Playing The Beatles Backwards: The Ultimate Countdown

January 20, 2009 2:59 PM

185. "Revolution 9"

Shortly after recording "Revolution 9", John Lennon allegedly went around telling friends that his new song was the music of the future. Well, here we are, 40 years later, and I don’t see the pop charts filled with experimental song collages featuring recording engineers, chanting football crowds, mangled orchestras, and bizarre non-sequiturs. [...]

184. "Honey Pie"

If we could imagine The White Album as a poker game, then "Honey Pie" was Paul McCartney’s re-raise to John Lennon’s "Revolution 9." As in, "I’ll see your unlistenable, aggressively off-putting, avant-garde nonsense and raise you a piece of faux-vaudeville drivel so corny that Lawrence Welk turned it down for not being edgy enough." [...]

Etc.

posted by swift (116 comments total)

Wow, talk about spectacularly missing the point.

Revolution 9 presaged sample based music.
posted by empath at 3:05 PM on January 20, 2009 [4 favorites]

And thank God for that. As soon as I ripped the White Album, I left "Revolution 9" unchecked, alone, to Yoko-wail itself to sleep in a dark corner of my hard drive.
posted by RakDaddy at 3:06 PM on January 20, 2009 [7 favorites]

Well, here we are, 40 years later, and I don’t see the pop charts filled with experimental song collages featuring recording engineers, chanting football crowds, mangled orchestras, and bizarre non-sequiturs.

So he's heard the white album but not the grey album.
posted by fleetmouse at 3:06 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

John Lennon tortured dogs.
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:09 PM on January 20, 2009

Good Day Sunshine: "Many Beatles songs evoke joy; this one shoves joy down your gullet until you beg for mercy."

And: "Nobody can possibly derive this much joy from the weather, can they?"

Heh. Fun blog reading.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 3:11 PM on January 20, 2009

John Lennon tortured dogs.

Nope, that's just Yoko singing.
posted by doctor_negative at 3:12 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Well, had LSD been the drug of the future he would have been right. But, drug trends tend to be as fickle and passing as fashion and music trends, mostly.
posted by Elmore at 3:14 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Revolution 9 presaged sample based music.

Here's a nice article on Musique Concrète.

Also, Zappa did it better.
posted by elmono at 3:16 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

The White Album is half filler. Although I think it has some of George Harrison's best writing, which, in the case of "Long, long, Long," they put on the album at such a low volume that you can barely hear it. Thanks for that. I'd much rather hear Bungalo Bill. That's sooooo much better.
posted by Astro Zombie at 3:16 PM on January 20, 2009

1. "A Day in the Life"

Really?
posted by ssg at 3:21 PM on January 20, 2009

Well, here we are, 40 years later, and I don’t see the pop charts filled with experimental song collages featuring recording engineers, chanting football crowds, mangled orchestras, and bizarre non-sequiturs.

I don't know about the pop charts, but that sounds like my playlist.

Also, I like Vietnamese food and am a terrible bowler.
posted by Foosnark at 3:24 PM on January 20, 2009

Well, here we are, 40 years later, and I don’t see the pop charts filled with experimental song collages featuring recording engineers, chanting football crowds, mangled orchestras, and bizarre non-sequiturs.

Lennon merely predicted The Orb!
posted by Artw at 3:24 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

32. “Taxman”

Poor George, he never got the recognition he deserved. Not a single song of his on the top five. I don't like this list.
posted by elmono at 3:31 PM on January 20, 2009

You know that bit in The Prisoner where McGoohan has basically won and he’s walking down a corridor of dukeboxes all playing All you need is love? Fucking brilliant that bit.
posted by Artw at 3:32 PM on January 20, 2009

Poor George, he never got the recognition he deserved.

"Something" at number nine seems pretty good to me.
posted by ssg at 3:40 PM on January 20, 2009

in the case of "Long, long, Long," they put on the album at such a low volume that you can barely hear it

Yeah, that's always bugged me too. I love Long, Long, Long.
posted by andraste at 3:41 PM on January 20, 2009

1. "A Day in the Life"
Really?

Yup, with daylight second.
posted by markr at 3:49 PM on January 20, 2009

183. “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”

Ok, I'm done with this. This dude and I will never agree.

Besides, where is "Martha" on this list? Always skip that one.
posted by Afroblanco at 3:50 PM on January 20, 2009

Poor George, he never got the recognition he deserved.

"Something" at number nine seems pretty good to me.

yeah, he's actually gotten a bit more recognition than deserved in recent years, especially "Something" - its inflated reputation seems to be almost entirely derived from that one gushing Frank Sinatra quote. It's musically average and crap lyrically.
posted by drjimmy11 at 3:51 PM on January 20, 2009

I'm sad not to see "Mr. Moonlight" on here- that's my fav. obscure Beatles tune; love the crazy 'skating rink" organ. Although some people on there seem to disagree rather amusingly:

Mr. Moonlight is actually anti life.
posted by drjimmy11 at 3:56 PM on January 20, 2009

Here's the whole list, in handy list form:

