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In this thread I rank my favorite Beatles songs: 204-1. (5 Viewers)

120.  Lady Madonna (single, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

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

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

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

 
wikkidpissah said:
It's interesting - i dont know if you would love the Beatles as much or more if you were old enough to have heard their work contemporarily and, since you're loving them so wonderfully for all of us, i don't wanna know. But these are two songs that play differently if you were "there".

For the first, because right-wing media and pundithood in general has sullied its name, polemics are now a dirty word when they were quite the opposite back in the day when the extreme left was the overpowering noise of the era. Snarky was how inroads were made, words remembered, and savaging individuals got true purchase for those advancing an unpopular cause. That Lennon - an excellent if unorthodox, polemicist - targeted a darling of counterculture, something the left is still more sensitive about than the right - gave truth a better name.

Glass Onion as low as #121 on any list but "digestible vegetables" seems wrong but, again, you weren't there to feel how manic Beatlemania was. John took his fame more to heart than the others anyway and, when he commented on it with "bigger than Jesus", the misinterpretation of the quote got 121x bigger than the phenomenon he was addressing. That's unprecedented stuff, so the chance to play with the "Paul is dead" hysteria as a followup comment on their fame was juicier than,say, if Peter Dinklage decimated GoT on SNL or the Louis CK bit on his misdeeds those who loved him before he was outed need to hear from him. Too much for a writer to resist and pretty well done, actually, even if one hasn't a taste for it.
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All good stuff, and getting a Peter Dinklage reference in any post gets an A+ from me.   :)   One small quibble:  the "Paul is dead" hysteria didn't start until 1969, after this had been recorded and released.  But I might be misreading what you're saying on that.

 
krista4 said:
120.  Lady Madonna (single, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

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

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

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

 
krista4 said:
All good stuff, and getting a Peter Dinklage reference in any post gets an A+ from me.   :)   One small quibble:  the "Paul is dead" hysteria didn't start until 1969, after this had been recorded and released.  But I might be misreading what you're saying on that.
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My bad. Playing into it, if that was the case, then, or the self-referential stuff in any extent. I'm a man, after all, and can't be wrong. And you didn't even say anything about my vegetable joke... *pout*

 
wikkidpissah said:
My bad. Playing into it, if that was the case, then, or the self-referential stuff in any extent. I'm a man, after all, and can't be wrong. And you didn't even say anything about my vegetable joke... *pout*
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Your overall point still stands and isn’t lost on me.  Our difference might be that I don’t find his references playful so much as mean.  I’ve probably read too much about what a nearly psycho such-and-such he was during this period.  And it’s harder to “forgive” when it was directed at fans, which I expect I would have been if I’d been a sentient being at the time.

If I commented on each of your excellent jokes, herbaceous or otherwise, I wouldn’t have time to hold down a job. ;)  

 
krista4 said:
120.  Lady Madonna (single, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

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

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

Suggested covers:  Fats Domino.  Junior Parker.  Since we had a Beatles cover of a Buck Owens song earlier, seems fair to post the Buck Owens cover of this one.  I think Paul sounds like Elvis in this vocal, so I'll also post Elvis stumbling all over it.
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This one might be top 25 for me, if only because 12 year old me had a stunning musical awakening listening to the Hey Jude album about 25 times over the course of a family vacation week in the Berkshires.  I swore the brahpbrahpbrahpbrahp were The Muppets Chickens.  But I can see where you're coming from.  I seem to recognize it regularly when I consider introducing songs from "my music" to my 14 year old daughter.  

 
munga30 said:
This one might be top 25 for me, if only because 12 year old me had a stunning musical awakening listening to the Hey Jude album about 25 times over the course of a family vacation week in the Berkshires.  I swore the brahpbrahpbrahpbrahp were The Muppets Chickens.  But I can see where you're coming from.  I seem to recognize it regularly when I consider introducing songs from "my music" to my 14 year old daughter.  
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Oh god I love the Muppets chickens!   :lol:  

 
OK, I lied....

A tiny bit under the weather and not working today.

There are 39 songs on the Composite List from the first two Top 25's submitted.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
Knee is back to 80%, so I've been back to work after 7 weeks of no weight at all on my left leg.

