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In this thread I rank my favorite Beatles songs: 204-1. (9 Viewers)
- Thread starter krista4
- Start date
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
Leroy Hoard
Footballguy
Maybe it's meant to be separate. Just like what you dream (john) is separate from what is real life (paul).
Ilov80s
Footballguy
krista4
Footballguy
5. And Your Bird Can Sing (Revolver, 1966)
Beatles version: Spotify YouTube
I've bumped Mr. krista's prior post on this song; between that post and his comments below, he covers much of what I have to say about why I love the song, plus some. One thing he doesn't mention is that this has one of those blast starts that I've mentioned in several of my top 25 Beatles songs, immediately launching you into the ride, and the ride remains energetic and ebullient throughout. The vocals, both lead by John and the harmonies from Paul and George, are outstanding. And as Mr. krista references below, the lyrics are fantastic, with plays on words throughout; in addition to the one he mentions, John also cycles through double meanings on the senses of sight ("you can't see me") and hearing ("you can't hear me") to emphasize the absence of understanding and empathy.
Both "She Said She Said" and "Ticket To Ride" have been mentioned as the most Beatle-y Beatles songs, but I'd like to throw this one in the mix for consideration as well. I can't wait to hear @fatguyinalittlecoat rock our faces off by simultaneously playing both George's and Paul's guitar parts!
Mr. krista's earlier comments: "What I love most in rock music is a good riff, though I don’t know how to describe what makes a riff better than other riffs. But that is The Good Riff. [instructs me to use initial caps there] A great riff. Unlike a lot of riffs, it’s ascending, and it goes over two bars. But it’s fuzzy. The tempo is really fast. It’s really tough to play a good riff that fast. The best metal riffs are slowed down. It’s very fast but unhurried. Says a lot about what a great drummer Ringo is. Everything could go off the rails easily, but he keeps it together. While the riff ascends, Lennon’s vocals go down. The lyrics are incredibly good – you’ve seen seven wonders but a total inability to empathize (“but you don’t get me”). Double meaning of “you don’t get me”? It’s like a really happy ####-you song. Gleefully being pissed off. Not explicit but smarter – #### you."
Suggested cover: Not in the same league (how could it be), but adequate: The Jam
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Great choice as a top 5 song. Maybe it’s becoming less underrated? And, yes, that locks down our bet. Very generous of wikkid to offer the field on his bet. Just saved me a hundred bucks. Did I mention that I’m thrilled to see this as #5 (and not #1)?
krista4
Footballguy
You're welcome! I felt bad as soon as I saw that.It seems like it might be getting recognized more. When I first started getting into the Beatles about 20 years ago, this one immediately stood out to be and became one of my favorites, a perch from which it's never fallen. But at the time, it seemed like no one talked about it at all.
Alex P Keaton
Footballguy
Somehow in my childhood, despite being raised by a mother who LOVES music AND the Beatles, a woman who was in college when Revolver was released.......I didn't hear the whole album until college (at the earliest). As such, I've underappreciated it until recent years. My mom still doesn't really know many songs on this album.....so anyway, it's taken me a long time to hear the album enough times that I've developed my own attachment to it.
That said, this was the one song on the album that I immediately loved the first time I heard it. You and Mr k have already explained why it is amazing......including the way it just hits you right out of the gate. I also have a soft spot for songs that are directed toward & written as a personal message for individual people the writer knew. (Example: Dylan and Positively 4th Street) When listening to those types of songs I often think....what is it like to hear a popular song that is basically written about you.....that says essentially "you suck ballz" or "go #### yourself"? And to do that, as a writer and musician, in a way where the song is still amazing for any random person to listen and enjoy it? Unreal.
krista4
Footballguy
Mister CIA
Footballguy
/krəˈSHenˌdō/
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
"And Your Bird Can Sing" did not make my top 70.
Do I like it? Sure.
Are there probably 70 more songs above my top 70 that I like better? Yeah.
