Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
James Poulos, Ed. ·
Aug 26, 2010 at 11:07am
Maybe. Cristomania may be a ways off but listomania has long been upon us. And the Rolling Stone of the present era has never been afraid of stooping to click-baiting gimmicks to shore up whatever's left of its credibility as a, y'know, music magazine. But if it's cred you want, here's my list of Top 10 Beatles songs that didn't make the cut:
1. Cry Baby Cry
2. Hey Bulldog
3. Rain
4. I'm Only Sleeping
5. Lady Madonna
6. I Want You (She's So Heavy)
7. Revolution
8. And Your Bird Can Sing
9. Yes It Is
10. Sexy Sadie
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
Great photos. And yes there are a couple of vulnerable spots on the list (While My Guitar Gently Weeps?). But no self-respecting parent can doubt for a second the enduring legacy of Yellow Submarine. (I even doubt RS contention that Yesterday is the most covered song.) You might not like it, but that is the song that will live on in the hearts and minds of the world's population well past all the others.
May '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
Writers make lists when they don't know what to write. But lists are fun.
James, as I recall, you're a fellow grunge fan. Can I coax you into a Grunge Top 10?
Such a list might be timely. Rex (Pantera) and friends seem to be attempting a grunge revival.
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
No Blackbird? I love that one.
Aug '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
I agree with Mollie about Blackbird. It's hard for me to find any of the top 10 on the RS list to remove. It's all a matter of taste in the end. I'd also throw songs on the list like Norwegian Wood, Got To Get You Into My Life, All You Need is Love, and some of the earlier songs (like Eight Days a Week, Can't Buy Me Love, A Hard Day's Night, and She Loves You).
I'm also a fan of I'm Only Sleeping, and Revolution as mentioned in James' list.
With a band with such a breadth of work as the Beatles it becomes hard to quantify songs into discrete number slots. Like with U2's work (being a big fan), I just classify songs as being a "top 5", "top 10", or "top 20" song for me even though I'd list more songs than would fit in such a list.
May '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
Where's Mark Steyn when you need him? As writers and performers the Beatles are so far down my list that anything that includes their names and the word "top" is viewed as an exercise in absurdity. The Gershwins, Berlin, Porter, Kern, Rogers and his H's... not great singers but great purveyors of song. (The great Johnny Mercer being the exception to that rule.)
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
Aaron Miller: Writers make lists when they don't know what to write. But lists are fun.
James, as I recall, you're a fellow grunge fan. Can I coax you into a Grunge Top 10?
Such a list might be timely. Rex (Pantera) and friends seem to be attempting a grunge revival. · Aug 26 at 11:48am
Top 10 Grunge Songs Not All By Alice in Chains
1. "Rooster," Alice in Chains
2. "The Man Who Sold the World," Nirvana
3. "Army of Me," Helmet
4. "Burden in My Hand," Soundgarden
5. "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart," Stone Temple Pilots
6. "Yellow Ledbetter," Pearl Jam
7. "Rain When I Die," Alice in Chains
8. "Drain You," Nirvana
9. "River of Deceit," Mad Season
10. "Bound For the Floor," Local H
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
I was 'hoping' some intrepid member would step forward to decry the Beatles as tenth-rate pop hacks. But as epochal a song as it was, EJ, I hardly think your pantheon has a place for the band that gave us "Take My Breath Away."
May '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
James, I am not saying they didn't impact. They did. But so do asteroids.
In the history of pop music there have been torchbearers that lead, change and define eras. At 200 words I can't possibly develop my thesis fully. But in a nutshell, the top 10 folks that changed music forever (in chronological order):
1. WC Handy
2. Al Jolson
3. Louis Armstrong
4. George Gershwin
5. Bing Crosby
6. Rogers and Hammerstein
7. Hank Williams
8. Frank Sinatra
9. Elvis Presley
10. The Beatles
Jul '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
Grunge is for those who can't play their instruments with any alacrity or competency.
It's punk rock played in slow motion.
At least the Ramones played fast.
Edited on Aug 26, 2010 at 1:03pmJun '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
Top 10 Conservative Beatles Songs:
10. Yesterday
9. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da*
8. Think For Yourself
7. Get Back
6. Rocky Racoon
5. Penny Lane
4. Can't Buy Me Love
3. Revolution**
2. Let It Be
1. Taxman
* excluding the line "Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face"
** favorite line: "You say you'll change the constitution / Well, you know / We all want to change your head"
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
Michael Tee: Grunge is for those who can't play their instruments with any alacrity or competency.
