second or third submitted to Getz, so i'm clean ... more on this later. 

:boxing:

 
GTGYIML is a song that before the countdown started I would have expected it to be borderline top 25 for me but just kept moving up the rankings and landed at #15 for me.

 
I’m actually working on a new March 1-206 list…and it’s looking quite different from my mid-February 1-206 (actually 204) ranking….which both look nothing like the Chalkiest of the Chalkermost (tm) Top 25 I turned in for this exercise

I don’t love my first list anymore lol but I’m sure it has a shot at being the Top Chalk - one Top Ten whiff but the other 18 s/b Top 25

 
in honor of St. Patrick's Day, and the lads (John & Paul mostly) Liverpudlian roots, i wanted to toss a couple up in here. 

the original "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" was written by John, and was on the Plastic Ono band platter "Some Time in New York City" - unlike U2, who barely touched on the massacre/slaughter in their tune, John laid it out in pretty raw lyrics, calling it for what it was. 

the 50th anniversary of this atrocity recently passed in January, so good a time as any to slot it in here today - i am choosing renowned rebel act the Wolfe Tones, and their version of John's song:

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

was also looking for a particular live version of "Luck of the Irish" he did at a benefit in Ireland for one of the slain ... it has been taken down, but the best part was at the finish of the song John told the crowd "ok, so flower power didn't work, so what, we'll start over".

i loved that he grew more cognizant of ditching most of the Utopian bent ... one can work to better the world without being mired in sloppy sentiment. 

i did find this live version from their stint on the Mike Douglas show ... we get some Yoko, yes. 

but it's John's heart aching for all the wrongs visited to his kin and their ancestors - this probably irked the British government 10x more than returning his MBE - the HATE and scoen for Irish Catholics was so immense.  

even Paul joined in, with his Give Ireland Back to the Irish - a song that was BANNED by the BBC - see above as to why.  

good on ya, lads! 

Slàinté! 

🇮🇪 ❤

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Nowhere Man
2022 Ranking: 28
2022 Lists: 21
2022 Points: 263
Ranked Highest by: @Encyclopedia Brown (2) @landrys hat (3) @Guido Merkins (5) @Murph (7) @ekbeats (7) @zamboni (9) @Alex P Keaton (10) @Westerberg (11) @turnjose7 (13) @simey (14) @wikkidpissah (14) @FairWarning (14) @krista4 (17)
2019 Ranking/Lists/Pts: 31/10/124

Getz: Moves up three slots from 2019. Many Top 15 votes...

Krista4
My 2019 ranking:  13

2019 write-up:

Nowhere Man (Rubber Soul, 1965)

John was struggling to come up with a new song, battling ennui and isolation in the London suburbs.  After several hours of frustration, he decided to lie down, and while he did, "Nowhere Man" came to him.  Though the song was a reflection of some despondency in his own life, John adopted a more Paul-like approach, writing it as if talking about an allegorical character.  (And in fact this song was used in Yellow Submarine as a song about sad but charming little Jeremy Hillary Boob.)  

The three-part harmonies in this song are incredible, not just in the notes they sing, but because their dreamy presentation does such an amazing job of on the one hand vivifying the melancholy lyrics, but on the other also weaving into the song as if to tell John he's not alone.  Paul's high harmonies at the end are especially chilling.  These lyrics are astonishingly good, summoning universal feelings of isolation and loneliness, but with hopeful notes as well (e.g., "the world is at your command").  It's almost like John is having a conversation with himself, emphasizing the downbeat lyrics of the verses in a downward motion of notes, but then bucking himself up on the bridges with brighter vocals and reminders that everyone goes through this and it will get better - not unlike what Paul was saying to Julian in "Hey Jude."  John's vocal is particularly sweet and vulnerable, making it one of my favorites; my favorite part is the hopefulness when he sings that line, "the world is at your command."  Every Beatle is phenomenal in support of the song's feel.  George's little fills are perfectly on-time supplements, and he and John support the lyrics well on their terrific double-tracked guitar solo that spirals down through the chords evoking the loneliness, but then ends with that hopeful high harmonic played by George to flow into the next verse.  George's work on this song is so distractingly excellent that I only recently started noticing Paul's bass line, and now I find it impossible not to focus on it; I'm convinced it's one of his best.