It's just like, my opinion man.
It's all good, but it wouldn't be any fun if we all agreed.
Do I like it? Sure.
Are there probably 70 more songs above my top 70 that I like better? Yeah.
It's just like, my opinion man.
It's all good, but it wouldn't be any fun if we all agreed.
Kilgore Trout
Footballguy
Most of my childhood exposure to the Beatles was the red and blue compilation albums. Other than an overzealous friend who insisted everything John did on the White album was gold, I really didn't get the Beatles album experience until well into adulthood. But yes, when I finally got around to Revolver, it was a revelation (and the red album only had two tracks on it from Revolver, one of those being Yellow Submarine). And another aside, some record exec in America listened to this album when it came out and decided to omit And Your Bird Can Sing from it. I hope he lost his job, or at least got his hearing fixed.
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Ted Lange as your Bartender
Footballguy
Have to come in with another Anthology cut for this. They lose it pretty quick in this and it delolves into hysterics but I really enjoy how much they seem to be enjoying themselves. George was quoted as saying how much he enjoyed the Revolver sessions and you can hear that that’s the case (or it’s because of the pot, either way...)
DocHolliday
Footballguy
And Your Bird Can Sing is a great song off of an outstanding album. But, even though it is a rocker, it isn't in my top 25. As always K is full of surprises.
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
pecorino & i discussed it yesterday and we would like the bet to be paid to a charity of krista's choice.
ETA: congrats, sheepcheese
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krista4
Footballguy
Aw, that is so kind of you guys. Let's send it to the Boys & Girls Club, either the national org or one near you. My dad was pretty much solely responsible for getting one built in the town where I grew up, doing all the organization and fundraising, and as a result the club was named after him. I served on the board of the Memphis chapter for a bit while I lived there, too. Great organization that, in addition to all the good works they do, fundraises and spends wisely.
ETA: Or if you prefer, The Innocence Project. I got to know them well when they helped me on my pro bono death penalty case, and are also a worthy organization for their work and the way they use their funds.
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Sconch
Footballguy
DA RAIDERS
Footballguy
zamboni
Footballguy
Agreed. Way earlier in the thread we were discussing best harmonies by the Beatles. I considered Nowhere Man a slight notch above all the other great harmonies, but to me “Norwegian Wood” are right there, too.
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heckmanm
Footballguy
heckmanm
Footballguy
I'm using this as my excuse for my lack of familiarity with the song prior to this thread.
heckmanm
Footballguy
New leader in the clubhouse: Revolver (with a bullet, if you will)
Please Please Me 35 202 131 147
With the Beatles 12 194 140 149
A Hard Day’s Night 23 161 82 72
Beatles for Sale 56 185 137 149
Revolver 5 159 58 48
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 6 165 92 89
Magical Mystery Tour 44 197 143 160
The Beatles (aka White Album) 10 204 114 120
Yellow Submarine 31 171 114 127
Singles, etc. 9 198 98 99
Remaining: 1 each from Help!, Rubber Soul, Abbey Road, Let it Be
Please Please Me 35 202 131 147
With the Beatles 12 194 140 149
A Hard Day’s Night 23 161 82 72
Beatles for Sale 56 185 137 149
Revolver 5 159 58 48
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 6 165 92 89
Magical Mystery Tour 44 197 143 160
The Beatles (aka White Album) 10 204 114 120
Yellow Submarine 31 171 114 127
Singles, etc. 9 198 98 99
Remaining: 1 each from Help!, Rubber Soul, Abbey Road, Let it Be
Leroy Hoard
Footballguy
Because is another song where the vocals are recorded perfectly. They cheated by triple tracking John, Paul, and George to get 9 voices.
Nigel Tufnel
Footballguy
ScottNorwood
Footballcutie
She is actually doing it. The absolute madwoman is going to finish this.