185. “Revolution 9”
184. “Honey Pie”
183. “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”
182. “Yer Blues”
181. “Good Day Sunshine”
180. “Ask Me Why”
179. “Long, Long, Long”
178. “Little Child”
177. “Old Brown Shoe”
176. “You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)”
175. “I Wanna Be Your Man”
174. “Love You To”
173. “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?”
172. “Magical Mystery Tour”
171. “Wild Honey Pie”
170. “For You Blue”
169. “Don’t Pass Me By”
168. “Doctor Robert”
167. “And I Love Her”
166. “The Word”
165. “You Like Me Too Much”
164. “Maggie Mae”
163. “Tell Me What You See”
162. “Thank You Girl”
161. “I’ll Cry Instead”
160. “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey”
159. “One After 909”
158. “I Want To Tell You”
157. “Don’t Bother Me”
156. “Sun King”
155. “What Goes On”
154. “Flying”
153. “There’s A Place”
152. “Her Majesty”
151. “Do You Want To Know A Secret”
150. “Dig It”
149. “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”
148. “Julia”
147. “Day Tripper”
146. “Blue Jay Way”
145. “Birthday”
144. “Baby You’re A Rich Man”
143. “Cry Baby Cry”
142. “Only A Northern Song”
141. “Penny Lane”
140. “Every Little Thing”
139. “When I Get Home”
138. “Run For Your Life”
137. “I’m Happy Just To Dance With You”
136. “Misery”
135. “I Call Your Name”
134. “It’s Only Love”
133. “If I Needed Someone”
132. “Another Girl”
131. “Dig A Pony”
130. “Love Me Do”
129. “The Night Before”
128. “Mean Mr. Mustard”
127. “Get Back”
126. “Michelle”
125. “The Inner Light”
124. “Baby’s In Black”
123. “Think For Yourself”
122. “I’ll Be Back”
121. “I Me Mine”
120. “All I’ve Got To Do”
119. “Polythene Pam”
118. “Hold Me Tight”
117. “Got To Get You Into My Life”
116. “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”
115. “Can’t Buy Me Love”
114. “I Want To Hold Your Hand”
113. “Savoy Truffle”
112. “The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill”
111. “With A Little Help From My Friends”
110. “Good Night”
109. “All Together Now”
108. “Paperback Writer”
107. “I’ll Get You”
106. “I’ll Follow The Sun”
105. “From Me To You”
104. “Martha My Dear”
103. “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite”
102. “Revolution 1”
101. “Ballad Of John And Yoko”
100. “Girl”
99. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
98. “She Said She Said”
97. “Tell Me Why”
96. “Because”
95. “Yellow Submarine”
94. “I Should Have Known Better”
93. “I’m A Loser”
92. “All My Loving”
91. “Any Time At All”
90. “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”
89. “What You’re Doing”
88. “I Need You”
87. “You Can’t Do That”
86. “I Will”
85. “Eight Days A Week”
84. “Drive My Car”
83. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)”
82. “Wait”
81. “She’s A Woman”
80. “I’m Only Sleeping”
79. “You’re Going To Lose That Girl”
78. “Oh! Darling”
77. “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”
76. “It’s All Too Much”
75. “P.S. I Love You”
74. “Don’t Let Me Down”
73. “Rocky Raccoon”
72. “Your Mother Should Know”
71. “Piggies”
70. “I’ve Just Seen A Face”
69. “It Won’t Be Long”
68. “I’ve Got A Feeling”
67. “When I’m Sixty-Four”
66. “The Long And Winding Road”
65. “Fixing A Hole”
64. “I’m So Tired”
63. “Let It Be”
62. “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”
61. “Lovely Rita”
60. “I’m Down”
59. “Glass Onion”
58. “Hello Goodbye”
57. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
56. “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”
55. “Come Together”
54. “Help!”
53. “Helter Skelter”
52. “I Feel Fine”
51. “Yesterday”
50. “A Hard Day’s Night”
49. “Blackbird”
48. “Revolution”
47. “Getting Better”
46. “Hey Bulldog”
45. “Good Morning Good Morning”
44. “Back In The U.S.S.R.”
43. “Mother Nature’s Son”
42. “You Never Give Me Your Money”
41. “Sexy Sadie”
40. “I’m Looking Through You”
39. “Things We Said Today”
38. “This Boy”
37. “Across The Universe”
36. “Octopus’s Garden”
35. “Not A Second Time”
34. “And Your Bird Can Sing”
33. “I Saw Her Standing There”
32. “Taxman”
31. “The Fool On The Hill”
30. “Two Of Us”
29. “Here Comes The Sun”
28. “You Won’t See Me”
27. “Within You Without You”
26. “No Reply”
25. “Ticket To Ride”
24. “She Loves You”
23. “Rain”
22. “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party”
21. “Yes It Is”
20. “Here, There, And Everywhere”
19. “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”
18. “Tomorrow Never Knows”
17. “Lady Madonna”
16. “Please Please Me”
15. “Nowhere Man”
14. “If I Fell”
13. “For No One”
12. “We Can Work It Out”
11. “Dear Prudence”
10. “Eleanor Rigby”
9. “Something”
8. “Strawberry Fields Forever”
7. “In My Life”
6. “All You Need Is Love”
5. “Hey Jude”
4. “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End”
3. “She’s Leaving Home”
2. “I Am The Walrus”
1. “A Day in the Life”
posted by swift at 3:57 PM on January 20, 2009 [4 favorites]

Wow, do I ever disagree with this guy on “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” and "Yer Blues".

