22 Beatles Fab Faves!

[wilcox660]

http://progsheet1.hypermart.net/22beatles2020.html

Another fun list to peruse & provoke!

[Vic2012]

All good songs. Not all great, but good. Love of all those early songs from 63-65.

[SunRunner2]

Another fun and interesting list to peruse. Of those listed here, "Here, There & Everywhere", "I'll Follow The Sun" and "Only Sleeping" register with me. However, here are ten of the Fab Four songs that rise to the top of their catalogue from my perspective:

"Fool On The Hill"
"Here Comes The Sun"
"Something"
"My Guitar Gently Weeps"
"The Long And Winding Road"
"Fixing A Hole"
"Let It Be"
"A Day In The Life"
"Here, There And Everywhere"
"Blackbird"

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

No list that doesn't include "Tomorrow Never Knows" is worthy of my respect. Best thing Maclen ever wrote.

[SunRunner2]

No list that doesn't include "Tomorrow Never Knows" is worthy of my respect. Best thing Maclen ever wrote.

Probably more like LenMac;

"Tomorrow Never Knows" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney... Wiki

He wrote it in 1966 after reading a book on "The Psychedelic Experience".

It's all a matter of perspective, but I respect your opinion on that song and it's importance in your (and many others) view.

[Progatron]

Never been a big fan of "Girl", but otherwise I love or like everything on the list!

[wilcox660]

Do keep in mind that as far as the Beatles go with me, most of the list could change every 10 minutes! Those were my choices as I put keystroke to notepad!

[ronmac]

Probably more like LenMac;

"Tomorrow Never Knows" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney... Wiki

He wrote it in 1966 after reading a book on "The Psychedelic Experience".

It's all a matter of perspective, but I respect your opinion on that song and it's importance in your (and many others) view.

Indeed. In fact, Timothy Leary should get more writing credit than McCartney.

[SunRunner2]

Indeed. In fact, Timothy Leary should get more writing credit than McCartney.

Ain't that the truth:

“Leary was the one going round saying, ‘take it, take it, take it,’” Lennon remembered in 1980, “and we followed his instructions in his ‘how to take a trip’ book. I did it just like he said in the book, and then I wrote ‘Tomorrow Never Knows,’ which was almost the first acid song: ‘Lay down all thought, surrender to the void,’ and all that sh*t which Leary had pinched from ‘The Book Of The Dead.’”

[wilcox660]

Ain't that the truth:

“Leary was the one going round saying, ‘take it, take it, take it,’” Lennon remembered in 1980, “and we followed his instructions in his ‘how to take a trip’ book. I did it just like he said in the book, and then I wrote ‘Tomorrow Never Knows,’ which was almost the first acid song: ‘Lay down all thought, surrender to the void,’ and all that sh*t which Leary had pinched from ‘The Book Of The Dead.’”

Then I guess I'd say credit the book of the dead.

[AncientChord]

With the recent death of Beatles photographer Astrid Kirchherr, I've drifted back to my youth and my undying love for The Beatles, a love that instantly started when I viewed them on the American TV show, The Ed Sullivan Show, in February 1964. I was only 9 years old, and they changed my life, and a zillion more, forever. Here are my personal "Fab" favorites. Sorry, many more than 22:

PLEASE PLEASE ME
ALL MY LOVING
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT
AND I LOVE HER
ANY TIME AT ALL
THINGS WE SAID TODAY
EIGHT DAYS A WEEK
WHAT YOU'RE DOING
HELP!
THE NIGHT BEFORE
YOU'VE GOT TO HIDE YOUR LOVE AWAY
I NEED YOU
YOU'RE GOING LOSE THAT GIRL
TICKET TO RIDE
IT'S ONLY LOVE
YESTERDAY
NORWEGIAN WOOD
MICHELLE
IN MY LIFE
IF I NEEDED SOMEONE
PAPERBACK WRITER
TAXMAN
I'M ONLY SLEEPING
SHE SAID SHE SAID
DOCTOR ROBERT
I WANT TO TELL YOU
TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
THE ENTIRE SGT. PEPPER'S ALBUM
I AM THE WALRUS
DEAR PRUDENCE
JULIA
CRY BABY CRY
ONLY A NORTHERN SONG
HEY BULLDOG
SOMETHING
HERE COMES THE SUN
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
GET BACK
TWO OF US
LET IT BE

There are so many more, but these are essentials. Every lyric of these songs will stay with me until the end.

[Vic2012]

I saw them on Ed Sullivan too. I was 6 years old. It changed our lives. Then we saw A Hard Days Night. We screamed until our heads exploded. Unforgettable.

[AncientChord]

I saw them on Ed Sullivan too. I was 6 years old. It changed our lives. Then we saw A Hard Days Night. We screamed until our heads exploded. Unforgettable.

Yes witnessing real Beatlemania was surreal. I'll never forget being a little kid viewing both A Hard Day's Night and Help! in my local town theater. It was like the fab four were playing live. But the girls were all going mucho loco just watching those films. Of course I was still in pre-puberty. But I wonder now how many of those young teen girls actually wet their seats, and I don't mean peeing?!

