Worst Beatles song?

[St. Jarvitude]

I love the Beatles. It's hard for me to admit that the four creative geniuses (yes, even Ringo) known as the Beatles could produce subpar music, but I'm going to do it now.

I used to say that Wild Honey Pie was my least favorite Beatles song. But that was before I heard "You Know My Name, Look Up The Number"

Oh God.

Oh God.

Why, why, why, why, why, WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WOULD ANYBODY THINK THAT THIS SONG WAS WORTHY OF EVER EVEN THINKING ABOUT RECORDING LET ALONE KEEPING

LET ALONE PRODUCING

LET ALONE RELEASING

:nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[XanaDUer]

1. Mr. Moonlight.

Hands down.

[LoZoccolo]

4. That's not one of their songs I don't think.

Remember they were a rip-off cover band boy band to begin with.

[XanaDUer]

8. Don't think they wrote it

but it sucked, nonetheless.

[grannylib]

5. forgot about that one! 'besame mucho' was pretty sucky too...did they

ever actually record that?

[BlackVelvetElvis]

12. "Besame Mucho" - only legit. on the "Anthology" series.

I quite like that one. "If You've Got Trouble", however, should've been destroyed.

[St. Jarvitude]

17. Oh God no

Anthology 2 was pretty solid (especially Disc 2 and the end of Disc 1) except for that little shop of horrors :shiver:

[grannylib]

2. yeah that's pretty bad! i hate 'here there and everywhere'

WAY sappy. emmylou harris' version was better.

[elperromagico]

3. "Don't Pass Me By" is pretty bad,

especially with that horribly amateurish drum track...

Et tu, Ringo?

[BlackVelvetElvis]

6. Yeah, that's a bad one.

Maybe even worse than Revolution #9. At least that one gave us food for thought; such as "what was John thinking?"

[swag]

7. Paul McCartney's ineffably twee

"When I'm Sixty-four"

[jonnyblitz]

9. yeah that one.

bleh.

[bigmonkey]

10. You Know My Name.

Frankly, that's always been one of my favorite Beatles songs. The song is a very inventive, goofy spoof. It's a spoof, a joke, get it? A clever joke by one of the most talented groups of musicians to ever exit. I can't stop laughing when I hear it.

[immoderate]

18. You are right.

"You Know My Name" is one of their best.

--IMM

[bigmonkey]

30. Two things.

1) For people who didn't grow up with them, they probably won't know what they're spoofing in "You Know My Name". It wouldn't be as amusing to me, I'm sure, if it didn't connote so much. You could say that's a problem with this song, in fact, that it is so topical in an obscure way.
2) This song also reminds me of something that has been somewhat lost with time: the Beatles were damn funny. Their music was incredible, and they were really funny to listen to _as people_. This is an unusual combination, to be treasured when it happens by.

[immoderate]

39. That's why some folks here don't get "Mr. Moonlight"

"Beatles '65" was a very funny album. Had "I'm A Loser" one of the most satirical songs. The whole album is a hoot. You can hear them laughing.

On edit: That's why this thread is silly. There is no bad Beatles song. Every one has a story. Every one is a part of history.

--IMM

[H2O Man]

69. When I was young

and playing that song, my Mom and Auntie came in from two rooms away, and said, "Oh my goodness! You like _______?" And they started to dance with wild abdomen, as John was want to say. I explained it wasn't ________, but was in fact The Beatles. They refused to believe me until I showed them the 45 rpm.

The song is, in many ways, a John and George creation. It is also, in large part, a response to "You're Mother Should Know" from "Magical Mystery Tour."

[AntiCoup2K4]

36. And the saxophone on the song was played by none other than....

[bigmonkey]

47. Never knew that.

That saxophone is just perfect, very cheesy.

[elshiva]

49. That song is fucking hilarious!

I love the scat man fade out and Paul doing Dennis O'Dell (actually making fun of the lounge singer Dennis O'Bell).

[elshiva]

50. "You know me number one/ You know me number two

/you know me name and number/ What's up with you."

[bigmonkey]

52. There's also the strange surrealistic/psychedelic quality to saying:

"You know my name, so look up the number." The number. Actually, as I write this, that word looks particularly strange.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

54. You'd probably enjoy the Beatles Christmas Album

Now available on bootleg: All the exclusive christmastime fan club recordings from 1963 until they broke up. They got more surreal as the years went by.
If you have the original on vinyl, you have something very valuable.

