The Beatles wrote so many great songs. How can anyone decide what are their ‘best songs’?

Would it be their most popular recordings, the most covered songs, the ones with the best melodies, lyrics, production? Perhaps the ones that were groundbreaking, different, original?

In our previous course on popular music, we looked at what characteristics make a song so wonderful that people remember it over fifty years after it was written. It’s worthwhile having a look when we talk about the Beatles’ repertoire.

At home, I have a book named “The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs (Rolling Stone)“. According to it, here are the leading ones: “A Day in the Life”; “I Want to Hold Your Hand”; “Strawberry Fields Forever”; “Yesterday”; “In My Life”; “Something”; “Hey Jude”; “Let It Be”; “Come Together”; “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. And there are so many lists online.

In this class we’ll study two of these ‘top ten’ songs (in Red, previous page) and two others ranked in the book as # 22 – “Eleanor Rigby” and #82 – “She’s Leaving Home”.  I might add that my personal favorite is “Here, There and Everywhere” which is also one of Paul’s favorites (lucky for that). If you are upset about my choices, please post one of your favorites on the next page.

But first this is a great way to spend nine minutes, understanding what makes the Beatles music so wonderful. Rick Beato looks at their short (less than one minute) masterpiece from Abbey Road, “The End”. It’s easier to comprehend if you’re a musician.

puts it all together at 7:30

from 1:28

Or if you’re still in doubt, just listen to Because

(a John Lennon classic, I hasten to add).

Voices together from 6:50

singing starts at 0:29

What makes the song “In My Life” from Rubber Soul so special? Lennon’s transition from just a run-of-the-mill pop writer to a soul searching lyricist? Dylan’s influence? The genius instrumental by George Martin? The great melody? The intro? The homage to Stu Sutcliffe? Or maybe we should just sit back and enjoy the masterpiece?

There are places I’ll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain

All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I’ve loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new

Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

In my life, with lyrics

In my life solo

What makes Eleanor Rigby from Revolver so special? The weird and wonderful lyrics? The strange occurrence of Eleanor Rigby’s tombstone at the church where John and Paul first met? The weird melody? The accompaniment? You decide.

If you’re not familiar with the song, first go through the lyrics. Then flip the page to hear the instrumental backing (two string quartets, no Beatles). Then go back and listen to the song, paying attention to the music while you hear the singing.

Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been,
Lives in a dream Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door  Who is it for?

All the lonely people Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people Where do they all belong?

Father Mckenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there’s nobody there
What does he care?

All the lonely people Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people Where do they all belong?

Ah, look at all the lonely people…

Ah, look at all the lonely people…

Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father Mckenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave   

No one was saved

All the lonely people Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people Where do they all belong?

All the lonely people Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people Where do they all belong?

Ah, look at all the lonely people…

Ah, look at all the lonely people…

What is so special about “She’s Leaving Home” from “Sgt. Pepper“? If you ask me, I think it’s the interplay between the viewpoint of the young and impatient lover, with the voices of the distressed adult parents. Again, it’s not a rock and roll song that you can dance to, is it (unless you like to waltz).

Look at the lyrics, then listen to the string accompaniment (compare it to the accompaniment to Eleanor Rigby – is it better or not?)

“She’s Leaving Home”

Wednesday morning at five o’clock as the day begins
Silently closing her bedroom door
Leaving the note that she hoped would say more
She goes downstairs to the kitchen clutching her handkerchief
Quietly turning the backdoor key
Stepping outside she is freeShe (We gave her most of our lives)
Is leaving (Sacrificed most of our lives)
Home (We gave her everything money could buy)
She’s leaving home after living alone
For so many years (Bye bye)Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown
Picks up the letter that’s lying there
Standing alone at the top of the stairs
She breaks down and cries to her husband “Daddy our baby’s gone
Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly?
How could she do this to me?”

A Day in the Life might be considered their greatest song. Two songs, actually, like an Oreo sandwich, with Paul’s ditty in the middle. The song was revolutionary in several ways, as was the album it comes from (Sargeant Pepper). No wonder it was censored!

Lyrics

A day in the life

And now, my own personal favorite, ever since I saw the original page with the lyrics of the song in the British Museum. I just read that it’s not only one of Paul’s favorites, but also Art Garfunkel’s favorite Beatles song. So I am in good company.

To lead a better life
I need my love to be here

Here, making each day of the year
Changing my life with the wave of her hand
Nobody can deny that there’s something there

There, running my hands through her hair
Both of us thinking how good it can be
Someone is speaking, but she doesn’t know he’s there

I want her everywhere
And if she’s beside me, I know I need never care
But to love her is to need her everywhere
Knowing that love is to share
Each one believing that love never dies
Watching her eyes and hoping I’m always there

One reason I fell in love with this song was Arik Einstein’s cover.

Compare with another lovely melodic love song:

What is special about the accompaniment?

Oh, and one more thing. We all know and love Hey Jude.

from 0:56

But what about the same song in a minor key? Is it worse, better, or are we just ‘used’ to the original version? You decide.

Oh, and one more thing. Many people think that Hey Jude started out as Hey Jules, a song consoling Julian Lennon for his parents’ divorce. But I just heard that Paul wrote it about a girl named Judith B., at the time an art student who hung out with Paul during those years. Another legend? Go know.

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If you like it, you might also want to read:

Mel’s Mantras for a Better Life – Straight from the Music of the Sixties to You!!

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