Top 10 lists are always a popular way to waste time. I was recently asked what my Top 10 Beatles songs were. It's surprisingly difficult to come up with one. A Top 20 list would prove to be no problem whatsoever, but the culling necessary to generate a Top 10 has proven frustrating. What do I include? What do I exclude and why?
I'm not interested in being "too cool for the room" nor do I feel compelled to honor consensus and select those songs which have had much critical acclaim over the years. I am simply selecting those songs which, if they were the only ten songs by The Beatles I would ever hear again, I would not feel left wanting.
However, what I have not been able to do is order these songs. I could try, but I'm not sure what it would accomplish. I like songs for different reasons so they don't necessarily compare. This doesn't stop me from saying that "You Won't See Me" is my favorite Beatles song, but the rest of the list isn't about that. So, after the aforementioned song, the nine songs which follow will be listed simply in alphabetical order rather than in any kind of order of superiority that is generally implied in Top 10 listings.
--- MY TOP 10 BEATLES SONGS ---
You Won't See Me (Rubber Soul)
For No One (Revolver)
I Feel Fine (non-album single)
I've Just Seen a Face (Help!)
I Will ("White Album")
In My Life (Rubber Soul)
Only A Northern Song (Yellow Submarine)
Something (Abbey Road)
Things We Said Today (A Hard Day's Night)
We Can Work It Out (non-album single)
"You Won't See Me" is my favorite of them all. It's just one of those perfectly composed songs. It's simple, easy to learn, and adds complexity over the verses. How enjoyable is it when those "la la"s start kicking in? The music feels like it was written for the lyrics rather than the other way around. Like "Road to Nowhere" by Talking Heads, this song feels like it needed to be written and that the world is a better place for having this song in it. The only thing I've found wrong with the song over the years is that it fades out too quickly. A victim of its time I imagine. The song already runs long (almost 3½ minutes in an era of 2-2½ minute songs) so that may be the reason. I imagine a fan-edit could solve this problem since the music and singing has become deliberately repetitive by that point in the song.
I love the way the piano kicks in during the chorus of "For No One". It totally makes the song. It's also another one of those songs that makes me wonder what happened to Paul McCartney. He wrote these awesome songs with The Beatles and then totally lost it in his solo career putting out just so much dreck. I can't help but wonder how much John and George kept him in check. How he went from "Yesterday", "For No One", and "Oh! Darling" to "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey", "Silly Love Songs", and "Temporary Secretary" is just beyond me...
"I Feel Fine" is one of those songs that's immediately awesome with its deliberate guitar feedback. It is perhaps foreshadowing of the kinds of musical experimentation that the band would explore throughout their career. The song is simple but what makes it powerful is its unbridled joy. This song simply makes me feel happy to hear and to sing.
"I've Just Seen a Face" - How awesome is this song! The joy and anticipation inherent in the pacing and tempo of the lyrics is amazing. I can't wait until I've reached a point in my life where I could feel this song in my heart. For while I have definitely seen a few faces that have made my heart flutter, the endings to these sightings have yet to prove happy. However, despite that, my heart remains at the ready with this song in mind.
"I Will" - I remember this song from childhood. Dad made a mix tape for my brother and me of songs from The Beatles first five albums. This one was the anomalous later album inclusion that ended the tape although it got cut off during the final bongo taps. This song is beautiful for its simplicity. It's short and sweet and to the point. Paul McCartney's songs from The Beatles make me look so forward to being in love.
"In My Life" I think is one of, if not the, greatest song ever written. It's a rare song whose lyrics are so beautiful and well-crafted. There is no one for whom this song could not describe. There's no mention of gender, sexual orientation, race, time period, nothing to make it so that the song could not be applied to you. The song is perfectly general. There aren't any obsolete slang words like "groovy" to take you out of it. It's truly an anthem to nostalgia applicable to all. This song, not "Imagine", should be the one for which John Lennon is known (although "Cold Turkey" is just as awesome. If you listen to it, as the song goes into its long ending sequence, I'll remind you of a story my stepfather told me. He said he had a neighbor who would play music that he absolutely hated so he would put this song into his stereo and crank it up to full volume in protest to this neighbor's shitty tastes. Knowing that story makes "Cold Turkey" tremendously enjoyable)
"Only a Northern Song" - In what may be considered by some to be my "too cool for the room" entry on this list, I have included George Harrison's "Only a Northern Song". This song intrigues me. I've never known what to make of it. While "Revolution 9" is probably their most unusual track, I think "Only a Northern Song" to be The Beatles' most unusual song that was meant to be a song. Its complex arrangement; Harrison's strange, yet thoughtful lyrics; unusual instrumentation; and the fact that the whole song sounds out-of-tune, yet triumphing despite that makes it a favorite of mine that I look forward to every time I put in my version of the Yellow Submarine album (I deleted the repeat songs and instrumental tracks and then added the completed, unreleased tracks from their Anthology albums).
"Something" - This song alone makes me wish John and Paul didn't hold George back so much during their years together in The Beatles. Right away from George's first contribution "Don't Bother Me", you knew that he had some major talent that would unfortunately have to wait for his solo career. It's also another glorious contribution to the love songs of the English language. Who hasn't felt what he is singing about?
"Things We Said Today" - Another example of a song that, while simple in its instrumentation, is powerful lyrically. I can't explain precisely what it is to me that makes this song so awesome, it just simply is. :-)
"We Can Work It Out" - The opposite of the previous song. This one is simple in its lyrics but powerful in its instrumentation. How many of you still feel that tingle as the song slows down a bit and Ringo pounds away on the cymbals? I also admire this song because it was "just a single". You never see this anymore where artists simply release songs because they can. This particular 45 had "We Can Work It Out" as its A-side and "Day Tripper" as the B-side. Two perfectly album-worthy songs released simply for the fuck of it. The Beatles were writing so many songs that rather than do the lazy thing and include them on a future album so that they could take some time off now, they simply released the songs to an eager public. In today's MP3-heavy culture, you would think we would be seeing a renaissance of digital 45s but instead artists are still trying to release full albums.
Thanks for reading! - or simply scrolling on through :-P
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