Though both were killer, I give "Real Love" the nod as the superior of the two new Beatles songs that we got with the Anthology compilations. Lennon's original demo of the song was more complete and not as rough as "Free As A Bird", so Paul, George, and Ringo essentially acted as session men by playing along to a pre-existing arrangement. Much production work still had to be done to make it gel, the key being tweaked in studio for one thing. George Harrison's finest guitar solo could be in "Real Love" as well, which is impressive in the fact that he virtually stopped doing solos for the previous two decades before this song was tracked.
Written specifically for George Harrison to sing, John and Paul both effortlessly hammered out "I'm Happy Just To Dance with You". Such gems were simply able to be factory produced by the duo at this point. There is not much to the song, not much to the lyric, but it is just the happiest and hookiest goddamn thing. It was the first song that The Beatles recorded on a Sunday, the sequence in the Hard Day's Night film was the first promotional "music video" that George sang lead on, and the song begins with the last part of the bridge. Then it is all done and over with before it even hits the two minute mark. This is damn near the best song on the album, and easily the best George song that he sang without writing.
Trumping even "Yesterday" on Help! for me is Paul's finest two-minutes and seven seconds on said album, "I've Just Seen A Face". Interestingly, the song was recorded on the same day as "Yesterday", (as well as "I'm Down"), so Paul's vocals definitely got a work out on June 14th, 1965. The up-tempo folk of "Face" has no bass line, but it does have a lot of acoustic guitars and some quick brushwork from Ringo, as well as some intricate wordplay going on in the lyrics. It ultimately shows that even when they were not utilizing sophisticated chord structures, they could still produce gold with just a couple of cowboy ones.
One spot above "I've Just Seen A Face" is the best song on Help! and possibly be the best Dylan-inspired Beatles song period in "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away". Both John and Paul have said that the former was just channeling his inner-Robert Zimmerman when composing this one and it certainly shows. It is a melancholy folk song with self-depreciating lyric, ultimately displaying a growing sophistication in The Beatles writing as they continued to move away from "P.S. I Love You" type territory. This rarely has no harmony or background vocals, but it does have a lovely flute solo performed by John Scott, (not George's gardener who mimed it in the film, BTW).
Well if "Norwegian Wood" is also Dylan-inspired, then it has to take the nod ahead of "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" as the best song that rock's greatest lyricist gave John Lennon inspiration for. These might actually be my favorite lyrics that John ever wrote while in the group. Though there is some disagreement once again as to Paul's involvement, the middle eight seems to be from McCartney according to sources, sans a later John interview where he said "Wood" was 100% his. It is about an affair that he was having at the time after all, ("Bird" being British slang for a female). Of course, George Harrison famously introduced the sitar into the Beatles world on this song, doubling its most memorable guitar hook throughout.
In the forward interview for The Beatles Recording Sessions book, Paul McCartney said that "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" was his favorite Beatles song. Which prompted a laugh from the author/interviewer. It also did from me, not because it was such a daft choice which it is, but also because I could nearly agree with him. At once, this is easily the most ridiculous Beatles song and also the funniest. The only lyrics are its title, and the originally released version that was a b-side to the "Let It Be" single goes through four different musical styles in just as many minutes. The opening rock section has some great vocals, but definitely my favorite bit is the lounge-act ending where John sings laugh-out-loud funny gibberish over it. Then McCartney's "Ooo...ooo's" come in and I lose it. Also great and completely random is that the alto sax solo is played by Brian Jones from The Rolling Stones of all people.
My favorite moment in the Hard Day's Night film is the early train sequence and its accompanying musical number with "I Should Have Known Better". This was the last time that a harmonica intro was used on a Beatles track and you would guess right to think that it was also the best harmonica anything on a Beatles track. The highlight to the A Hard Day's Night album as well, this is the band at their most catchy, melodic, and jovial. Still prominently featuring acoustic guitars, it was also one of the first to utilize George Harrison's famous Rickenbacker electric 12-string, which would get a considerable workout on other Beatles songs from here on out.
Just before The Beatles embarked on their Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Transcendental meditation retreat in Rishikesh, India in February of 1968, they hastily recorded "Hey Bulldog". It was actually documented on film, though ironically the crew hired for the undertaking was only there to get footage for a "Lady Madonna" promo video. So if you watch said music video, the song which the band is performing is actually this one. According to acquaintances, it also marks one of the last times that the band were all on board and cheerfully enthusiastic in the studio, before The Beatles (The White Album) sessions later in the year began a period of tension within the band's dynamic. "Bulldog" was released on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack and is easily the best thing on it. The piano/guitar riff is one of the greatest by any band, and along with "Silly Love Songs", this is the most impressive bass playing of Paul McCartney's entire career.