Which is odd, because I always agree 100% with everything I read on the internet.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:59 PM on January 20, 2009 [5 favorites]

I'd like to post examples of the "recording engineers, chanting football crowds, mangled orchestras, and bizarre non-sequiturs" in top 40 music, but for brevity I'll stick with the first: recording engineers fine-tune (and auto-tune) the hell outta music these days. They are the ubiquitous photoshopping of glamor shots in audio form.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:59 PM on January 20, 2009

Sorry to interject, but just what in the hell kind of post is this supposed to be?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:59 PM on January 20, 2009 [4 favorites]

I wonder what the penultimate countdown had to say.
posted by spicynuts at 4:01 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

I accidentally played No. 9 on the jukebox in an Irish bar in Hell's Kitchen. I was lucky to make it out with all of my teeth.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 4:01 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

This guy's list is epic fail simply because he separates the medleys from Abbey Road into their component parts for evaluation. That's just...wrong.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:02 PM on January 20, 2009 [4 favorites]

I disagree with every ranking except the last. With "Revolution Number 9", John Lennon went from being the world's coolest man, to the world's biggest asshole in the space of one album cut. Number one, without question, "She Loves You." Number two "Please Please Me." Number three, "I Want to Hold Your Hand..." Get the picture?
posted by Faze at 4:06 PM on January 20, 2009

hmm.. "recording engineers, chanting football crowds, mangled orchestras and non sequitors"?

Does this count?
posted by empath at 4:07 PM on January 20, 2009

Yeah yeah yeah your favorite blog post listing the top X songs by a band sucks.

I've only read about half the entries at this point, but I can already say that like this a lot. I like it because its enthusiastic and opinionated and relatively informed and, most of all, fun. And I say this as someone who really likes "She's So Heavy" and might even put it in my own personal Beatles-song-top-twenty. For me, the point is not to look at this list and summarily dismiss it because it disagrees with my oh-so-much-better vision of things; the point is to have fun right there along with JBev. In contrast to so many of the speedily-put-together top ten lists whose only reason for existence is maximization of page views, this seems to me more like a labor of love from someone who has had a life-long affair (cf: receiving St. Pepper's on 8-track at age 9) with a great band.

I, for one, am resisting the knee-jerk snark reaction and just enjoying this. Thanks.
posted by googly at 4:08 PM on January 20, 2009 [7 favorites]

In all seriousness, Revolution 9 sounds like the more abstract Autechre and Aphex Twin tracks, to me.
posted by empath at 4:11 PM on January 20, 2009

OK "something" sucks. But how about "If I needed Someone"?

I'll stop rooting for George now. . .
posted by elmono at 4:11 PM on January 20, 2009

Although I want to argue that no album has spent longer on the charts than Dark Side of the Moon, which is full of random audio samples of janitors, bizarre non-sequiturs and women faking orgasms, I shall refrain... You see, his argument is technically correct, because Dark Side of the Moon has no chanting football crowds, and since being technically correct is the best kind of correct, I must defer to his superior position.
posted by Kiablokirk at 4:11 PM on January 20, 2009 [2 favorites]

or this...

p.s. my first troll moment ever on the internet is about to occur. watch out.
and don't respond!

I HATE THE BEATLES!!!

damn that feels good.
posted by artof.mulata at 4:12 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

No way! You never give me your money is the meaning of life, the universe and everything.
posted by Chuffy at 4:19 PM on January 20, 2009

"Revolution 9" is sort of hackneyed and tiresome. The earlier, Paul-directed tape experiments of "Tomorrow Never Knows", on the other hand, actually were the future of music.
posted by anazgnos at 4:20 PM on January 20, 2009 [2 favorites]

Well, googly makes a good point. This is just some random guy's opinion. All in good fun.

It just happens to be wrong. Revolution#9 is still a great listen, IMO. And Honey Pie? In the English music-hall tradition, so much so that it can be heard as satire, unlike some of this guy's higher-ranked music-hall type hits.

"I Want You, She's So Heavy?" with its unrelentingly insistent bass line? A great song. "Yer Blues" and especially the rhythmically quirky "Good Day Sunshine" in the bottom five? Sorry, three strikes and you're out. Putting "If I Fell" in the Top Twenty disqualifies this guy as a credible Beatles' critic, I think.
posted by kozad at 4:31 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Revolution 9 is a self-indulgent blemish on an otherwise magical group.

Let him snipe all he wants, the Beatles is the great band because they wrote all the best songs.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 4:45 PM on January 20, 2009

I think being read and discussed makes him a credible critic. He's criticized the work at hand and discussed it well enough to make you think. Agreeing with him is up to you.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:47 PM on January 20, 2009

1. "A Day in the Life"

Really?

Apparently not in your opinion. But in most people's opinion, yes.
posted by Jaltcoh at 4:47 PM on January 20, 2009

This list is shit. OK, I agree with Revolution #9 being annoying and filler, but he totally misses the point with several of the songs at the bottom of the list. Having done this, his number one song is amazingly predictable, like he has to make up for talking shit. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at number 57? Fucking idiot.
posted by ob at 4:50 PM on January 20, 2009

I know we can all disagree with the rankings here, but is it only me that thinks the reverse order as copied above-thread is the wrong way to go about this? I have less interest in what is at #183 Blink? than I do at what is in the guy's top 20 or so.
posted by Nick Verstayne at 4:50 PM on January 20, 2009

If I had bothered to undertake the monumental task of ranking the Beatles songs from best to worst, complete with essays, because I am a Beatles expert, I would have done it different. And better.
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:54 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Something: It's musically average and crap lyrically.