So, I ran this idea by Krista this morning and she told me to give it a shot....


So here goes:
1) Anyone that wants to can give me their TOP 25 Rankings via PM.  Give it to me now, give it to me before Krista picks her #25.   I'm not going to look at anyone's list and start compiling them until Krista gets to #30. ( I lied, spreadsheet is all set up)

2) I will put them all on a google spreadsheet and do a composite ranking of everyone's picks.
Your #25 gets 1 point.  #24 gets 2 points, #1 gets 25 points.

3) After Krista reveals her #25, I will then post everyone's #25 in a following post and post updated standings after every pick until we get to #1. Krista's picks will be part of the composite total also.  (this is going to be very cool)

My guess is we get 40-50 songs on the list.  (I'm know thinking we wind up with 65-80)  It would be awesome if we could get at least ten to do this.  I think it will be awesome to see everyone's lists as a countdown also. 
If there is a huge pushback against doing 25 songs, we could do less, but let's shoot for 25 please. 
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krista4 said:
I :heart:  this idea.  I have some ideas of what I think will be at the top, based on some of the posts here, but very much want to see how this shakes out.  Hope people can do it!  Several have posted a top 10 or so already so it's not that much more...
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Uruk-Hai said:
Wow

Would you mind posting again how this works? 
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Yankee23Fan said:
What's this now?
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Ok, so we're doing a composite "favorite Beatles record" among those who submit Top 25s. Not a points-comparison against krista's list, right?

 
Uruk-Hai said:
Ok, so we're doing a composite "favorite Beatles record" among those who submit Top 25s. Not a points-comparison against krista's list, right?
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A composite of those that submit Top 25 lists.   Krista's list will be in the composite.  This isn't a comparison and I hope no one goes there with that.

And I just received a 3rd Top 25 list.

 
Getzlaf15 said:
A composite of those that submit Top 25 lists.   Krista's list will be in the composite.  This isn't a comparison and I hope no one goes there with that.

And I just received a 3rd Top 25 list.
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Thanks, G15. I'll get you mine this weekend.

Theoretically, my top 25 could all be songs krista has already listed and it wouldn't screw this up.

 
Uruk-Hai said:
Theoretically, my top 25 could all be songs krista has already listed and it wouldn't screw this up.
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correct.  

and...  3 lists in....  46 songs on the composite .   :lmao:

When all done, I'll post a list by points, and then a list with # of times a song was on a top 25.

 
Leroy Hoard said:
I like Glass Onion a lot, one of the catchier dittys on the white album. And don't worry, I am not planning on linking that female jazz singer doing her sit down version of it.
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I like Glass Onion a lot as well.   It's one of the songs that I don't skip on the album.   Lady Madonna is in my top 75 for sure.  I have loved that song from the first time that I heard it.   

Krista is very difficult to predict.   

 
I've had three other songs written up here and changed my mind.

119.  Don't Pass Me By (White Album, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

I might be the only person in the world who loves this song, and I'll admit that it took me a long while to appreciate it as well.  I dunno, maybe Ringo's mom did at the time or something.  The song lacks coherent structure, it meanders, and the lyrics aren't compelling.  For a long time I considered this song "plodding," and I guess I still do.  My love for this is 100% about the violin parts.  They are all off-kilter and almost disturbing to listen to, which makes me so intrigued that it's all I hear.  I'd love an entire album just of that violin.  It doesn't even sound like part of the song, as if the guy were wandering around playing something else entirely.  This is a song for which my enjoyment builds every time I listen.  That ####### violin. What is he doing?

Mr. krista:  [In response to plodding comment.]  "It’s great.  I love plodding.  It’s a marching song!  Who gives a ####, that’s a mint jam."

Suggested cover:  Sounds like an entirely different song and is missing my favorite meandering violin, but I like this one by the Georgia Satellites anyway.

 
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krista4 said:
I've had three other songs written up here and changed my mind.