Until John Lennon made the Plastic Ono Band album, "This Boy" was the finest vocal performance that he ever gave, showcased best in the glorious middle eight section. The rest of the song represents John, Paul, and George closely harmonizing in top form, ranking just under "Because" as their finest such moment. Plus the song itself is gorgeous, an attempt by John to write a Smokey Robinson-esque, slow Motown ballad. Except of course it is superior to any Motown ballad ever conceived, says this guy right here. "This Boy" was recorded in fifteen takes, the same day as its a-side single counterpart "I Want To Hold Your Hand", as well as the band's first fan club Christmas single, which were always goofy to say the least.
The second most covered Beatles song this side of "Yesterday", John's favorite track off Abbey Road, Paul's favorite George Harrison song period, the only George-written and sung A-side to go to number one in the US whilst in the band, plus one hellova beautiful ballad is "Something". Any and everyone can agree that by the time that The Beatles began putting their final album Abbey Road together, George was on par with his bandmates John and Paul, if not in quantity making the final cut, then easily in quality. "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun" are arguably the two best songs on the album. George began toying with it as early as The Beatles (The White Album) recording sessions and later claimed that he wrote it about both god and Pattie Boyd (Harrison), citing the love a woman as the same as the love of a higher power.
The prize for the best George Harrison-penned song in The Beatles catalog goes to Rubber Soul's "If I Needed Someone". This one grew and grew as a favorite of mine as sometime probably in the last two years or so I had to up and admit that it was better than "Something", if only by a hair. George openly admitted and was directly inspired by The Byrds here, specifically two different songs, their version of "The Bells of Rhymney" and "She Don't Care About Time". The results are the finest 12-string work on a Beatles song. This was also the only George-written original that the band played live, even making an appearance at their last concert at Candlestick Park on Aug 29th, 1966. One cannot discuss this song without bringing up the hilarious lyrics. George is basically saying, "Yeah if I was single, you'd do fine" and "I'll call you if I need someone". What a dick, ha.
Where this one is concerned, I can defend my favoring of The Beatles' more silly songs on the basis that "Why Don't We Do It In the Road?" has the best vocals outside of "Hey Jude" that Paul McCartney ever laid down. Similar to "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)", this simply features the song's title sung over and over again with the occasional "No one will be watching us" line thrown in. The simplest of inspiration came from McCartney watching two monkeys go at it in Rishikesh, India, at which point the Beatle thought to himself, "If only humans could so casually bone like that". I assume those were his exact words. Paul cut a version entirely by himself on Oct 9th, 1968 while John and George were busy elsewhere, and then the next day he cut the final version with Ringo while the other two Beatles once again were overseeing overdubs to "Glass Onion" and "Piggies".
John's best The Beatles (White Album) song was famously written about Mia Farrow's sister Prudence who got so into the whole meditation part during the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi retreat in Rishikesh, India that she refused to leave her bungalow until she reached the ultimate state of higher consciousness. Apparently, John and a few others used to sing to her to come out and play, to no avail. Though truth be told, this song could be about scrotums and pancakes and it would still be fantastic. John, Paul, and George recorded it Ringo-less on Aug 28th-30th at Trident Studios as their drummer had temporarily quit the band at the time. Paul also supplied drums to the album's opener "Back In the U.S.S.R.", making "Dear Prudence" the second song in a row on the album to not feature Mr. Starr. Paul does a more than admirable job on both of these tracks, but "Prudence" excels everywhere from the bass part, to George's lead guitar, to of course the finger-picked guitar melody and John's flawless vocal.
Once again, The Beatles cleverly use the slang "bird" to mean a woman, "Blackbird" taking its inspiration from the racial injustices in the U.S. at the time in 1968. This poetic masterpiece from Paul is the ultimate highlight on The Beatles (The White Album), and after reading this whole thing, you can tell that that is saying something as nearly that entire album made this list. Paul performed the song solo on June 11th, 1968, tapping his feet audibly along with playing a Martin acoustic. Similar to "Yesterday" three years previously, George Martin simply let Paul go, only actual blackbird noises and part of the double-tracked vocal getting added on later. Musically, "Blackbird" is classically inspired by the Bach piece "Bourrée In E Minor", something that both Paul and George attempted to learn as teenagers to show off to the other kids and musicians, (and probably "birds"), to impress them.