AUUGGHH!! *pulls off own head*
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:55 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Putting the maudlin kitchen-sink drama "She's Leaving Home" more than a hundred spots ahead of near-perfect single like "Day Tripper" and fifty spots ahead of "Come Together" means the guy either has an axe to grind or else should be belaboured about the head and shoulders with a truncheon.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:06 PM on January 20, 2009 [4 favorites]

A neat idea, a good post, and I look forward to reading this. Thanks swift!
posted by Kwine at 5:07 PM on January 20, 2009

I would put Happiness Is A Warm Gun near the top 5.
posted by spicynuts at 5:19 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Artof.mulata: I HATE THE BEATLES!

We hope you have enjoyed your Metafilter membership. Come back and join us again when your opinions have changed.
posted by wittgenstein at 5:21 PM on January 20, 2009

This FPP sucks. ListFilter is one thing, but subjective listfilter about such an obviously contentious but nonetheless totally irrelevant issue, from an upstart apparently attempting to out-Pitchfork Pitchfork, is just plain awful. Linking to this baloney on MeFi (and other NOT AT ALL SIMILAR sites that shall remain nameless) is exactly what JamsBio Magazine wants you to do.

Kudos to them for reviewing the whole catalogue, though.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:25 PM on January 20, 2009

Putting 'Revolution 9' d-f-l is stunt casting, designed to infuriate dudes like me.

But, still, something's gotta be last. I'll nominate 'Don't Pass Me By.'
posted by box at 5:25 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Never loved the Beatles. Never loved Elvis (except Always on my Mind). Never loved the Stones (except Wild Horses). What is wrong with me?
posted by unSane at 5:26 PM on January 20, 2009

The White Album is half filler

Yes, but the beauty is, nobody can agree on which half.

You see, his argument is technically correct, because Dark Side of the Moon has no chanting football crowds

No, but its immediate predecessor Meddle does (specifically Fearless).
posted by kersplunk at 5:30 PM on January 20, 2009 [4 favorites]

Honey Pie really is so very annoying. Possibly the most skippable in recorded history ( of good records that is).
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:54 PM on January 20, 2009

My favourite Beatles song changes all the time. Lately, it's been You're Gonna Lose That Girl. John's falsetto is lovely. I especially enjoy the cleaned-up Tuned To A Natural 'E' stereo version, without the piano and bongos.
posted by droplet at 6:07 PM on January 20, 2009

A jack ass music critic points out that an experimental and avant-garde song had no mass appeal and failed to live up to the hyperbolic description lavished on it by its creators. And this is supposed to be a revelation? Gimme a break.

I thought the song was okay. Uncomfortable to listen to and not something I'd listen to a second time. But I wouldn't call it a bad song. It's much more interesting to listen to than the majority of the pop rock dreck that comes out today.
posted by wastelands at 6:09 PM on January 20, 2009

This was great reading even though I disagreed with about half of it. Thank you for the links!
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:12 PM on January 20, 2009

It's easy to bag on #9 as a weak example of sound collage. But it was a groundbreaking work, and there are entire legitimate genres which have descended from this early avant-garde soundscape (and from other progenitors of the period, as well).
posted by malocchio at 6:16 PM on January 20, 2009

I mean, the white album is a fine album, but it came out in late 68 - kind of missing the bus on years of great experimental rock. Most of the album to me just feels derivative, trying to play catch up with what was going on in the world of underground music.
posted by mattsweaters at 6:25 PM on January 20, 2009

oh my god! wittgenstein? i thought you were dead! you will not revoke my membership to mefi for hating the beatles... you will revoke it because, unlike so many here, i both dig #9 and i love and worship yoko ono. if you don't love yoko ono you don't love anything beautiful in this world.

i bet you eat babies, too. and you should stop. because eating babies is just plain mean.
posted by artof.mulata at 6:28 PM on January 20, 2009

And I Love Her at 167? This...person...has no credibility.
posted by maxwelton at 6:31 PM on January 20, 2009

actually, i really love "wild honey pie" ...
posted by wittgenstein at 6:41 PM on January 20, 2009 [4 favorites]

I liked this list a lot, but "Day Tripper" at #147 is just...madness.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:41 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

It's easy to bag on #9 as a weak example of sound collage.

QFT.
posted by pompomtom at 6:42 PM on January 20, 2009

I appreciate the detail, but it really is as if he tried to be wrong about as many things as possible, all at once.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:53 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Well, here we are, 40 years later, and I don’t see the pop charts filled with experimental song collages featuring recording engineers, chanting football crowds, mangled orchestras, and bizarre non-sequiturs.

I guess he wasn't paying attention while the KLF was doing pretty much exactly this...
posted by Thoth at 6:55 PM on January 20, 2009

I would drive with my now gone friend Marcus and we would attempt to sing the White Album in order. yThe best part was Revolution #9. Long live Marcus.
posted by pianomover at 7:00 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Scrap that y.
posted by pianomover at 7:00 PM on January 20, 2009

I was thinking "Yes It Is" deserves to be #21 or so, and he hit the nail absolutely on the head with that pick. On the other hand, he has "With a Little Help From My Friends" at #111, when its pretty clear that it should be at #86. He apparently thinks it is a pretty middling song, while I think its a fairly middling song.

