# Best Beatles Song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601 "2009-01-23T06:42:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/101 "2009-01-25T01:17:38Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Agreed that it’s almost impossible to pick just one, and that it can easily change from day to day. > > Today, though, I think I’ll go with “Revolution”. Which version? John liked the White Album version better than the single, I prefer the single. As for my vote, it would be far easier to go with the ones that aren’t good. I like the Abbey Road medley, about the last thing they did together, and the end of Sgt. Peppers, starting with Lovely Rita. But Birthday is also good, and Helter Skelter, just to mention two songs that haven’t shown up yet. ---
**Author:** ![MisterPeabody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@MisterPeabody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterPeabody)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/102 "2009-01-25T04:17:03Z")
One for each of the Fab Four Paul - Paperback Writer John - Across The Universe George - While My Guitar Gently Weeps Ringo - Octopus Garden best cover - Twist and Shout ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/103 "2009-01-25T04:23:29Z")
You know, it’s too bad the Fab Four couldn’t have held it together for just one more album. Then we’d have songs like “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “All Things Must Pass” to choose from! That said, if I was forced to choose a single Beatles tune to sum up their entire career, I think it would have be one of these three: “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Penny Lane” or “A Day in the Life,” with the latter just taking first place by a nose. (Even though, according to some accounts, George Harrison didn’t even play on the song!) ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/104 "2009-01-25T04:38:40Z")
Can I post twice? Because I just remembered another favorite that I don’t believe anyone has mentioned yet. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN5kOS7zrMk) Pure joy. ---
**Author:** ![TheVioletCreep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eb8c5e/32.png) [@TheVioletCreep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheVioletCreep)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/105 "2009-01-25T04:41:26Z")
THERE AREN’T ANY! BWAHAHAHA! _runs into obscurity to avoid stoning_ Nah, seriously…Not a fan really, but if I had to choose, I’d go with Strawberry Fields Forever, though I couldn’t say why… ---
**Author:** ![I-VI-ii-V](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c89c15/32.png) [@I-VI-ii-V](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I-VI-ii-V)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/106 "2009-01-25T07:38:12Z")
Some of my favorites are “Something”, “Hey Bulldog”, “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide …”, "“I Want You”, and “Sexy Sadie”…but the best Beatles tune is “A Day in the Life” followed closely by “Strawberry Fields Forever”. Absolute masterpieces. ---
**Author:** ![AqualungBats5th](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@AqualungBats5th](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AqualungBats5th)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/107 "2009-01-25T08:18:06Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I do note, however that not one single person has voted for “Long and Winding Road”, and the grotesque Phil Specter orchestral arrangements that went along with it. I was unaware of this until recently, but apparently the overdubbing on this song was cited by McCartney as one of the 6 reasons for breaking up the band. I love this song, but I can’t imagine anyone actually picking it as the Beatles’ “best” - it’s not really anything new or inspired. And considering everything else of theirs to pick from. My vote’s going to “Tomorrow Never Knows”. (Which narrowly edged out “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window”, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” and “Day in the Life”) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/108 "2009-01-25T08:28:18Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I do note, however that not one single person has voted for “Long and Winding Road”, and the grotesque Phil Specter orchestral arrangements that went along with it. I was unaware of this until recently, but apparently the overdubbing on this song was cited by McCartney as one of the 6 reasons for breaking up the band. Spector himself argued that McCartney was being hypocritical in his criticism: “Paul had no problem picking up the Academy Award for the _Let It Be_ movie soundtrack, nor did he have any problem in using my arrangement of the string and horn and choir parts when he performed it during 25 years of touring on his own.” ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/109 "2009-01-26T07:13:25Z")
_Tomorrow Never Knows_ is getting a bit of love. Way cool. I like the song more and more over the years. Not sure I’d pick is as the best, but then I can’t make up my mind which song is #1. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/110 "2009-01-26T14:19:30Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Spector himself argued that McCartney was being hypocritical in his criticism: “Paul had no problem picking up the Academy Award for the _Let It Be_ movie soundtrack, nor did he have any problem in using my arrangement of the string and horn and choir parts when he performed it during 25 years of touring on his own.” It’s interesting to hear the version of “The Long and Winding Road” that Paul did for [Give My Regards To Broad Street](http://www.amazon.com/Give-My-Regards-Broad-Street/dp/B000008TWP/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1232979266&sr=1-1), which I think works pretty well. As one Amazon reviewer said, > [@](#): > > Strangely, “The Long & Winding Road” contains some of the elements of the Let It Be version that Paul hated so much, even including a choir! However, unlike the Phil Spector-laden version, this one actually sounds natural. The sax solo at the beginning makes the song sound incredibly bleak, which was obviously the intention, considering the point in the movie where this song shows up. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/111 "2009-01-26T19:56:44Z")
