# Best of the Beatles: Help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-help/681920 "2014-02-21T23:26:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-help/681920/21 "2014-02-24T20:01:40Z")
Help, I guess, but it’s really impossible to pick one song now. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-help/681920/22 "2014-02-24T20:17:08Z")
I had to pick “Act Naturally”. It’s a good record, but Buck Owens wrote the best song on it 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-help/681920/23 "2014-02-24T20:44:27Z")
“The Night Before” was a real close second, but I had to go with “I Need You.” ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-help/681920/24 "2014-02-24T21:28:23Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “The Night Before” was a real close second, but I had to go with “I Need You.” Is it just me, or does “I Need You” remind you of a suicide note? All the bits about “I just can’t go on anymore” and how you could imagine the “come on back and see/just what you mean to me” referring to whoever ended the relationship walking in and seeing you dead . . . . . . Yeah, maybe it’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-help/681920/25 "2014-02-24T21:32:20Z")
Yeah, pretty much. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-help/681920/26 "2014-02-24T22:49:16Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > Is it just me, or does “I Need You” remind you of a suicide note? I’ve always been struck by the thematic similarity in George’s two songs on this album. Both are about reconciliation after a breakup, although “I Need You” takes the form of a desperate plea, while “You Like Me Too Much” is a confident prediction. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-help/681920/27 "2014-02-25T04:23:44Z")
Little late getting to this one, sorry. I picked _Ticket to Ride_. I’m a headbanger at heart, and I’ve always considered this to be the first “heavy metal” song. However, I nearly voted for _You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away_. That was the very first song I ever performed in public while accompanying myself on the guitar; 15 years old (1981) in a school talent show. I whistled the flute solo. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-help/681920/28 "2014-02-25T04:27:39Z")
Missed edit window: And this song lineup is from the original British version of the album, right? My original experience with this album was the American version, which I think only had half of the songs listed and the remainder of the album consisted of instrumental jazz versions from the movie. So my memory has several of these songs appearing on other albums. I think. Or maybe I’m thinking of the _Hard Day’s Night_ soundtrack… I never owned any of the original albums (born in 1966), but I copied all of my aunt’s Beatles albums to cassette. My aunts still have the originals. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-help/681920/29 "2014-02-25T05:21:00Z")
I’m among those who expressed concern about the “best” concept…so I’m not voting. But I agree that this should not preclude discussion. I’m a little surprised there isn’t more love for “You’re Going to Lose That Girl.” Something about this song has always got to me…don’t know if I can say why. But with the backing vocals so integrated into the song, it’s truly a group effort. (The sequence in the \*Help! \*movie when they pretend to record it sticks with me more than any other part of the film.) And when the vocals come together with full force on the bridge, it’s stunning. One of the most wonderful Beatles harmony moments, and there certainly were many of them. The transition into and out of the bridge — so different from the verse/chorus chords, yet so so smoothly handled — is similarly amazing. I’ve always had a tendency to love The Beatles’ deep cuts in favor of the big hits. But I do have to remind myself to give Paul’s accomplishment with “Yesterday” some credit, as clichéd as it may seem to single it out. So many Beatles songs would be ahead of it if I ever were forced to make a ranked list…but it’s still rather incredible that Paul could have come up with a melody so timeless and well-constructed at age 22, and to have performed it so well. He should indeed get kudos also for insisting that the string accompaniment be kept simple. If I’ve got to hear the song, I certainly don’t want to hear anything other than the original. (Has the lynching party been organized for Katy Perry yet? If so, I’ll stand at the head of it!) ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-help/681920/30 "2014-02-25T16:44:07Z")
Gah! My head is going to explode! Too many awesome songs! Ticket to Ride, I Need You, Help!, Hide your Love, Yesterday. If backed into a corner I’d grudgingly go with Ticket. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-help/681920.md?page=1)