Beatles from worst to first 8 (75-51)

We’re really getting into the greats now. There are bands I like quite a lot who have never made a song as good as any on this list. Some of their most musically interesting songs show up today. Also, going into today, there were 75 songs left, 13 of which were from the White Album. That ratio has been reduced a bit since there are six White Album tracks up today. It’s a great album but it’s not quite that great…

75. And I Love Her from A Hard Day’s Night

I don’t know much about music theory, but my understanding is that a lot of the effect of this song is created by the way it blurs the line between major and minor keys. So bittersweet, so pure. Paul’s voice hovers above this song like a halo, particularly on “bright are the stars that shine…”

74. Hello, Goodbye from Magical Mystery Tour

One of my ABSOLUTE favorites when I was growing up, and it’s been slowly but surely falling ever since. I still love it a lot, but the silliness and simplicity has started to feel a little bit strained. You can call it a loss of innocence or a refinement in taste. Either way, the point is that I just can’t quite make myself suspend my disbelief and accept that Paul has discovered something profound in “You say yes, I say no, you say stop, and I say go, go, go.” Great instrumentation, though. The strings, the guitars, and that outro is pretty fantastic.

73. Can’t Buy Me Love from A Hard Day’s Night

One of Ringo’s finest drumming jobs. The crashing of the cymbals, the underlying beat. It really drives the song. The section of the A Hard Day’s Night movie where this played is almost certainly one of the best music videos ever. Beyond that, the scream before the guitar solo is great, and the solo itself is one of George’s finest. In fact, I can’t think of another one that’s better. The songs just screams energy and excitement. Beatlemania doesn’t seem hard to understand when listening to songs like this.

72. Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey from The White Album

Perhaps the very best all-out rock and roll song they’ve got. This one is a bruiser. There’s that ringing bell just making your whole body move, a crazy drum beat that always sounds like it’s just about to tear away from the rest of the song but never quite does. And, some typically John lyrics, opaque in their simplicity. Great stuff.

71. You Really Got A Hold On Me from With The Beatles

A really great cover of an already fantastic song. As I’ve said, I wish the boys had done more covers of these type of songs and less of the rock/blues stuff. Their talent with harmonizing and arrangements (especially with the presence of George Martin) really adds something special. When they’re all singing together on “I love you and all I want you to do…” it is simply glorious.

70. Lady Madonna from Past Masters, Vol 2

The Beatles generally avoided the saxophone, which I think was a wise choice. It’s such an easy instrument to abuse. But this track is an example of using a sax as it was meant to be used, to bolster a solid rock line, and to add even more energy. You’ll notice that the musical accompaniment is different for almost every section of the song. Different combinations of drums, guitar, bass, sax, piano, and harmonies give it an incredibly textured feel. That, combined with the quick pace, means that I never cease to be amazed that it’s only a little over two minutes long.

69. P.S. I Love You from Please Please Me

Not one of their more sophisticated songs, it basically plays on the same beat with the same chords the whole way. But, for some reason, it just appeals to me very strongly in a way that a lot of their other early songs don’t. I do like the idea that the song itself is the text of the letter and the title is the p.s.

68. Tomorrow Never Knows from Revolver

I don’t even know where to start. While this is by no means my favorite Beatles song, it’s very high on the list of songs I could listen to on repeat for a very long time. No matter how many times I hear it, I find there is always more to uncover. That they put this together with the technology available in 1966 is, frankly, just astonishing. It’s like finding out that the Wright Brothers built their flying machine out of a couple sticks and some saltwater taffy. Some scattered thoughts/sounds: the seagulls, a guitar solo that sounds like it’s being played from some dimension that’s just a bit out of kilter from our own, “listen to the color of your dreams,” and let’s not forget that underneath all of those effects, it’s a pretty darn good rock song.

67. Martha My Dear from The White Album

Yeah, so it’s about Paul’s sheepdog. That’s just fine by me. It’s a very pretty, and fun song, with some long instrumental sections. The background music is quite interesting on this one, with the piano running through the whole way, the brass section, and drums and a bass that are faded in and out in different sections. For a very short and seemingly simple songs, there is a lot of aural variety.

66. Glass Onion from The White Album

John wrote this song mostly to poke fun at everyone who insisted on reading deeply into his nonsense lyrics. Accordingly, he references a number of older songs and introduces a number of new classically bizarre Lennon phrases to dazzle and confuse (“glass onion,” “cast iron shores,” “dove-tail joint”). Musically, it’s one of their more rocking numbers, with some great drumwork and a thumping bass beat.