119.  Don't Pass Me By (White Album, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

I might be the only person in the world who loves this song, and I'll admit that it took me a long while to appreciate it as well.  I dunno, maybe Ringo's mom did at the time or something.  The song lacks coherent structure, it meanders, and the lyrics aren't compelling.  For a long time I considered this song "plodding," and I guess I still do.  My love for this is 100% about the violin parts.  They are all off-kilter and almost disturbing to listen to, which makes me so intrigued that it's all I hear.  I'd love an entire album just of that violin.  It doesn't even sound like part of the song, as if the guy were wandering around playing something else entirely.  This is a song for which my enjoyment builds every time I listen.  That ####### violin. What is he doing?

Mr. krista:  [In response to plodding comment.]  "It’s great.  I love plodding.  It’s a marching song!  Who gives a ####, that’s a mint jam."

Suggested cover:  Sounds like an entirely different song and is missing my favorite meandering violin, but I like this one by the Georgia Satellites anyway.
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Was never a fan of this one and would definitely be in the bottom 25 or 30 but maybe a little higher since it was Ringo's first composition.     Some of the "Paul is dead" crowd assumed the line "you were in a car crash, and you lost your hair"   was about Paul's death.

 
krista4 said:
I've had three other songs written up here and changed my mind.

119.  Don't Pass Me By (White Album, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

I might be the only person in the world who loves this song, and I'll admit that it took me a long while to appreciate it as well.  I dunno, maybe Ringo's mom did at the time or something.  The song lacks coherent structure, it meanders, and the lyrics aren't compelling.  For a long time I considered this song "plodding," and I guess I still do.  My love for this is 100% about the violin parts.  They are all off-kilter and almost disturbing to listen to, which makes me so intrigued that it's all I hear.  I'd love an entire album just of that violin.  It doesn't even sound like part of the song, as if the guy were wandering around playing something else entirely.  This is a song for which my enjoyment builds every time I listen.  That ####### violin. What is he doing?

Mr. krista:  [In response to plodding comment.]  "It’s great.  I love plodding.  It’s a marching song!  Who gives a ####, that’s a mint jam."

Suggested cover:  Sounds like an entirely different song and is missing my favorite meandering violin, but I like this one by the Georgia Satellites anyway.
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Well it's about time you listed this clunker. I pass it by every time I listen to the white album. 😖

 
Yankee23Fan said:
Sent.  I could probably change it 50 gazillion times, but having said that the top 3 will never change.
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I made a list that ended up with about 50 songs on it, with about 7 flagged as top ten material, and another 7~8 flagged as top 20.   After those it was a total crapshoot.  Definitely some songs crept in there for balance.

 
118.  Dig a Pony (Let It Be, 1970)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

Speaking of the rooftop concert (well, we were yesterday)...the take used on Let It Be was the live version from that concert.  The "false start" at the beginning was because Ringo wasn't ready - he had only one drumstick, with a cigarette in the other hand - but then the song kicks in ferociously with that fantastic hook.  It's another where my ranking is likely higher than where most people would put it, and that's A-OK since this is my damn list.  This song suffers from some non-sensical lyrics, but I've never understood why that's all right for "Come Together" or "I Am the Walrus" but criticized in this one.  Taking out the nonsense lyrics, I love pretty much everything else about this song, including George's guitar work, Ringo's fills, and especially Billy Preston on electric piano.  Any track with Billy Preston on it is automatically bumped up ten slots.  It's another terrific John vocal with a stunning amount of emotion, and the transitions are marvelous, reaching their peak IMO with the "beeeecause" near the end.

Mr. krista:  "I dig Dig a Pony.  I like the lyrics a lot.  That being nonsense that almost means something.  The music’s great.  I love how all of it sounds really good.  Like a plain Jane recording showing off what a great band they are.  Not a bunch of studio ####ery.  Just a great rock band."