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rockaction
Footballguy
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
ScottNorwood
Footballcutie
Nick Vermeil
Footballguy
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
Alex P Keaton
Footballguy
Ilov80s
Footballguy
Shaft41
Footballguy
Commenting on a few of the latest:
- my memories of the Beatles when I was a kid were mainly thinking "Hey Jude" was awesome when it came on the radio, because it was so much longer than all the other songs and it was a great sing-along to belt out at the top of your lungs and annoy your parents and thinking the cover of the Rubber Soul and Revolver albums were the weirdest things ever. I distinctly remember my mom owning Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's. When I could be bothered to turn off my Thomas Dolby, Kajagoogoo and Oxo 45s, we would throw those albums onto the giant cabinet record-player stereo we had in our family room. We tended to favor Rubber Soul, and the two songs I remember listening to the most, and thusly I grew up associating them as a pair with each other, were "Michelle" (what up, #111!) and "Norwegian Wood". Those must have been our favorites, because I don't distinctly remember listening to any other songs on the album, although I'm sure we did. We would cue those two up over and over, and then after awhile, switch over to Barry Manilow's "Copacabana" or "Hooked on Classics." "Norwegian Wood" didn't rank in my top 25, but it probably would if I did it today.
- our favorite on Pepper was undoubtedly "A Day in the Life". The more we listened to it and once I started taking piano lessons, the more I was in awe of the final chord. I remember my brother and I would take out our Casio watches and start timing the instant they hit that final chord. We would slowly turn the sound up on the stereo incrementally as the chord continued so we could still make it out, so we could time how long you could actually keep hearing it. We would then inevitably argue over how long it actually could be heard once we got the stereo up to full volume, futilely trying to make out the last vestiges of that wondrous sound. As others have noted, that transition from Paul saying "went into a dream" and then John dreamily firing up the "AAAHH, AAHH, AAHH, AAHHs" is one of the top 13 things the Beatles ever did in any of their songs.
- we rarely put "Revolver" on, which I feel was a missed opportunity. I can only assume my mom kept that one out of our hands because she was afraid we would try and color in the cover with crayons or something.
- my later years as my tastes diversified, I really only had and listened to the Blue and Red compilations, and spent my time trying to figure out why "Old Brown Shoe" was on the blue.
- my memories of the Beatles when I was a kid were mainly thinking "Hey Jude" was awesome when it came on the radio, because it was so much longer than all the other songs and it was a great sing-along to belt out at the top of your lungs and annoy your parents and thinking the cover of the Rubber Soul and Revolver albums were the weirdest things ever. I distinctly remember my mom owning Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's. When I could be bothered to turn off my Thomas Dolby, Kajagoogoo and Oxo 45s, we would throw those albums onto the giant cabinet record-player stereo we had in our family room. We tended to favor Rubber Soul, and the two songs I remember listening to the most, and thusly I grew up associating them as a pair with each other, were "Michelle" (what up, #111!) and "Norwegian Wood". Those must have been our favorites, because I don't distinctly remember listening to any other songs on the album, although I'm sure we did. We would cue those two up over and over, and then after awhile, switch over to Barry Manilow's "Copacabana" or "Hooked on Classics." "Norwegian Wood" didn't rank in my top 25, but it probably would if I did it today.
- our favorite on Pepper was undoubtedly "A Day in the Life". The more we listened to it and once I started taking piano lessons, the more I was in awe of the final chord. I remember my brother and I would take out our Casio watches and start timing the instant they hit that final chord. We would slowly turn the sound up on the stereo incrementally as the chord continued so we could still make it out, so we could time how long you could actually keep hearing it. We would then inevitably argue over how long it actually could be heard once we got the stereo up to full volume, futilely trying to make out the last vestiges of that wondrous sound. As others have noted, that transition from Paul saying "went into a dream" and then John dreamily firing up the "AAAHH, AAHH, AAHH, AAHHs" is one of the top 13 things the Beatles ever did in any of their songs.