[H2O Man]

66. "some of my beast friends...."

the holiday albums are great.

[elshiva]

55. I liked the "woo-hoo-hoo-hoo" sound effects.

[H2O Man]

67. I believe that's Ringo ......

if you listen to John introduce Dennis, you will hear him say Ringo. (Of course John also thanks Ringo after Paul's live solo of Yesterday.)

[elshiva]

72. Actually it sounds like Paul, even though I hear

John say, "Come On, Ringo, Dennis O'Dell."

[Jeebo]

13. You're just plain nuts! "When I'm 64" is one of the BEST beatles songs!

I played it for my parents when they turned 64. I was waiting for them to turn 64 for a long time so I could do that. "When I'm 64", "A Day In The Life" and "Lovely Rita Metermaid" are my favorite songs on the Sgt. Pepper's album, which with the White album are their best two albums.

Ron

[jonnyblitz]

15. I loved the White Album but got tired of Sgt Peppers. nt

[St. Jarvitude]

16. Go away

;)

That is one of my favorite Beatles songs, if only for the awesome chimes part. The arrangement is spectacular.

[Floogeldy]

45. You need to learn to differentiate between "song" and "style."

B-)

[coloradodem2005]

11. Revolution #9.

That one felt a little, I don't know what to say.

[immoderate]

20. You're on to something.

But the Beatles, in their wisdom, chose to throw it in anyway.:shrug:

--IMM

[jeff30997]

27. Number nine...Number nine...Number nine...Number nine...

:silly: Number nine...Number nine...Number nine...:silly:

[Dukkha]

40. very bad yes but...

Still better than any Oasis song :P

[Jeebo]

14. What's WRONG with you? I LIKE "Wild Honey Pie."

There AREN'T any Beatles songs I don't like. There are some that are kind of bland and not up to their usual standards, though.

Ron

[Floogeldy]

19. This is negative, unproductive and degrading

I see no reason to attempt to reduce The Beatles.

[St. Jarvitude]

23. Recognizing their poor efforts only makes their best look even better

Especially when you realize that You Know My Name, Look Up The Number or Don't Pass Me By are the worst they could do, but yet still beat the shit out of a lot of the best a lot of bands put out.

[LoZoccolo]

24. The Beatles aren't perfect.

Score one for Oasis.

[swag]

25. Hey,

sometimes they just sucked.

They were mostly great, sure, but they had some sucky songs.

[Rabrrrrrr]

21. The ones with Paul either singing or playing or both

:evilgrin:

[LoZoccolo]

22. "Carry That Weight"

The little reprise of "You Never Give Me Your Money" in there was a taste of some pretty bad things to come from Paul McCartney and Wings. When bands try to do stuff that you see in like musicals or operas it starts to really suck and get tired.

[liberalpragmatist]

29. "WHAAAAA?"

Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End is SPECTACULAR - one of the best moments on any Beatles record!

You have no soul!

[NightTrain]

26. "Within You, Without You."

Bleah!

[montana_hazeleyes]

28. I don't know how this happened,

but when "Hey Jude" came out I absolutely loved it. Now, I can't stand to hear it.

[liberalpragmatist]

32. Eh, no mystery - overplayed

And it is LOOONG. I personally love it, but I wasn't around when it must have been ubiquitous.

It really is a great song. Great lyrics, great chord progression, very majestic. But it's become overplayed.

[montana_hazeleyes]

60. That makes a lot of sense.

:-)

[liberalpragmatist]

31. I've always HATED "What Goes On?"

Horrible. Absolutely vile.

Wild Honey Pie is pretty terrible too, but at least its just a harmless segue and it does fit with the whole White Album concept.

[fallout]

33. so you ran out of ideas for a topic, eh? nt

[St. Jarvitude]

35. What? (nt)

[AntiCoup2K4]

34. "What's The New Mary Jane"

Even "Revolution #9" was more coherent than that shit. What was Lennon thinking?

[liberalpragmatist]

37. Well, to be fair, he never released it

It was only on the anthology that we were given this abomination, and then it had some historical value.

