# 5 songs that "typify the Beatles' sound" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198 "2014-08-10T00:20:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198/21 "2014-08-10T16:05:06Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Believe it or not, no one has yet named the song Little Steven played that started the whole thing. This trick never works, but these are some filters Steve Van Zandt may have applied when selecting a Beatles song for a radio show: –Not one of the usual suspects (Hold Your Hand, Yesterday, Hey Jude or other huge single.) –Up tempo. The Beatles started out fast and that’s part of their basic identity. –Good vocal interaction/harmonies. –Something that demonstrates wordplay, intelligence and maybe idealism (A big part of the Beatles identity, and Little Steven has a reputation for idealism.) So maybe Back In the USSR. More guesses: Happiness Is A Warm Gun. We Can Work It Out. Two of Us? It Won’t Be Long? ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198/22 "2014-08-10T17:06:44Z")
My five: She Loves You I’ll Cry Instead In My Life Happiness is a Warm Gun You Never Give Me Your Money I think that shows both their stylistic transition as well as how John and Paul branched out in opposite directions later on. In the end, though, I’d question whether the Beatles can be “typified” in five songs. Just looking at the sheer number of genres they experimented with, they’re not the kind of band that lends itself to labels. ETA: Might think about throwing in “Strawberry Fields” and “Penny Lane” too . . . Too much to choose from! ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198/23 "2014-08-10T17:19:48Z")
I like **Baal Houtham** ’s suggestion of “We Can Work it Out”. It’s not the first song that would come to mind, but it’s interesting in that you can really see the difference in John and Paul’s songwriting styles - yet still appreciate how they blend together. The optimistic and hurried “try to see it my way” and then the kind of zen, calm “life is very short . . .” Plus, you get the upbeat peppiness of the early 60s infused with deeper lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198/24 "2014-08-10T19:59:07Z")
Skipping “Ringo sings” songs thoughout… Early-early: Take your pick, it’s mostly Mersybeat cleverness. I don’t care. Later-early: Hard Day’s Night - up to Revolver - Take the first song off the album. Or _any_ of the others… contd…, Mid1: Help… Err, Help! Mid2: Revolver - jeeze? Want to pick a “typical” song off that? OK… And Your Bird Can Sing (not that that works) Mid3: Sgt Pepper period, Penny Lane vs. Strawberry fields so… Fool on the Hill? Late 1: The White Album… who freaking cares. George probably wrote the best one so not typical… Later still: I dunno, Ocopus’ Garden?.. Oops I forgot about the "Ringo sings"rule, but who cares by now. George possibly wrote the best song on Abbey Road too I’ll say it: Clever songs: Liverpool accents. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198/25 "2014-08-10T20:46:34Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ll give it a shot. Maybe “Eight Days a Week”? Okay, that’s either uncanny (as you guessed it in one shot, your only contribution to the thread) or you cheated. Did you hear the show? Be honest now! ETA: Here are my five: “She Said She Said” “Ticket to Ride” “Help” “Blackbird” “Good Day Sunshine” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198/26 "2014-08-11T00:34:25Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Okay, that’s either uncanny (as you guessed it in one shot, your only contribution to the thread) or you cheated. Did you hear the show? Be hones now! No cheating here. Never even heard of the show. You ruled out a good number of songs, you said it was a well-known song (I think) and “Eight Days a Week” seemed conspicuously absent from the guesses so far, and it is a quintessential Beatles sound song to me, so there we go. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198/27 "2014-08-11T01:02:50Z")
All right then, I have no reason to believe you are dissembling. Nice sleuthing! What do people think, then, about Little Steven’s statement here? Was he on the mark? How about my list? I thought it had a nice mix of early and late, while all still sounding very “Beatlesque”. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198/28 "2014-08-11T01:11:45Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You ruled out a good number of songs, you said it was a well-known song (I think) and “Eight Days a Week” seemed conspicuously absent from the guesses so far, and it is a quintessential Beatles sound song to me, so there we go. Yeah, when I saw your mention of it I thought it was a pretty good guess. It does have a pretty typical Beatles sound—but as such, it’s not one of my favorites, because I don’t hear anything particularly interesting in the melody, the lyrics, or the instrumentation. So I had to go back to check and see how that particular song did in the “Best of the Beatles” album poll threads from awhile back. [It turned out to be the clear winner](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716149): the most popular song from admittedly one of their weaker albums, although it had its detractors, including myself: > [@Best of the Beatles: Beatles for Sale](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-beatles-for-sale/681686/26): > > I’m inclined to side with **TreacherousCretin** on this one. “Eight Days a Week” is, of all the songs on this album, the one that’s squarely in the mold of the classic early Beatles sound, but that’s a sound they were in the process of outgrowing, and unless I’m misremembering, it doesn’t do anything particularly interesting or new with that sound. So, while it’s a perfectly good song, it is to me perhaps the most dispensible song on the album. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198/29 "2014-08-11T01:27:32Z")
For the record, I don’t consider **Blackbird** , **Fool On The Hill** , or **Yesterday** to be Beatle songs. They were McCartney songs. None of the other Beatles had anything to do with the writing or recording of them. Unless you consider George Martin as a Beatle. Although, in some respects, I’d say he was the fifth Beatle. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198/30 "2014-08-11T09:06:01Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yeah, when I saw your mention of it I thought it was a pretty good guess. It does have a pretty typical Beatles sound—but as such, it’s not one of my favorites, because I don’t hear anything particularly interesting in the melody, the lyrics, or the instrumentation. > > So I had to go back to check and see how that particular song did in the “Best of the Beatles” album poll threads from awhile back. [It turned out to be the clear winner](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716149): the most popular song from admittedly one of their weaker albums, although it had its detractors, including myself: Looking the track up on Wikipedia, it was said to be unpopular with the band–John is even quoted as calling it “lousy”. BTW, that poll was interesting, thanks for linking. I agree with you that “Eight Days a Week” should not have been the winner. To me, clearly, it is “I’ll Follow the Sun”. But then, that is my favorite of all Beatles songs on any album. As for that being one of the Beatles’ weaker albums: I’d agree that many are stronger overall. But I bought it off Amazon a few years ago because looking through their Beatles catalogue, it had a higher average user rating than any of their other albums (no idea if that’s still true). So I was expecting it to be chock full of hidden gems, and I did find the one that turned into my favorite; but I was otherwise surprised it rated so high with other customers. Any theories on that? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198/31 "2014-08-11T10:44:06Z")
(posting without reading the other posts aside from the OP) Please Please Me A Hard Day’s Night Taxman Helter Skelter Let It Be mmm ETA: Now that I’ve read the thread I see I made the same mistake in interpretation of the OP as some other posters did ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198/32 "2014-08-11T13:43:14Z")
It’s still speculative as to what exactly Little Steven actually meant, since he only gave one example of his “four or five”. One wonders if he really could have rattled off the others if questioned. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/5-songs-that-typify-the-beatles-sound/695198.md?page=1)