Suggested cover:  St. Vincent

 
krista4 said:
120.  Lady Madonna (single, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

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

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

Suggested covers:  Fats Domino.  Junior Parker.  Since we had a Beatles cover of a Buck Owens song earlier, seems fair to post the Buck Owens cover of this one.  I think Paul sounds like Elvis in this vocal, so I'll also post Elvis stumbling all over it.
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I like Lady Madonna quite a bit but I think the 50s throwback style wasn't well received at the time.  It only made #4 in the charts which for any other band would have been a smash hit but it was considered a flop for the Beatles.

 
krista4 said:
120.  Lady Madonna (single, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

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

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

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

 
krista4 said:
118.  Dig a Pony (Let It Be, 1970)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

Speaking of the rooftop concert (well, we were yesterday)...the take used on Let It Be was the live version from that concert.  The "false start" at the beginning was because Ringo wasn't ready - he had only one drumstick, with a cigarette in the other hand - but then the song kicks in ferociously with that fantastic hook.  It's another where my ranking is likely higher than where most people would put it, and that's A-OK since this is my damn list.  This song suffers from some non-sensical lyrics, but I've never understood why that's all right for "Come Together" or "I Am the Walrus" but criticized in this one.  Taking out the nonsense lyrics, I love pretty much everything else about this song, including George's guitar work, Ringo's fills, and especially Billy Preston on electric piano.  Any track with Billy Preston on it is automatically bumped up ten slots.  It's another terrific John vocal with a stunning amount of emotion, and the transitions are marvelous, reaching their peak IMO with the "beeeecause" near the end.

Mr. krista:  "I dig Dig a Pony.  I like the lyrics a lot.  That being nonsense that almost means something.  The music’s great.  I love how all of it sounds really good.  Like a plain Jane recording showing off what a great band they are.  Not a bunch of studio ####ery.  Just a great rock band."

Suggested cover:  St. Vincent
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Great song.  Curiously Phil Spector edited out the "All I want is you" intro and outro.  I thought for sure it would be included on the Let it Be, Naked LP but it was edited out as well.  I was a little disappointed cause I always dug it (pun intended).

 
This is tough.  I have 15 songs before I get to the top half, and I look at the rest and don't think more than a couple of them "deserve" to be in the bottom half even though I have them listed there.  Guess I know how you guys with 100 songs that are "definitely in my top 20" feel.  I'm going to work out for a while and think about it some more.

 
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krista4 said:
This is tough.  I have 15 songs before I get to the top half, and I look at the rest and don't think more than a couple of them "deserve" to be in the bottom half even though I have them listed there.  Guess I know how you guys with 100 songs that are "definitely in my top 20" feel.  I'm going to work out for a while and think about it some more.
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My crappy little list of 30-40 changes every time I look at it.  I can't even get to a settled top 30.

And forget about trying to provide reasons behind ranking those 30.  I just close it down for a couple of hours and go back ...move a few around on how I'm feeling at the moment.  

I'm not built for this.  

 
Lady Madonna is so awesome. Dig a Pony might be even better. This list has turned into a train wreck. 

I still remember that your greatest movie of all time turned about to be some 2 hour Italian art film about a donkey. I don’t know but I’m starring to sense a pattern here. Is your number one song going to be some b side nobody’s ever heard of? Maybe some Yoko chant? Wouldn’t surprise me at this point. 

 
Dr. Octopus said:
I was all ready to post this cover when this song finally appeared in your countdown.
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I'll sheepishly admit that I thought I got this from you, but then questioned myself and thought it could have been DocHolliday because I just had "Doc" written down.  Think you posted it in the tim thread?  Anyway, thank you for that - it's not only great but saved my having to dig around for a cover on that one.

timschochet said:
Lady Madonna is so awesome. Dig a Pony might be even better. This list has turned into a train wreck. 

I still remember that your greatest movie of all time turned about to be some 2 hour Italian art film about a donkey. I don’t know but I’m starring to sense a pattern here. Is your number one song going to be some b side nobody’s ever heard of? Maybe some Yoko chant? Wouldn’t surprise me at this point. 
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If tim doesn't like the list, then I'm confident I'm doing things right.   :)

And it was a French film about a donkey.  And my favorite movie is not that one - it's a German art film about a circus.

 
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117.  I Will (White Album, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

Beautiful and hummable, stuck-in-your-head song with a fabulous guitar line from Paul that sounds more George-like than George does.  Readers of my first post in this thread, which is none of you, will note my statement that I'm not sentimental or sappy.  As a result, this lovely song from the Paul McCartney automatic-song-generator gets high points for all of that plus its absolutely gorgeous harmonies but is docked compared to other songs due to its hokey lyrics:

Love you forever and forever
Love you with all my heart
Love you whenever we're together
Love you when we're apart.