[Mister Triscuits]

Never been a big fan of "Girl"

One of my all-time favorites. Even when I was a kid, hearing that song on the Beatles cartoon show, those lyrics hit me like a ton of bricks.

[ronmac]

One of my all-time favorites. Even when I was a kid, hearing that song on the Beatles cartoon show, those lyrics hit me like a ton of bricks.

"She's the kind of girl you want so much, it makes you sorry. Still you don't regret a single day."

That is one great lyric.

[The Dark Elf]

One of my all-time favorites. Even when I was a kid, hearing that song on the Beatles cartoon show, those lyrics hit me like a ton of bricks.

I remember "Tomorrow Never Knows" being played on the Beatles' cartoon show. Rather hilarious that my mom let me as a 7 year old listen to such subversive stuff. It starts at 3:24....

https://vimeo.com/370892618

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

I too saw them on Ed Sim -- uh, Sullivan. That show was a family ritual with us, and my grandparents were there that night. As I recall my grandma and I were the only people who really got it that night.

I really didn't mean for TNK to hijack the thread...

[SunRunner2]

I too saw them on Ed Sim -- uh, Sullivan. That show was a family ritual with us, and my grandparents were there that night. As I recall my grandma and I were the only people who really got it that night.

I really didn't mean for TNK to hijack the thread...

It didn't "hijack" the thread, at least I don't see it that way. You are adamant that "Tomorrow Never Knows" is one of the best songs that the Beatles ever recorded and that admiration is shared by critics across the board. I just thought that it was interesting how John wrote the song, etc. It was a real stand out on the "Revolver" album, ending the whole affair in a mind expanding manner, following the sunny faced "Got To Get You Into My Life" ditty from Paul.

1964 will always be a year to remember for me, having seen them on Ed Sullivan during the winter and then being able to see them live, as my first rock concert in September.

[Mister Triscuits]

ending the whole affair in a mind expanding manner, following the sunny faced "Got To Get You Into My Life" ditty from Paul.

Well, Paul has always claimed that that was a drug song, though I'm not at all sure I believe him.

[ronmac]

Well, Paul has always claimed that that was a drug song, though I'm not at all sure I believe him.

It was his attempt at Motown.

I don't recall him every stating that it was anything else. I could certainly be mistaken here. Although the lyrics certainly can be taken that way. Or, at least, it could have been inspired by addiction in general.

[AncientChord]

^^^I'm not sure about this song, but even after the other Beatles stopped drugging, Paul continued smoking the green leaf. Do you remember when he got busted and tossed in jail in Japan, many years after the Beatles broke up? Does anyone know if he's still hitting the bong? And HEY WILCOX660! Why don't you start a new thread that alludes to drug use in songs? Of course the Beatles had many. Here's some I can remember:
HELP!
TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE
I'M LOOKING THROUGH YOU
I'M ONLY SLEEPING
SHE SAID SHE SAID
DOCTOR ROBERT
TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS
WITHIN YOU WITHOUT YOU
A DAY IN THE LIFE
MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR
BLUE JAY WAY
HELTER SKELTER
YELLOW SUBMARINE
IT'S ALL TOO MUCH
GET BACK

Did I miss any?

[ronmac]

Did I miss any?

Probably the most blatant example: "Happiness is a Warm Gun."

[AncientChord]

Probably the most blatant example: "Happiness is a Warm Gun."

Yeah you are correct. Another I forgot was Day Tripper. "...One-way ticket yeah" Once you swallowed, it was a one way ticket.

[SunRunner2]

I'm Looking Through You

McCartney wrote the song about English actress Jane Asher, his girlfriend for much of the 1960s,[2] and her refusal to give up her stage career and focus on his needs.[3] The line "You don't look different, but you have changed" reflects his dissatisfaction with their relationship. The lyrics also refer to his changing emotional state: "Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight".

Let's face it, just about any song from the 60's could be construed as a "drug use song". In this case, even if one of Pauls' needs was drug related it doesn't qualify the song as a drug use song.

Dave Crosby summed this whole drug song thing up nicely when he answered the question about "Eight Miles High": "Of course it was a drug song! We were stoned when we wrote it."

[ronmac]

I'm Looking Through You

McCartney wrote the song about English actress Jane Asher, his girlfriend for much of the 1960s,[2] and her refusal to give up her stage career and focus on his needs.[3] The line "You don't look different, but you have changed" reflects his dissatisfaction with their relationship. The lyrics also refer to his changing emotional state: "Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight".

Let's face it, just about any song from the 60's could be construed as a "drug use song". In this case, even if one of Pauls' needs was drug related it doesn't qualify the song as a drug use song.

Dave Crosby summed this whole drug song thing up nicely when he answered the question about "Eight Miles High": "Of course it was a drug song! We were stoned when we wrote it."

I agree. Most of the list above being considered drug songs is a bit of a stretch. Okay, more than a bit.