Obviously, he's high.
posted by Joey Michaels at 7:01 PM on January 20, 2009

Wow - I had no idea that George played bass on "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window."
posted by swift at 7:03 PM on January 20, 2009

Here's the whole list in handy-er list form:

185. “Revolution 9”
184. “Honey Pie”
183. “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”
182. “Yer Blues”
181. “Good Day Sunshine”
180. “Ask Me Why”
179. “Long, Long, Long”
178. “Little Child”
177. “Old Brown Shoe”
176. “You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)”
175. “I Wanna Be Your Man”
174. “Love You To”
173. “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?”
172. “Magical Mystery Tour”
171. “Wild Honey Pie”
170. “For You Blue”
169. “Don’t Pass Me By”
168. “Doctor Robert”
167. “And I Love Her”
166. “The Word”
165. “You Like Me Too Much”
164. “Maggie Mae”
163. “Tell Me What You See”
162. “Thank You Girl”
161. “I’ll Cry Instead”
160. “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey”
159. “One After 909”
158. “I Want To Tell You”
157. “Don’t Bother Me”
156. “Sun King”
155. “What Goes On”
154. “Flying”
153. “There’s A Place”
152. “Her Majesty”
151. “Do You Want To Know A Secret”
150. “Dig It”
149. “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”
148. “Julia”
147. “Day Tripper”
146. “Blue Jay Way”
145. “Birthday”
144. “Baby You’re A Rich Man”
143. “Cry Baby Cry”
142. “Only A Northern Song”
141. “Penny Lane”
140. “Every Little Thing”
139. “When I Get Home”
138. “Run For Your Life”
137. “I’m Happy Just To Dance With You”
136. “Misery”
135. “I Call Your Name”
134. “It’s Only Love”
133. “If I Needed Someone”
132. “Another Girl”
131. “Dig A Pony”
130. “Love Me Do”
129. “The Night Before”
128. “Mean Mr. Mustard”
127. “Get Back”
126. “Michelle”
125. “The Inner Light”
124. “Baby’s In Black”
123. “Think For Yourself”
122. “I8217;ll Be Back”
121. “I Me Mine”
120. “All I’ve Got To Do”
119. “Polythene Pam”
118. “Hold Me Tight”
117. “Got To Get You Into My Life”
116. “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”
115. “Can’t Buy Me Love”
114. “I Want To Hold Your Hand”
113. “Savoy Truffle”
112. “The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill”
111. “With A Little Help From My Friends”
110. “Good Night”
109. “All Together Now”
108. “Paperback Writer”
107. “I’ll Get You”
106. “I’ll Follow The Sun”
105. “From Me To You”
104. “Martha My Dear”
103. “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite”
102. “Revolution 1”
101. “Ballad Of John And Yoko”
100. “Girl”
99. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
98. “She Said She Said”
97. “Tell Me Why”
96. “Because”
95. “Yellow Submarine”
94. “I Should Have Known Better”
93. “I’m A Loser”
92. “All My Loving”
91. “Any Time At All”
90. “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”
89. “What You’re Doing”
88. “I Need You”
87. “You Can’t Do That”
86. “I Will”
85. “Eight Days A Week”
84. “Drive My Car”
83. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)”
82. “Wait”
81. “She’s A Woman”
80. “I’m Only Sleeping”
79. “You’re Going To Lose That Girl”
78. “Oh! Darling”
77. “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”
76. “It’s All Too Much”
75. “P.S. I Love You”
74. “Don’t Let Me Down”
73. “Rocky Raccoon”
72. “Your Mother Should Know”
71. “Piggies”
70. “I’ve Just Seen A Face”
69. “It Won’t Be Long”
68. “I’ve Got A Feeling”
67. “When I’m Sixty-Four”
66. “The Long And Winding Road”
65. “Fixing A Hole”
64. “I’m So Tired”
63. “Let It Be”
62. “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”
61. “Lovely Rita”
60. “I’m Down”
59. “Glass Onion”
58. “Hello Goodbye”
57. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
56. “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”
55. “Come Together”
54. “Help!”
53. “Helter Skelter”
52. “I Feel Fine”
51. “Yesterday”
50. “A Hard Day’s Night”
49. “Blackbird”
48. “Revolution”
47. “Getting Better”
46. “Hey Bulldog”
45. “Good Morning Good Morning”
44. “Back In The U.S.S.R.”
43. “Mother Nature’s Son”
42. “You Never Give Me Your Money”
41. “Sexy Sadie”
40. “I’m Looking Through You”
39. “Things We Said Today”
38. “This Boy”
37. “Across The Universe”
36. “Octopus’s Garden”
35. “Not A Second Time”
34. “And Your Bird Can Sing”
33. “I Saw Her Standing There”
32. “Taxman”
31. “The Fool On The Hill”
30. “Two Of Us”
29. “Here Comes The Sun”
28. “You Won’t See Me”
27. “Within You Without You”
26. “No Reply”
25. “Ticket To Ride”
24. “She Loves You”
23. “Rain”
22. “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party”
21. “Yes It Is”
20. “Here, There, And Everywhere”
19. “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”
18. “Tomorrow Never Knows”
17. “Lady Madonna”
16. “Please Please Me”
15. “Nowhere Man”
14. “If I Fell”
13. “For No One”
12. “We Can Work It Out”
11. “Dear Prudence”
10. “Eleanor Rigby”
9. “Something”
8. “Strawberry Fields Forever”
7. “In My Life”
6. “All You Need Is Love”
5. “Hey Jude”
4. “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End”
3. “She8217;s Leaving Home”
2. “I Am The Walrus”
1. “A Day in the Life”

posted by Mr. Anthropomorphism at 7:05 PM on January 20, 2009 [8 favorites]

Also,

53. “Helter Skelter”

No.
posted by Mr. Anthropomorphism at 7:07 PM on January 20, 2009

Damn it, didn't see that swift actually did link to the linked-list in his above comment.