It's punk rock played in slow motion.
At least the Ramones played fast. · Aug 26 at 1:02pm
Edited on Aug 26 at 01:03 pm
You won't get a defense of Nirvana out of me, Michael, but I defy you to listen to Alice in Chains' Dirt and tell me this a lifeless, incompetent band at work. Of course the Ramones were geniuses. I saw Dee Dee play solo in a tiny shotgun club about a decade ago and the only thing that could be said by the time he was done was what he said to me as he headed backstage: "Rock and roll."
May '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
Thanks, James. I'll post my own list after I've done some thinking, and reconnected some of those titles with the songs.
The Beatles, like Ozzy, are more enjoyable to listen to when the lyrics were clearly not written by a toddler.
Michael Tee: Grunge is for those who can't play their instruments with any alacrity or competency.
It's punk rock played in slow motion.
At least the Ramones played fast. · Aug 26 at 1:02pm
Edited on Aug 26 at 01:03 pm
Punk rock confuses angst with power. Speed and complexity in music, as in dancing, are as likely to kill it as improve it.
I still find it amusing sometimes that it was a punk friend who introduced me to The Black Crowes.
May '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
As opposed to confusing Rock with music. I totally abhor the genre. Bing Crosby singing Hey, Jude or Sinatra warbling Mrs.Robinson is just as repulsive as the originals. There was something about the era of the professional tunesmith that produced a level of artistry since unmatched.
One of the great highlights of my life was being cited as a source in a Mark Steyn Song of the Week column.
May '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
Alright, here's mine (chosen more for the bands than the songs). I could repeat some of yours, but we need to expose these philistines to as many great grunge songs as possible. On that note, shame on you for including the Local H song.
I'll skip Nirvana, since Cobain was a musician whose skill at expression never caught up to his imagination (thus, not good for first impressions).
1. Alice in Chains - "Down in a Hole"
2. Stone Temple Pilots - "Wicked Garden"
3. Temple of the Dog - "Say Hello to Heaven"
4. Mother Love Bone - "Stargazer"
5. King's X - "Prisoner"
6. Gruntruck - "Slow Scorch"
7. Soundgarden - "Spoonman"
8. Circus of Power - "Shine"
9. Candlebox - "Blossom"
... and, though he preceded the label, the man who really invented the sound:
10. Jimi Hendrix - "Castles Made of Sand"
Oh, and, EJ, did music really come to a screeching halt in the 1960s?
May '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
EJHill
As opposed to confusing Rock with music.
I guess that answers that question.
Jul '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
Grunge lists without Soundgarden's Fell on Black Days? I think I just died a little inside.
May '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
Aaron - Good choice of word, "screeching."
At the end of the day, Bono listens to Sinatra. John Lennon was a huge Crosby fan. Phil Collins ran his own big band. Try Sussudio with a 17-piece swing band. Outstanding.
Jun '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
My Top 10 Nirvana Songs:
* cover of the Bowie classic
May '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
EJHill
At the end of the day, Bono listens to Sinatra. John Lennon was a huge Crosby fan.
I'm an avid fan of Crosby as well, but that doesn't mean I sing like him. Bono is a crooner, but U2 sounds nothing like Sinatra's jazz.
There are just 12 notes, a few common beats, and a handful of rhythms. Nuance is everything.
And, in case you're one of those silly fellows (like so many of James' older First Things colleagues) who objects to distorted guitar, let me draw your attention to the natural distortion of brass instruments like the trumpet and tuba.
I wonder, do you like Henry Mancini? Some people object to rock, I think, because they dislike the steady beat induced by a drumset.
Anything off Superunknown is worthy of mention.
Jul '10
Re: Top 10 Beatles Songs: An Exercise in Absurdity?
For a musician, musicianship is important. Perhaps instead of a flame-out nearly talentless band like Nirvana, we can discuss the top 10 Rush songs?
1. Tom Sawyer
2. YYZ*
3. Between Sun and Moon
4. Subdivisions
5. The Trees
6. Time Stand Still
7. Closer to the Heart
8. Red Barchetta
9. Red Sector A
10. Nobody's Hero
*When people sing along to an instrumental, you've got something.
Edited on Aug 26, 2010 at 3:58pm