:X  

Mr. krista:  "THAT sounds like a song that was written in 1964.  It’s a lovely little Beatles tune.  They were in India when he wrote it so they were probably feeling particularly decent.  McCartney is best when he seems vulnerable."

Suggested cover:  Allison Krauss holy hell

 
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timschochet said:
Lady Madonna is so awesome. Dig a Pony might be even better. This list has turned into a train wreck. 

I still remember that your greatest movie of all time turned about to be some 2 hour Italian art film about a donkey. I don’t know but I’m starring to sense a pattern here. Is your number one song going to be some b side nobody’s ever heard of? Maybe some Yoko chant? Wouldn’t surprise me at this point. 
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It would be good shtick if Krista is playing the long con and names Rocky Raccoon #1 just to watch everyone here lose their minds.

 
krista4 said:
117.  I Will (White Album, 1968)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

Beautiful and hummable, stuck-in-your-head song with a fabulous guitar line from Paul that sounds more George-like than George does.  Readers of my first post in this thread, which is none of you, will note my statement that I'm not sentimental or sappy.  As a result, this lovely song from the Paul McCartney automatic-song-generator gets high points for all of that plus its absolutely gorgeous harmonies but is docked compared to other songs due to its hokey lyrics:

Love you forever and forever
Love you with all my heart
Love you whenever we're together
Love you when we're apart.

:X  

Mr. krista:  "THAT sounds like a song that was written in 1964.  It’s a lovely little Beatles tune.  They were in India when he wrote it so they were probably feeling particularly decent.  McCartney is best when he seems vulnerable."

Suggested cover:  Allison Krauss holy hell
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One of my favorites off of The White Album. Love Paul's guitar on this one! Interesting that George was not part of this recording.

I'm also shocked at the following:

In the mind of Charles Manson, this song was a message from the Beatles that they were looking for him:

For if at last I find you
Your song will fill the air

Manson took to mean that he should release an album. This along with many others were part of his deranged Helter Skelter plan.

 
Spock said:
One of my favorites off of The White Album. Love Paul's guitar on this one! Interesting that George was not part of this recording.

I'm also shocked at the following:

In the mind of Charles Manson, this song was a message from the Beatles that they were looking for him:

For if at last I find you
Your song will fill the air

Manson took to mean that he should release an album. This along with many others were part of his deranged Helter Skelter plan.
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I didn't know this.   :shock:  

 
116.  Yellow Submarine (Revolver, 1966)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

Mr. krista:  "Did they have a budget to bring in a marching band? I love this part, too.  The bubbles, the guy’s voice, like a vaudevillian or carnival barker type thing.  Silly.  I ####### LOVE IT.  It’s obviously not the best Beatles song or the best song on the record, obviously. But its inclusion is great.  It’s a kids’ song.  The soundscapes, and what self-important mother####ers would call musique concrète that people use to evoke mood.  They get to experiment with all that, but with this unserious purpose that’s pure joy and fun.  They get to create this underwater world that’s sailing to the sun in a submarine or whatever.  In the late 90s, etc., all these bands came out with the kind of kitchen sink recordings, I’m thinking specifically of Neutral Milk Hotel, who were more like recording projects rather than bands.  Who made basically a bunch of Yellow Submarine songs that were pure nonsense and 1/10 of the fun.  They’re considered now like a classic album, but it’s Yellow Submarine, man.  It’s Ringo.  It’s self-important, joyless, Yellow Submarine.  But it’s not fun and you wouldn’t let your children listen to it."

Suggested cover:  Making an exception to my "no foreign-language versions" rule for Maurice Chevalier.  I don't know what They Might Be Giants are doing here, but I often don't, to my delight.

115.  Octopus's Garden (Abbey Road, 1969)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

Mr. krista:  "It’s really funny, it’s like the second song Ringo ever wrote.  It’s a great song; it’s fun; it’s so simple.  You hear these psycho-dramas of Paul McCartney, like Eleanor Rigby, etc., and he’s just like 'I want to be in an octopus’s garden.'  It’s not as trite as the faux-vaudeville stuff McCartney does."