Sorry for wasting cyberspace.
posted by Mr. Anthropomorphism at 7:09 PM on January 20, 2009

No this is much handy-er.
posted by swift at 7:11 PM on January 20, 2009

Hm. I really should make my own ranking at some point, a useful exercise for anyone who was raised on the Beatles.

Arguing about Revolution #9 is a non-starter, IMO. But, for the record, I've always found it interesting.

I will never, ever, share my sandwich with a Yoko Ono hater.

Least favorite Beatles songs? Also an interesting exercise.

Golden Slumbers always struck me as a bit grandiose. (And he borrowed the lyrics, you know. . .)
posted by flotson at 7:12 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Personally I'm loving this and he's kept me stuck there for more than an hour so far. A good read.
posted by meinvt at 7:15 PM on January 20, 2009

Of course this list is bullst, but then again all lists are made to start fights.

But seriously was this list made by someone who ever listened to the songs?

You wanna tell me to my face "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is 46 songs worse than "Dear Prudence"? HUH? I'll break by foot off in behind your rib cage. ;)
posted by Kensational at 7:23 PM on January 20, 2009

Wait wait wait. There are songs lower than 'You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)'?
posted by shakespeherian at 7:32 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Obviously, he's high.

And not necessarily with a little help from his friends.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:41 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

Never loved the Beatles. Never loved Elvis (except Always on my Mind). Never loved the Stones (except Wild Horses). What is wrong with me?
posted by unSane

You're Eponysterical. There's no known cure.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:06 PM on January 20, 2009

Although it's pretty clear already that no one agrees with this list, I still feel the need to put in my $.02:

"I'm Only Sleeping" at #80?! Madness!
posted by rebel_rebel at 8:07 PM on January 20, 2009

I think we're all missing the flaw in this list:

"She Said She Said" is at #98.

THIS IS WRONG, PEOPLE. WRONG WRONG WRONG. "SHE SAID SHE SAID" IS AT #98 AND FUCKING "I DON'T WANT TO SPOIL THE PARTY" IS AT #22? "I DON'T WANT TO SPOIL THE PARTY" IS AT #22 AND "RAIN", "RAIN" THE BEST FUCKING RINGO DRUMMING SONG EVER IS AT #23? NO! NO! NO! A THOUSAND, MILLION GODDAMN TIMES NO!

don't even get me started on "She's Leaving Home" being at #3. I will spit blood.
posted by Lucinda at 8:35 PM on January 20, 2009 [2 favorites]

IMO this is a great piece of work, lovingly and meticulously thought-out. The author is going to take heat for his choices, but I've already learned a ton of stuff and I'm not even halfway through it. I thought I was a Beatles nerd but there's a lot of obscure info here that's totally new to me, and the covers of the rare singles alone are worth the click-through. Thanks for finding and posting this!
posted by arcanecrowbar at 8:38 PM on January 20, 2009

Wow, I'm glad someone else likes Rain as much as I do.

Somewhere close to #1 for me.
posted by Afroblanco at 8:53 PM on January 20, 2009

no "money"? no "twist and shout"? "roll over beethoven?" "act naturally?"

the beatles did some great covers - and in "money", john lennon did one of the best vocals of his life

this list is inadequate because of that
posted by pyramid termite at 8:55 PM on January 20, 2009

I will spit blood.

I didn't understand "She's Leaving Home" at #3 until I read his explanation, and now I can sort of appreciate the song more, even if he is overrating it. A lot of his ratings are baed on craft and effort, which is why so many of the tossed-off, fun songs are near the bottom -- they seem half-baked compared with the more thoughtfully constructed pieces.

But his focus on craft can sometimes come at the expense of confronting what is really sort of a mystery inside a lot of Beatles songs, a mood that, corny or not, makes them perpetually and strangely interesting. For example, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is rated sort of high-middling, and he clearly likes it, but to me it has such an almost inexpressible eeriness and tension that it deserves to be in the top 10. "She's Leaving Home" is an interesting take on a familiar motif, but I can't help but think you have to be English to get the kind of silent melodrama going on.

And that's okay, it's just not my cup of tea.
posted by swift at 9:02 PM on January 20, 2009

Like absolutely everyone here, I disagree with his rankings (I'd put most of his top ten no higher than 100, and I'll give shoutouts to "And Your Bird Can Sing," "Only a Northern Song," "Rain" and "Hey Bulldog"), but the writing goes off on some interesting tangents. Mostly I'm impressed that he found YouTube videos for all of these ... I'd never even searched for the Beatles on YouTube, presuming that any video would be taken down by copyright cops within days of being posted. Most of these seem to be of the handmade-by-fans variety rather than the official promos, but they're fun to watch. (And really, what other band with 185+ songs could promote this type of debate nearly 40 years after the fact?)
posted by lisa g at 10:07 PM on January 20, 2009

I've come to the conclusion that this would have been much better if he had skipped the rankings and just wrote about the songs.