Mr. krista:  "Paul’s part at the end - that’s the best.  I love how the chime-y 12-string sounds like The Byrds if The Byrds were really good. Love how George Harrison really owned that sound. Particularly great lyrics.  That would have been an incredible band name – it says a lot without really saying anything.  Like I love the band Police Teeth…I don’t know what it means."

Suggested cover:  Low

2022 Supplement:  I can’t imagine being a person who could be trying to write a song, lie down, and then find “Nowhere Man” pop out from, ummmmm, nowhere:  “I remember I was just going through this paranoia trying to write something and nothing would come out so I just lay down and tried to not write and then this came out, the whole thing came out in one gulp.”

I also can’t imagine how the Beatles managed to sing this one live.  How can you do the harmonies like that through all the screaming?  Just another example of what an incredible live band they were.  Enjoy this version of the nearly isolated vocals on this track:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUTOhJcqL90  What the hell does Paul do at the end of this song?  It’s beyond fantastic.

Guido Merkins

I think it’s safe to say that Rubber Soul represents the height of John Lennon’s creativity as a Beatle for sure.  Similar to In My Life, John was struggling to come up with something good and when he let it go, the whole of Nowhere Man came to him.  Lyrics, melody, etc.  

My experience with Nowhere Man makes it impossible to grade fairly. My mom was one of those screaming Beatles teenagers.  When I became old enough to recognize music, I realized my mom listened to the Beatles quite a bit.  I had experience with the early stuff.  A Hard Day’s Night, Help, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand….that era.  I guess I thought that’s all there was.

Then came into my life the ‘Red” Greatest Hits album.  The A side of that cassette plus half of the B side were all songs I was familiar with.  However, when it came to the stuff starting with the Rubber Soul material, I was unfamiliar.  Out of that material, the one that most knocked me out was Nowhere Man.  It’s hard to explain why.  I identified with the lyrics.  I loved the sound, especially the strange sounding guitars and the solo with that ringing sound at the end.  And I loved the vocals.  The lead vocal with that sound which sounded different to me at the time (I don’t know that I had learned about John’s vocal sound) and the harmonies.  I didn’t know at the time that those guitars were drenched in treble and that ringing sound was something called a harmonic.  I hadn’t recognized the uniqueness of John as a lead singer yet or realized how good the Beatles were as harmonizers.  The whole thing just struck me as something different and special and, at the time, it was difficult to imagine that this was the same band that had done She Loves You or Love Me Do.  It just sounded so different.

When I got older and became a musician myself I realized why my ear was drawn to the line “Making all his nowhere plans for nobody…”  In the key of E, going from F#m to Am is INCREDIBLY unique and underscores again John’s quirkiness as a songwriter.  Someone who was trained would never do that, but John was just looking for a sound….and he got it.
Click to expand...
Love this song so much! The harmonies are sublime and the lyrics really hit home. I think about John wandering Kenwood, his 20 room estate, feeling angst whilst simultaneously probably thinking he has no reason to complain. Feeling both the world at his command and impossibly trapped. (how’s that for some dime store psychology @krista4?)  

It is rare to hear John sing with the vulnerability he does on Julia but this one comes close.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
BobbyLayne said:
Love this song so much! The harmonies are sublime and the lyrics really hit home. I think about John wandering Kenwood, his 20 room grade II estate, feeling angst whilst simultaneously probably thinking he has no reason to complain. Feeling both the world at his command and impossibly trapped. (how’s that for some store psychology @krista4?)  

It is rare to hear John sing with the vulnerability he does on Julia but this one comes close.
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I feel like this is common for super famous, popular people. The Last Dance series showing Michael Jordan mobbed everywhere he went and stuck in his hotel room on the road was sort of sad. 

 
ConstruxBoy said:
I feel like this is common for super famous, popular people. The Last Dance series showing Michael Jordan mobbed everywhere he went and stuck in his hotel room on the road was sort of sad. 
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I think they all felt, especially on the road when they were huddled up in their hotel rooms. For instance, they loved Japan and all returned there as solo artists, but they couldn’t enjoy any cultural activities anywhere while they were Beatles.