Seriously, I'm sure if we were to exhume every recording any artist ever made I'm sure we'd find an awful lot of HORRIBLE stuff that was recorded before better judgement prevailed.

[AntiCoup2K4]

53. I don't know..... I've heard a lot of Beatles bootlegs

Including about 20 or so volumes of outtakes from the Let It Be sessions, and there are some awful, weird, and just hilarious moments in there. But nothing reaches the level of horror that "Mary Jane" did.

[liberalpragmatist]

59. Tell me about the "Let it Be" sessions

I've always wanted to get my hands on some of those bootlegs. Number 1, where do you get them? I'm wary of bootleg internet sites.

Number 2, could you tell me a bit about some of these songs that I've heard are good but unreleased:

1) Castle of the King of Birds - I might have the title somewhat wrong.

2) White Power - or something like that.

3) Watching Rainbows

In general, what are some good unreleased tunes from there?

Oh, and how are the Beatles' versions of "All Things Must Pass"? (I've always WISHED that that song was done by the Beatles on Let it Be - it would have been perfect).

[martymar64]

38. Maxwells Silver Hammer

I always thought it was syrupy dreck. Paul definitely phoned that one in.

Best Song: In My Life

That one makes this 6'2" 230 pounder cry every time.

[bigmonkey]

42. But, but

Doesn't it cut against the syrupy music that the protagonist, Maxwell, is a charismatic serial killer?

[Dave Sund]

43. I liked Silver Hammer

It's one of those songs that is hilarious in it's own twisted way. "Run For Your Life" is another.

[burrowowl]

41. Almost all of them

I was of the age and besieged by my girl friends' Beatle-mania. Difficult times, difficult times.

[Dave Sund]

46. Blasphemy!

I'll leave the rest of them to eat you alive. ;)

[burrowowl]

57. Let's say that

I preferred Xenakis at the time or Joan Baez, love Tangerine Dream, some of Pink Floyd.
I'm mostly conterpoint. Can't help what one is. My mother loved Elvis gave me King Creole Album for birthday, the song I liked best was Crawfish, a ballad.

[Swamp Rat]

62. Mmm! Crawfish!

:9

[burrowowl]

64. Yes!

River ones, not farm ones!
Yum, yum, yum!

[BulletproofLandshark]

44. Paperback Writer

It was ruined for me when Kris Kristofferson covered it on a Beatles tribute album about 10 years ago, not that I liked the original much anyway.

[bigmonkey]

51. Great line in that song, though.

"It's based on a novel by a man named Lear and I need a job and I want to be a paperback writer." I love that line, it's so breathless and urgent and revealing.

[AntiCoup2K4]

56. I got that tribute album. Who dreamed that one up anyway?

Predominately a bunch of country singers doing Beatles covers? What a concept. I only bought the thing for Phil Keaggy's cover of "We Can Work It Out" knowing that he would pull it off since he sings like McCartney anyway. I'm sure Paul thought the string quartet he tacked on to the beginning of that was a nice touch.

[NightTrain]

58. That's one of my favorite Beatles tunes.

Different strokes, I guess.

[BulletproofLandshark]

61. Don't get me wrong

I still think the worst Beatles song is better than 95% of everything else. It's just not my personal favorite

[Dr Fate]

48. The Mono "Don't Pass Me By." n/t

n/t

[CanuckAmok]

63. I Want You (She's So Heavy)

It's just too fucking much. Enough, already!

[Borgnine]

65. Revolution #9

I love the Beatles. I love the majority of their songs. Even their "bad" songs can be enjoyable to listen to. Not so with this one. Then again, it was more of a Yoko Ono song that John contributed to. Apparently, Paul, George, and Ringo hated it.

[Moloch]

68. Without a doubt would be Eleanor Rigby....

The lyrics just flow in a treacle. They are just picking any word that rhymes to go next. UGH....

[datasuspect]

70. it's an outtake

and actually very cute . . .

[Magrittes Pipe]

71. Yellow Submarine

And a few others:

"When I'm Sixty-Four"
"Lovely Rita"
"Fixing a Hole"
"All You Need Is Love"
"Martha My Dear"
"Rocky Raccoon"
"Honey Pie"
"Octopus' Garden"

Dreadful, dreadful lot.