But then nobody would have read it.
posted by empath at 10:11 PM on January 20, 2009

These kinds of lists only exist so people will argue about them and criticize the rankings. The only reason anyone reads them is because they're always totally wrong. Having said that, however, as a huge Beatles fan, this guy is totally wrong. I don't think he's even really a fan, his top picks read like anyone who's only familiar with their most popular songs would read. The biggest giveaway is nothing from Revolver in the top 10, except "Eleanor Rigby", the big single, at #10. A real fan would have put "And Your Bird Can Sing" or "She Said She Said" or "I'm Only Sleeping" somewhere in the top 10 at least.
posted by DecemberBoy at 10:41 PM on January 20, 2009

1. I am the Walrus
2. Tomorrow Never Knows
3. Within You Without You
4. Helter Skelter
5. Across the Universe
6. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
7. Come Together
8. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite
9. I Want You (She's So Heavy)
10. Glass Onion

The Beatles got much better after they started taking LSD and hanging out with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Further evidence in support of my thesis!
posted by Meatbomb at 11:04 PM on January 20, 2009 [1 favorite]

or "I'm Only Sleeping"

Oh, shit. I forgot how great that song is.

(but I'd still put Eleanor Rigby in the top 10)
posted by dirigibleman at 11:08 PM on January 20, 2009

"Well, here we are, 40 years later, and I don’t see the pop charts filled with experimental song collages featuring recording engineers, chanting football crowds, mangled orchestras, and bizarre non-sequiturs."

This guy evidently doesn't listen to Wevie Stunder!
posted by Sukiari at 11:35 PM on January 20, 2009

As someone who likes the Beatles but hasn't spent a lot of time thinking about them, I don't give half a damn about his choice of rankings. I'm just enjoying reading about all the little details for each song, and checking out the YT clips for the more obscure songs I haven't heard before.
posted by harriet vane at 11:51 PM on January 20, 2009

I definitely disagree with his rankings, but he explains them well and clearly knows what he's talking about. Any list like like this is going to be really subjective anyway. Just like reading any criticism, I expect to be engaged, informed, and to completely disagree with the critic on occasion.

While going through the list (and mentally making my own, of course) something that struck me was the power of my emotional attachment to a lot of these songs. When I was little, my parents listened to the Beatles a lot, and my Dad knew how to play some of them on the guitar so we could all sing them. I distinctly remember being obsessed with "Let It Be" when I was five years old, and inventing an elaborate story about what the song was really about.

There are other songs that I like for reasons that have nothing to do with them being any good; I don't really like the song "Honey Pie," but I ... uh... sing it to my cat because her name is Pie, and because cats are cute and make you do stupid stuff.

Anyway, while I don't agree with his rankings, I understand them. I also sympathize with the passionate cries of "BULLSHIT" but I know, while I would have liked my own personal list better, it wouldn't have been nearly as well crafted and knowledgeable.
posted by louche mustachio at 2:19 AM on January 21, 2009

The White Album is half filler

Yes, but the beauty is, nobody can agree on which half.

Hear hear. Previously, MeFites argue about which songs on the White Album are filler.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 5:38 AM on January 21, 2009

"Something" by George Harrison, I would rate this not only as the worst Beatles song ever, but also one of the worst songs ever. However, "Not Guilty" by George Harrison I would definitely rate not only as one of the best Beatles songs, but also as one of the best songs ever. I know it isn't on any of their albums apart from Anthology (I think) but musically it's the equal of any Lennon/McCartney composition, and lyrically it's ace too since George is having a dig at Lennon and McCartney and it's really cool. Love that song, it just seems to sum up the sixties so well, it seems to be of it's time and also outside it, casting a cynical eye at it. It's totally genius and shows what George could do when he was annoyed.
posted by haines at 6:31 AM on January 21, 2009

Turn me on dead man.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:17 AM on January 21, 2009

OK "something" sucks. But how about "If I needed Someone"?

I'll stop rooting for George now. . .

Nah, I'm right there with you -- George was my favorite Beatle. (We shared a birthday!)

I'm actually more pleased at the attention "It's All Too Much" got because no one else I know knows that song. When it comes to George, though, I think all his best work came out in that monstrous triple-album orgy of All Things Must Pass.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:37 AM on January 21, 2009

"Something" by George Harrison, I would rate this not only as the worst Beatles song ever, but also one of the worst songs ever.

*puts head back on just so I pull it off again*

AAUUGGHH!
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:48 AM on January 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Putting Long, Long, Long almost at the bottom of the list is criminal.
That's one of the better songs on the White Album.

Also, Octopus' Garden is waay too high at #36.
posted by vacapinta at 9:53 AM on January 21, 2009

"Within You Without You" ...

I hate this song. Oh, how I hate this song. It wouldn't be so, so bad, except at one point it sounds like it's over, and you're relieved. You're thinking "Got that out of the way, now we can move on to the better songs," but then it rushes back in with wave upon wave of faux-Indian suckitude.

Note: I have nothing against Indian music. Just this damn song.
posted by owtytrof at 9:55 AM on January 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Revolution 9 wasn't groundbreaking or the beginning of sample-based music, but it was many listener's first exposure to music of the kind. Edgar Varèse's "Déserts," from the early 1950s, was partly a collage of pre-recorded sound. John Cage around the same time as Varèse was composing music for radios--the composition asked players to tune a radio to whatever was playing at the moment. And before that, in the early 1900s, you have Erik Satie scoring music containing typewriters.