I can’t narrow it down to just one. Daytripper Happiness is a Warm Gun A Day in the Life I never knew there was so much Beatles footage on YouTube. The people that go to the trouble of uploading those old concerts and TV shows are to be commended. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/112 "2009-01-26T20:00:45Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I never knew there was so much Beatles footage on YouTube. The people that go to the trouble of uploading those old concerts and TV shows are to be commended. Have you ever met a Beatles fanatic? Oy!! Totally obsessed, they are. I mean, we have folks like \*\*fishbicycle \*\*and **Biffy the Elephant Shrew** , who are on the very normal end of the spectrum, but sometimes I run into the OCD types - the ones who obsess about the supposed errors they find in Lewisohn’s day-by-day recording diary of the Beatles at Abbey Road (The Compleat Abbey Road Recordings) or the other book that documents every piece of gear they ever used. It boggles the mind. So, yes, they are to be commended - but it is not surprising! ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/113 "2009-01-27T09:21:56Z")
This is too hard. How about the best dozen? In My Life Till There was You You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away Here Comes The Sun Across The Universe It’s Only Love Yesterday Let It Be While My Guitar Gently Weeps Do You want To Know A Secret? I Need You Fixing A Hole ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/114 "2009-01-27T16:01:50Z")
Most glaring omission so far: “Drive My Car”. Revolutionary opening riff and those catchy "Beep-beep, beep-beep, yeah!"s… I’m shocked. My vote: “Penny Lane”. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/115 "2009-01-27T17:25:12Z")
Wow, too many to choose from for this Beatle nut–so I’ll have to break it down into categories: LEAD SINGER: John: _Dear Prudence_ Paul: _Blackbird_/_For No One_ George: _I Need You_/_For You Blue_ Ringo: _Don’t Pass Me By_ BEST COVER: _Roll Over Beethoven_ EARLY (pre-Revolver): _Help!_/_I Wanna Be Your Man_ MIDDLE (Revolver-Sgt Pepper): _And Your Bird Can Sing_ LATE (White Album-Let It Be): _Abbey Road_ medley MY FAVORITE TO “ROCK OUT” TO: _She Loves You_/_I Wanna Be Your Man_ NON-SINGLE: _The Night Before_ (I absolutely _love_ this song, so I had to make up a category just to get it on the list) And, since even the greatest are entitled to a clunker: WORST BEATLE SONG: _Mister Moonlight_ ---
**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:** [January 27, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/116 "2009-01-27T18:30:17Z")
Oh, wow. Impossible to answer. For the early stuff, I would nominate the oft-overlooked “There’s a Place,” and “Things We Said Today.” (Which I see have been mentioned in this thread. Yay for the love!) “All My Loving,” too, gets props. For later-ear, down-tempo songs, “Something” and “In My Life” are probably my favorites. Oh, wait, can’t forget “Dear Prudence.” “Here Comes the Sun” is pure shiny pop perfection, and I love the rhythmical changes in it. “Eleanor Rigby” is another personal favorite, and I love the modal quality to it. But if I had to pick one and only one, it might have to be “A Day in the Life.” ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/117 "2009-01-27T20:14:25Z")
Another vote for “Day Tripper.” That opening guitar riff is an instant hook. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/118 "2009-01-27T20:59:23Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > This is too hard. How about the best dozen? > > In My Life > Till There was You > You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away > Here Comes The Sun > Across The Universe > It’s Only Love > Yesterday > Let It Be > While My Guitar Gently Weeps > Do You want To Know A Secret? > I Need You > Fixing A Hole It says a lot about the variety in their repertoire that your best dozen and my best dozen have only one song in common: She’s leaving home A day in the life Blackbird Strawberry fields forever The ballad of John and Yoko Lucy in the sky with diamonds Eleanor Rigby Penny Lane Yesterday For no-one I am the walrus Here, there and everywhere ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/119 "2009-01-27T21:05:28Z")
Another vote for **A Day In The Life**. Moody and magnificent. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601/120 "2009-01-27T22:28:16Z")
> [@Art\_Rock](#): > > It says a lot about the variety in their repertoire that your best dozen and my best dozen have only one song in common: > > She’s leaving home > A day in the life > Blackbird > Strawberry fields forever > The ballad of John and Yoko > Lucy in the sky with diamonds > Eleanor Rigby > Penny Lane > Yesterday > For no-one > I am the walrus > Here, there and everywhere Well, I could easily make a place for Blackbird, Lucy, Strawberry Fields, and a Day in The Life. It really is amazing for a band to have SO many truly great songs. But I don’t think the sequence “Y-o-k-o” should appear in any Beatle thread other than "“Top Ten anti-Beatle elements”.😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-beatles-song/482601.md?page=7)