As a piece of recording studio art, Sgt. Pepper's closer "A Day In the Life" is at once the culmination of the entire album and what The Beatles in general where trying to accomplish after they had stopped touring. Meaning that this is a studio creation that could not be duplicated live, at least not accurately. Comprised of two distinct sections, the bulk of the song by John and the "Woke up, got out of bed" part from Paul, "Day" segues them together with "an orgasm of sound" as George Martin described it. A full orchestra was told to start from the lowest note on their instruments and slowly build up to the highest within a twenty-four bar span. The 100 Best Beatles Songs book by Stephen J. Spignesi and Michael Lewis placed this at the top spot, and they make a convincing argument. Which is actually hardly necessary for anyone who has heard it, meaning everyone at this point.
As astounding as "A Day In the Life" came out, the first on the double a-side, post-live performance era Beatles single "Strawberry Fields Forever" is arguably the greatest studio-enhanced rock song in from anybody. The name and nostalgic lyrics came from a Salvation Army children's home that was around the corner from where John grew up in Liverpool, but the track itself is anything but nostalgic. Instead, it is a bold leap towards the future of what a band could do with no rule book in the recording studio. John wrote the song in Spain whilst filming How I Won the War and upon bringing it in to work on, George Martin, engineer Geoff Emerick, and the rest of the group took their time turning it into the dazzling finished product that it is. Several versions of the song were tracked and worked on, John consistently not satisfied with the results. Ultimately, he insisted that his producer and engineer figure out a way to mold together the last two versions which were in different keys and tempos. Much tape modulation later, the end result was birthed. "Strawberry Fields" is as gorgeous as it is innovative, a common theme in Beatles music.
The Abbey Road closer "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End" is not only the perfect three part punch for The Beatles to go out on, but it is impossible to argue that it is not one of the greatest pieces of music ever conceived. All three songs were Paul McCartney-authored, as was the idea to do a side-long medley in the first place. Paul swiped the "Golden Slumbers" lyrics from the lullaby "Cradle Song", "Carry That Weight" is another moment where the Beatles then financial affairs inspired the words, and "The End" contains Paul, George, and John gloriously trading leads for the only time ever, Ringo's one and only drum solo, and possibly the Beatles most famous lyric in "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make". Chris Farley said it was awesome and who are we to argue with him?
The highest personal favorite Beatles song of mine, (meaning one that is not a universally lauded single), Let It Be's opening track "Two of Us" was recorded live at Apple Studios on January 31st, 1969. It is the best acoustic guitar-driven Beatles song and could be my very favorite folk-fueled pop song ever written. Paul is the sole composer here, but it is he and John's closely harmonized vocals that make it so wonderful. Several lines such as "You and I have memories, longer than the road that stretches" and "You and I chasing paper, getting nowhere" clearly seem to be about he and John's soon-to-be ending partnership, making "Two of Us" bittersweet. I still smile easily when I hear it though, since the melody, guitar lick, and George's bass line, (that was actually played on a guitar), are all excellence in song form. Ultimately, "Two of Us" proves that even as the band had all but imploded at this point in their history, they were still capable of delivering a quiet, restraint, and beautiful ballad where everything about it just about represents all of The Beatles' powers at their strongest.
Even now as I type this, I have to admit that there may someday come a time where I have to fess up and admit that "Hey Jude" is in fact the greatest Beatles song of all time. It is not that I am too "punk rock" to consider arguably the band's most famous and successful song their best, but every time that I listen to it, I do have to question if anything else by the group is better. Much is known about how Paul wrote "Hey Jude" originally as "Hey Jules", a song to John's son Julian whose parents were going through a divorce at the time. After playing it for John, the latter assured his bandmate that he had hit it out of the park and even years later, John continued to heap the highest of praise upon "Hey Jude". The first part is as good as anything gets, but of course the famous four-plus minute finale and fade-out remains one of the most well-recognized and cherished pieces of music ever. I for one wish it was even ten minutes longer. Not just because I cannot get enough of the "Na, na, na, nanananaaaaa's", but also because Paul's vocal ad-libs during said section represent the finest vocal performance any Beatle gave.
I wish I had some profound, personal story as to why "Let It Be" is my favorite Beatles song. The truth is though that as long as I have been a fan of this band, (which has been since at least age eleven), this has trumped them all. At this point in my life, all signs point to the fact that this will never change and I have long been most comfortable with this fact. One listen to "Let It Be" again, (and I have heard it countless times), just reaffirms my feelings that even when I was a kid, I knew damn well what the best thing this group ever did was. The title track from the last released and second last to be recorded Beatles album, Paul wrote it as a gospel tune, and two different versions were released. I have preferred the album one since I heard it as it has one of George Harrison's finest guitar solos, if not his very finest. Billy Preston also contributes fantastically with organ and electric piano. The first minute and fifteen seconds-ish of this song is just stunning stuff. I could go on and on with my love of these songs, but you get the idea. The Beatles are the world's greatest band. Done and done.
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