65. Twist And Shout from Please Please Me

What a performance by John! This is what Paul was hoping to get with his attempt to run his voice ragged before recording “Oh! Darling” but that is nothing compared to what John got here the old-fashioned way. The Isley Brothers original is a classic and a fantastic song, but it pales in comparison to John’s performance. There are a lot of their songs I like more, but I’m not sure there’s another one I would have rather seen them do live.

64. Hey Bulldog from Yellow Submarine

Here we find one of the least-known Beatles songs (if there indeed could be such a thing), since it’s one of the four tracks that only appeared on Yellow Submarine. It’s a shame because it’s not only one of their better songs, it’s also one of their most unique. It would be worth the price of admission if only for the first 13 seconds, You first get the central riff of the song pounded out on the piano. The second time through, the drums and guitar kick in, and the third time the bass and the tambourine (I think) join up. And it all goes boom. The rest of the song is pretty great, too. That bruising riff holds throughout, and there’s the extended outro, with the trademarked fade-out-back-in-fade-out-again. Alan Pollack has a pretty interesting discussion of it here that’s worth reading.

63. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Surely everyone knows the “it is/isn’t about LSD” story, but I’ll summarize just in case… You’ll notice that Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds conveniently translates into the acronym LSD. John has insisted from the very beginning that this was never his intention and that the inspiration for the song came from a picture drawn by John’s son Julian. For all the details, check out the Wikipedia entry.

Given the existence of the picture, the girl named Lucy, and John’s insistence, I’m inclined to believe the story as far as it goes. Still, it doesn’t really mean that much as the song is obviously about LSD regardless of the reasons for choosing the title. As if the lyrics weren’t enough (“tangerine trees and marmalade skies,” “plasticene porters,” “a girl with kaleidoscope eyes,” and so on), the musical soundscape with the harpsichord or whatever it is, the crazy fluttering guitars, and vocals from John that seem to float up out of the ether would be proof enough. Some people swear by Elton John’s cover. Those people clearly have gone off their medication.

62. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) from Rubber Soul

John trying to write an oblique song about an affair and having it be so oblique that no one ever guessed. They were too busy being confused by the suggestion that he was an arsonist. This is their first use of the sitar, and I think it’s a perfect fit. It’s obviously much less authentic than their later attempts, but that’s kind of the charm. It gives the song just the right amount of exotic charm. I’ve always really loved the line “I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me.”

61. Anna (Go To Him) from Please Please Me

The best Beatles song that none of my friends have ever heard. Of all their covers, I think this one might sound the most like a Lennon/McCartney number. The original is nothing spectacular, but it is transformed in the hands of John, who gives one of his very best vocal performances. Lyrics that suggest sadness at the departure of a woman are turned into a firestorm. Any emo band out there would be well-served to listen to this record 10 or 15 times to see how it’s meant to be done. I’d really like to squeeze this one into the top 50, but it just isn’t going to happen.

60. A Hard Day’s Night from A Hard Day’s Night

And here was the magic of the 12-string guitar made clear. That opening chord! The fadeout! The solo! And throughout the song, the guitar and a virtual wall-of-sound brought to life by Ringo and his drums.

59. If I Fell from A Hard Day’s Night

Bonus points here for the very best John/Paul harmony. After the beautiful introduction sets the stage, it’s all harmony from there out. The lyrics reflect the desperate tension of love, between wanting your feelings to have true requited love, but being so afraid of rejection that you are unwilling to give yourself up. And as if all that wasn’t complicated enough, the pain of a failed love and the feeling of devastation at rejection is framing all of that. For a very pretty song, there’s a lot of psychological trauma going on here.

58. Sexy Sadie from The White Album

John wrote this song as a tirade against the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, after discovering that he had tried to sleep with one of the women there. He was convinced to change “Maharishi” to “Sexy Sadie” and to remove the curse words, but it’s still a delightfully vindictive song. Great guitar, too

57. Revolution from Past Masters, Vol 2

I know some folks go the other way on this, but I strongly prefer the single-version to the one on the White Album. The sloppy, loud full-frontal assault of the guitars, Paul’s scream to kick it off, and John’s in-your-face vocals completely define this song for me, to the point where listening to “Revolution 1” kind of weirds me out. I used to wake up to this song every morning, because I knew it would get me revved up for the day.