I don't know if Lennon knew the above composers or others like them doing similar work before him. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. The song wasn't doing anything new; what was new, however, was that the Beatles did it and when the Beatles did anything the whole world was listening.
posted by josephtate at 10:35 AM on January 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Can we do Husker Du next?
posted by waraw at 11:08 AM on January 21, 2009

Also, Octopus' Garden is waay too high at #36.

Yeah, "Octopus' Garden" is #36 and "I've Just Seen A Face" is #70 like the Monkees were an improvement on Rubber Soul.

I mean, reasonable Beatles obsessives can disagree and all, but that just ain't right.

"I've Just Seen A Face" should be Top 5, actually . . .
posted by gompa at 11:32 AM on January 21, 2009

What a perfect thread for Metafilter. Everyone gets to snark and be self-righteous, and no one gets hurt! Brilliant!
posted by jckll at 12:31 PM on January 21, 2009

The whole idea of a ranked list is preposterous.

The songs should be grouped in concentric circles whose blinding inner core represents the Pop Song's Platonic Ideal from which the rays of brilliance emanate and dim only slightly until the outer edge, composed of the least successful songs, is only as bright as our all too material and temporal sun.
posted by Toecutter at 2:03 PM on January 21, 2009 [3 favorites]

Can we do Husker Du next?
posted by waraw

I don't think I'm emotionally ready to suffer the insults that my "later generally = better" approach would bring.
posted by COBRA! at 2:07 PM on January 21, 2009

Yoko: I second the "never share a sandwich with a Yoko hater" sentiment. FWIW, here's a link, found on Pandagon, to an analysis of the phenomenon of the baffling overwhelming ongoing Yoko-hate.

Also, anyone who doesn't think this is a great song can go to hell and die.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 4:09 PM on January 21, 2009 [4 favorites]

Yoko is amazing. And "O'oh" is an incredible song. It's amazing that people talked her into leaving that one unreleased for so long. It's gorgeous.

I am readin' that article right now, actually. It's really pretty interesting.
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 4:48 PM on January 21, 2009

Can we do Husker Du next?

Yes. Each of their songs was their worst.
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:57 PM on January 21, 2009

Okay so everyone is a critic so I'll chime in.

1) Day in the Life is good until the end. Although I'll grant that I like how it makes people uncomfortable to hear it all way through to the end. And, face it, if you don't listen to it to the end then your missing part of it.
2) Hey Jude and Let it Be are songs I could gladly never hear again. [Although there place in history is assured - I guess].
3) I'd rather hear Revolution #9 ten times in a row then listen to Hey Jude of Let it Be once. However, this doesn't mean I 'enjoy' it.
4) But why must a song be categorized as 'enjoyment' or even 'good'? Whatever that means? Music can take us places that need not be all happy, beautiful, ass shaking and full of kitch.
5) I Am the Walrus? Really? I Am the Walrus? If your 10 years old, sure.
6) The Yoko Ono bashing needs to stop.

The concept behind Revolution #9 was to actually make something that was the polar opposite of a tuneful song. I have to say for a mainstream group to totally dispense with the idea of a hit [acceptable] song for one song among many was pretty cool in my book. But it's not like they did this for a whole side of an album - although I would have approved of that.
posted by Rashomon at 6:19 PM on January 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

I confess to liking Yoko's Plastic Ono Band album. (John's Plastic Ono Band rocks too.) On LSD.
posted by lathrop at 7:03 PM on January 21, 2009

To all the Something haters: Or to both of the Something haters, however it counts out here:

Tune out the things you don't like about the song -- the lyrics, the chord progession, whatever, and listen SOLELY to McCartney's bass track. It is a thing of rare & wondrous beauty, delightful to behold. It is the pinnacle of the craft of electric bass playing. There are other songs that equal, but none that surpass.

Yes, I know who Victor Wooten is, and I still feel the same about Something. The bass in that song is simply sublime -- perhaps divine.

Yes, music is my religion, and bass is my sect.
posted by Devils Rancher at 11:12 AM on January 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

Can anybody tell me what became of the whebsite called, I think, whatgoeson.com? It listed all the recording eratta, song by song, and no I can't find it.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:23 PM on January 22, 2009

Never mind:

http://wgo.signal11.org.uk/wgo.htm
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:24 PM on January 22, 2009

Wow, dozens of comments that totally buy into the idea that "Revolution 9" was all John Lennon, and that Paul McCartney was opposed to this kind of experimentalism.

In fact, McCartney was the Stockhausen enthusiast. McCartney was the Beatle who didn't buy a big house in the suburbs, but instead stayed in central London, taking in the art and avant-garde scenes. (Hell, McCartney was the first of them to meet Yoko Ono.) McCartney was the channel through whom the other three first encountered a whole lot of the edgier stuff going in in the mid-1960s.

From everything we know about McCartney in the 1960s, and about how the four Beatles negotiated what appeared on later "Beatles" albums, it's very difficult to believe that Paul McCartney was anything less than enthusiastic about including "Revolution 9."
posted by pnh at 3:39 AM on January 23, 2009 [1 favorite]

We're singing a lot of Beatles's songs now to our newborn daughter.
Thanks for reminding me.
posted by jouke at 11:58 AM on February 5, 2009