- we rarely put "Revolver" on, which I feel was a missed opportunity. I can only assume my mom kept that one out of our hands because she was afraid we would try and color in the cover with crayons or something.
- my later years as my tastes diversified, I really only had and listened to the Blue and Red compilations, and spent my time trying to figure out why "Old Brown Shoe" was on the blue.
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wikkidpissah
Footballguy
$100 has been donated to the Human Fu........i mean, the Greater Memphis chapter of the Boys & Girls Club. I should know better than to play with my Revolver when i don't have to....
Redwes25
Footballguy
I like the Junior Parker version but SRV did what I think is the best cover of this song using the guitar in a way only he could.
ETA - I forgot the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNDYArDUgSg
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simey
Footballguy
This probably sounds weird, but it is one of those random things I associate a song with, and I always think of it whenever the climax builds up to the final chord. One time in college, a bunch of us were hanging out late at night, and A Day In A Life was on. The climax with the orchestra had started, and I looked over to the hallway, and one of my friends was standing there in the entrance. All you could see was the silhouette of his body. He is really tall. His legs were standing perfectly straight, and I could see his body slowly swaying back and forth to the climax playing, and when the final chord was hit, he slumped over with his long hair hanging, and his arms dangling. He stood that way for about 7 seconds or so, and then he raised back up. I remember weird stuff. Does that mean I'm weird?
rockaction
Footballguy
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
One last word about A Day in the Life.
Ever since hearing @Shaft41's daughter's remarkable cover of Let It Be and commenting that an old musician friend said the key to a good cover was finding the hinges in a song, i've been thinking about that word. That's what makes A Day in the Life so momentous - it's the hinge upon which the world of modern music turns.
Up to that point it was all about influences. Blues, Woody Guthrie, Satchmo, Elvis, skiffle, Berry, R&B, Li'l Richard, Dylan, folk, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, whatever. The village that the Lonely Hearts Club Band played to & about was all we lonely people and where music do come from. Day in the Life capped it by being first aspirational, then conversational, then invitational. "We can be this common and we can be this grand and it will all add up to something mad & wonderful, you'll see. Pick up your voice and join in!" And that note, that daring and daring note, said "next?" and music was ours. After all the influences, what we were finally making was us, ours. I can make anything sound like The Wizard of Oz - that's pretty much all i can do. But i think that's it. Dunnnnnnnnnnnnhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Ever since hearing @Shaft41's daughter's remarkable cover of Let It Be and commenting that an old musician friend said the key to a good cover was finding the hinges in a song, i've been thinking about that word. That's what makes A Day in the Life so momentous - it's the hinge upon which the world of modern music turns.
Up to that point it was all about influences. Blues, Woody Guthrie, Satchmo, Elvis, skiffle, Berry, R&B, Li'l Richard, Dylan, folk, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, whatever. The village that the Lonely Hearts Club Band played to & about was all we lonely people and where music do come from. Day in the Life capped it by being first aspirational, then conversational, then invitational. "We can be this common and we can be this grand and it will all add up to something mad & wonderful, you'll see. Pick up your voice and join in!" And that note, that daring and daring note, said "next?" and music was ours. After all the influences, what we were finally making was us, ours. I can make anything sound like The Wizard of Oz - that's pretty much all i can do. But i think that's it. Dunnnnnnnnnnnnhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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Shaft41
Footballguy
Holy cow, this is beautiful. I love that this thread, along with the appreciation for the music itself, is also giving me a new paradigm into which to think about music, and not just the Beatles. When I told my wife and daughter what you said about her finding the hinges in "Let It Be", we had a great discussion of what that exactly meant, and your comments put the biggest smile on her face. I've been meaning to tell you that. I thank all of you for encouraging her in a time where that doesn't always happen.
munga30
Checkin' my email
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worrierking
Footballguy
While we are talking about that last note of A Day in the Life, I think it's appropriate for me to mention these guys for the first time in the thread.
The Rutles
The Rutles