The lyrics are typically John in their ambiguity. I think it’s pretty powerful to come out with your “political” song and have the basic point be: “we all want to change the world, but I really have no idea how to do it.” He’s not against revolution, but he wants to be convinced that it’s revolution for a purpose, not just for its own sake. I think the lessons of Robespierre and Stalin (to pick a couple) suggest that he may have been onto something. Yes, be political, but don’t think you’ve ever got a stranglehold on the truth, or that those who disagree on tactics are automatically your enemies. As John says: “you say you’ve got a real solution, well you know, we’d all love to see the plan.” I sure would…

56. I’m So Tired from The White Album

This song, more than almost any other I can think of, perfectly evokes the feeling it describes. Raw, angry, bitter, listless, terrified, depressed, on the verge of a breakdown. When John finally lets loose and screams “I’m going insane” it’s an instant of release. The final 20 seconds consist of three repetitions of “I’d give you everything I got for a little piece of mind” over a cacophony of drums and bass in a wonderful heightening and release of the tension.

55. Something from Abbey Road

I know a fair number of people who rank this one #1 and I can’t really say they’re wrong, yet here it is in the 50s. What gives? Well, I’m not sure. I want to put it higher but I just can’t justify moving anything below it. This is an instance where if I were doing the “best” of The Beatles, this would be about 40 spots higher, but all I’m doing is my personal favorites and it just doesn’t quite make it. We all know this is a great song, so I’m not going to get into the details. But one funny story: Frank Sinatra declared “Something” to be one of the greatest love songs of all-time, and regularly sang it in concerts, though (in typical fashion for the perpetually overlooked George) he often referred to it as his favorite Lennon/McCartney song.

54. Paperback Writer from Past Masters, Vol 2

It’s amazing to think that this was only their second song that wasn’t about love. They clearly could write love songs in a lot of different ways without them getting old, but it’s still pretty amazing that it took until Revolver for them to start writing about novelists and taxmen and yellow submarines. I love that this song is written in the form of a letter, in particular that it begins “Dear Sir [or Madam].” I’ve always wondered whether the narrator’s book was actually any good. I have to assume the answer is no, based on the description we get of it. But I still hold out hope that maybe it really is good and he’ll make it big. Musically, this is one of their strongest tracks, with that fantastic bassline and a great lead riff.

53. While My Guitar Gently Weeps from The White Album

In terms of musicianship, everyone is at their best here, from a great piano introduction and fantastic bass-work from Paul to drumming by Ringo that is taut with tension to some nice lead guitar by a fellow named Eric Clapton. I can’t fault the decision to go with this version since it is devastatingly well done and really drives home the feeling of abandonment of ego, and the spiritual emptiness of most people’s lives. Still, it’s almost too much. The sparse, acoustic version on the Anthology suggests that they might have produced a version a bit less depressing. Maybe I’m a fool for wanting a fundamentally dreary song to still be pretty, but that’s just how I feel, and I don’t know that there’s much point in trying to change at this point in my life. As it is, I still love what we ended up with, and can appreciate the artistry that went into it, while still wishing for a little more.

52. Two Of Us from Let It Be

Supposedly a love song from Paul about Linda, and that may very well have been his intention. But let’s face facts. This is about John and Paul, even if only accidentally. I mean, “You and I have memories longer than the road stretches out ahead.” The two of them romping around the town, and eventually finding their way back home, playing games, and living life simply for the joy of it…this is the song where John and Paul say goodbye. The warm harmonies between John and Paul and the acoustic instrumentation only heighten the feeling. I know the atmosphere when they recorded this song can’t have been all fun and games, jokes and smiles. Still, you have to feel that, for at least a few minutes when they recorded this, they remembered just how they cared about each other. Maybe it’s a bit maudlin of me, but so be it.

51. Rock And Roll Music from Beatles For Sale

This is the last cover on the list. Everything in the top 50 is all John, Paul, George, and Ringo. I like Chuck Berry a lot, but I have say that the original of this song just doesn’t, y’know, SOUND like “rock and roll music.” I know my standards now are a lot different than they were 50 years ago when it came out, but only a few years later The Beatles came out with this version which rocks pretty damn hard. Oh, and John has a great voice in case I haven’t mentioned that recently.

All entries:
Beatles from worst to first 11 (the top 10)
Beatles from worst to first 10 (30-11)
Beatles from worst to first 9 (50-31)
Beatles from worst to first: Interlude
Beatles from worst to first 8 (75-51)
Beatles from worst to first 7 (100-76)
Beatles from worst to first 6 (120-101)
Beatles from worst to first 5 (140-121)
Beatles from worst to first 4 (160-141)
Beatles from worst to first 3 (175-161)
Beatles from worst to first 2 (190-176)
Beatles from worst to first 1 (206-191)
Beatles from worst to first: Introduction