Suggested covers:   I don't know who Jeffrey Lewis is, but I like his take on it.  And of course, the Muppets, with octopus on bongos.

Two kids' songs sung by Ringo, and though I love them both, I give "Octopus's Garden" the slight nod not because of anything musically, but because if I were going to visit somewhere, I'd like it to be the octopus's garden.  In fact, Ringo does a masterful job of making this underwater abode appealing that I'd kind of like to buy a house there.  I don't care what anyone says:  I love "Octopus's Garden."  Love the vocal, with Geoff Emerick "feeding the vocals into a compressor and triggering it from a pulsing tone" that gave the middle an "underwater" sound.  Love octopi.  Love the visual imagery.  Love George's Stratocaster running through the Leslie speaker and his run of notes at the beginning.  Love the under-the-sea bubble-blowing doo-***-y quality.  

"Octopus's Garden" was written by Ringo during the time during the White Album sessions that he had stormed off and quit the band.  He and his family traveled to Sardinia on Peter Sellers's yacht, and while out for the day Ringo was served octopus for the first time (he'd expected fish and chips) and started asking the captain all about octopi and their habits.  Per Ringo:  "He told me that they hang out in their caves and they go around the seabed finding shiny stones and tin cans and bottles to put in front of their cave like a garden.  I thought this was fabulous, because at the time I just wanted to be under the sea, too."  Then he got the telegram begging him to come back to the band, but in the meantime you can see in the lyrics he wrote how much he desired to escape the band's tension at the time; for instance, "We would be warm below the storm, in our little hideaway beneath the waves."  George assisted quite a lot and was a big fan of this song, imbuing the lyrics with a deeper meaning about consciousness and peacefulness than Ringo probably thought he was writing.

"Yellow Submarine" is just irresistible, with its whooshing of the waves, its cocktail party chatter, John blowing bubbles, Brian Jones clinking glasses, and of course that marching band bit. It was a perfect goofy song to give to always-affable Ringo, and the band seemed to have a great time with it when not under the watchful eyes of George Martin, who was at home sick the day the recording began.  On the second night of recording they were joined by Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Marianne Faithfull, Patti Harrison, and others, who proceeded to form what Emerick called a "whole marijuana-influenced scene...completely zany, straight out of a Marx Brothers movie."  The group played any instruments or other sound effects they could find, from bells to whistles to gongs to the aforementioned wine glasses, while John became obsessed with getting the sound of him actually singing underwater.  After singing while gurgling didn't work, he lobbied for a tank to be brought in into which he could be submerged.  Instead, Emerick convinced him to try singing through a mic that was submerged, and the team dispatched to find first a milk bottle that was filled with water, and then something the mic could be put into to protect during submersion.  The roadie Mal Evans eventually came up with it - a condom!  John was delighted and remarked that this was brilliant because they wouldn't want the mic to get "in a family way."  Unfortunately, the idea didn't work as the sound became too muffled and wasn't usable, but the anecdote shows how much fun this recording was.  Full steam ahead! 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
krista4 said:
116.  Yellow Submarine (Revolver, 1966)

Neutral Milk Hotel, who were more like recording projects rather than bands. 

 I don't know what They Might Be Giants are doing here, but I often don't, to my delight.

115.  Octopus's Garden (Abbey Road, 1969)

Beatles version:  Spotify  YouTube

Mr. krista:  "It’s really funny, it’s like the second song Ringo ever wrote.  It’s a great song; it’s fun; it’s so simple.  You hear these psycho-dramas of Paul McCartney, like Eleanor Rigby, etc., and he’s just like 'I want to be in an octopus’s garden.'  It’s not as trite as the faux-vaudeville stuff McCartney does."

Suggested covers:   I don't know who Jeffrey Lewis is, but I like his take on it.  And of course, the Muppets, with octopus on bongos.
Click to expand...
Aw, Neutral Milk Hotel is cool, even by me. I love ITAOTS.  

Love TMBG. One of my favorite bands ever, for some reason.  

The Muppets make an appearance?  :eek:

Yay!  

That was awesome. Piggy as a mermaid? Hwarf. We even got a Statler (?sp) and Waldorf comment.  

Nice post, krista4. There's a lot of thought going into these. 

 
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