The first poll in a series. There can be only one–which would you choose?
For me, Please Please Me is the best song on the album. It gives the clearest picture of what was so good about the Beatles at the outset: exuberant, simple pop, performed well. I really think Twist and Shout is the best performance on the album, but PPM is the best song, if that makes any sense.
I’m going with “I Saw Her Standing There,” because I think it has the exhuberance of “Please Please Me” while telling a small story, too. There’s even a nice bit of suspense expressed in both music & lyrics during the middle section, where the singer tells us “well my heart went boom as I crossed that room…”
Plus, Paul’s vocal is awesome (if not quite as awesome as John’s “Twist and Shout”). “She was just seventeen… and you know what I mean…” Yes, Paul. Yes, we do. Supposedly he wanted to ditch that lyric, but John convinced him it was gold. I think John was proven right, as letches everywhere can attest. 
“Ask Me Why” and “Please Please Me” are both tremendously fun to sing along to, as is “Twist…” And I’m always singing the backups to “Do You Want to Know a Secret?” as a call and response.
Finally, “There’s a Place” gets props for being influenced by West Side Story.
“Please Please Me” is not only the best song on the album, it is one of the best Beatles songs period.
Gah. I voted for “Do You Want to Know a Secret?” possibly because of all the hits on this album, it’s the one I seldom (if ever) hear on the radio. In retrospect, I could have gone with three or four others and still been satisfied with my choice: it’s that close.
This was tough for me, but I went with “Do you want to know a secret” as the best song, because I think musically it is the song that looks forward to who the Beatles will evolve into the most. It isn’t the best representation of who they were at the time, but I think it’s the best representation of who they will become, if that makes sense. You can draw a straight line from “Do you Want to know a secret” to the stuff they were doing on Abby Road, and you can’t really do that with anything else on the album.
Twist and Shout is my favorite, but it lost points for being a cover song. Please Please me is a solid #2 choice, and “I Saw Her Standing There” is a little bit too pop for my taste as is “Love Me Do” (though I love the harmonica on that track).
There’s a Place.
I voted for “Twist And Shout”, though it’s not the best composition on the album (and not an original), but the best recording and the best (only?) example of the band’s early rougher side on “Please Please Me”. Well, it simply ROCKS.
I agree with this on both songs.
Then I consider this a successful day of posting for me.
My three finalists were “I Saw Her Standing There,” “Please, Please Me,” and “Twist and Shout.” I think “Please, Please Me” is the most interesting and “freshest” of the three, but something about the rollicking bass line and opening lyric of “I Saw Her Standing There” made me vote for that one. edit: Oh, and I should add, “There’s a Place” is one of my personal favorites, but against such tough competition, it falls to fourth. Although, it’s not as played out as the other three, so it’s got that going for it, too.
It was a tie for me between “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Please Please Me.” But I voted for “I Saw Her…” as the latter is to hard to say 
This is like picking your favorite niece–there’s no right answer. I voted for “There’s a place”, but could’ve easily picked any of “I Saw Her Standing There”, “Chains”, “Please Please Me”, “Love Me Do”, or “Do You Want to Know a Secret?” as my favorite as well. The rest fall into the category “I love that Beatles song!”.
‘I Saw Her Standing There’, but ‘Twist And Shout’ came close.
For me it was a toss-up between “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Twist and Shout”; I went with the former because it’s an original. Honorable mention to “Love Me Do” and “Baby It’s You,” and a nod to the underrated (no votes so far) “Ask Me Why.” One thing that gets me about “Ask Me Why” is the emphasis on the word “misery” in the middle eight. It’s like the Beatles are referring back to a song we heard earlier in the album!
I went with ‘I Saw Her Standing There’. This song, to me, always epitomized the early Beatles. Everything is perfect, right down to the opening countdown:
One, two, three, fo!
(runner ups: Twist & Shout, for John’s vocals, and Love Me Do, for the harp.)
And I’m a bit surprised at the love for Do You Want To Know a Secret.
mmm
Another vote for “I Saw Her Standing There”.
ISHST. I couldn’t remember There’s a Place. At ALL. Had to go listen to it on Youtube and even then it didn’t really ring a bell.
I demand you relinquish your Beatles fan credentials.
I had to go with Please Please Me. Maybe it’s because I’m secretly a twelve year old boy, but any songs about oral sex are naturally my favorite songs. This is the best guilting-her-into-a-bj-line ever. But you know there’s always rain in my heart. I do all the pleasing with you it’s so hard to reason with you oh why do you make me blue?