Then too I’m thinking of another layer. The 1966 version John was (literally) the biggest whore monger, a bit resentful toward Cynthia and clueless about how to connect with Julian. He was less of a bad guy in later years but the damage was done. Took Julian a long time to unpack what his dad was/was not in his mid-20s.

 
My list:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14. Oh! Darling

15

16. Dear Prudence

17. She's Leaving Home

18. For No One

19. Got to Get You Into My Life

20. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away

21

22. If I Fell

23

24. 

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

 
otb_lifer said:
there is but one definition of "chalk" in regard to matters such as this ...

it is derived from sports betting (originated with horse racing, when odds at the wagering parlors were updated on a blackboard), where chalk is used to describe an overwhelming favorite.

ergo, the higher (no, NOT LOWER) consensus ranked songs (say, top 10 for argument's sake), will be considered "chalk".

the more selections you have way up there that match the consensus, the more of a chalk player you are.  

:deadhorse:
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That looks like the horse I usually bet on, down the stretch

 
I'm going to be pretty Chalky by the end of this thing.  I still have 18 songs left from my top 25.  😮

I think, for me at least, being relatively new to Beatlemania I am still loving the "classics". I haven't yet grown the least bit tired of them. I also haven't listened to the obscure/unreleased/album tracks (whatever you want to call them)  enough to grow an appreciation for them as I have the ones I've heard on the radio, etc.  I'm also not tired of the "classics".  In general, I think we, as music listeners, lose appreciation for songs after hearing them 1 million times. We start to listen to some of the other songs a bit more and hear what makes them great so our favorites change.  

When we do this in three more years my list will evolve and include the stuff that's pretty new to me right now. 

sorry about my poor grammar

 
falguy said:
I'm going to be pretty Chalky by the end of this thing.  I still have 18 songs left from my top 25.  😮
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That just means a lot of people share the same favorites as you. There isn't nothing wrong with that. There are some fantastic songs that will be in the Top 25. 

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Mr. krista:  "Pretty good single.  The lyrics are funny to me.  It’s about working it out, but it’s all about hectoring the other people into agreeing with your point of view.  And time will tell you that I’m right.  Those are really bad arguing tactics, Sir Paul.  I still think it’s a really good song; it just makes me laugh.  It’s a song about cooperation, but it’s so not."
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I remember this write up from three years ago and it makes me crack up every time I hear the song now.

 
falguy said:
I'm going to be pretty Chalky by the end of this thing.  I still have 18 songs left from my top 25.  😮

I think, for me at least, being relatively new to Beatlemania I am still loving the "classics". I haven't yet grown the least bit tired of them. I also haven't listened to the obscure/unreleased/album tracks (whatever you want to call them)  enough to grow an appreciation for them as I have the ones I've heard on the radio, etc.  I'm also not tired of the "classics".  In general, I think we, as music listeners, lose appreciation for songs after hearing them 1 million times. We start to listen to some of the other songs a bit more and hear what makes them great so our favorites change.  

When we do this in three more years my list will evolve and include the stuff that's pretty new to me right now. 

sorry about my poor grammar
Click to expand...
I think we’re roughly in the same place on the continuum of Beatle fandom. My tastes runs deeper and deeper as I “discover” new favorites.

 
pecorino said:
My list:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14. Oh! Darling

15

16. Dear Prudence

17. She's Leaving Home

18. For No One

19. Got to Get You Into My Life

20. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away

21

22. If I Fell

23

24. 

25. I Want You (She's So Heavy)
Click to expand...
I'm going to throw down a few dollars on this one for sure.  

One other had top 13 left.  One had top 12 left.  And AAA with 11.  

 
simey said:
That just means a lot of people share the same favorites as you. There isn't nothing wrong with that. There are some fantastic songs that will be in the Top 25. 
Click to expand...
Yeah, like 25 of them 😉

To be clear I don't feel bad about my list.  These are great songs as confirmed by the fact that others voted for them as well.  

 
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