# Best of the Beatles: Past Masters, Volume Two **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577 "2014-04-21T01:49:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/1 "2014-04-21T01:49:38Z")
Side note: Please ignore the duplicate of this thread - something weird happened and no poll was posted. We’ve looked at [Volume One of the Past Masters series](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=721171), so now it’s time for Volume Two - a collection of pieces never put on the studio albums spanning from 1965 to 1970. If you see a song here that was also on a studio, that means it’s an alternate take, like the single version of “Let It Be” or “Day Tripper.” “Revolution,” especially, has a very different tone than its album counterpart, being much more upbeat and rock-like. Fun Fact about this album: “Paperback Writer” was written by Paul in response to an aunt who asked him if he could “write a single that wasn’t about love.” The background vocals are sung to the tune of “Frère Jacques,” and the piece is backed almost entirely by just one chord: G. Along with the album Yesterday and Today, the “Paperback Writer” single was promoted with the infamous butcher cover, featuring the band covered in raw meat and headless baby dolls. On that note, let’s vote! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/2 "2014-04-21T02:02:12Z")
“Rain,” partly because it’s from my favorite album project (Revolver). Other tracks I love from the collection in this poll include “We Can Work It Out” (Rubber Soul project), “The Inner Light” (White Album project), and “Don’t Let Me Down” (Get Back/Let It Be project). ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/3 "2014-04-21T02:10:17Z")
Commenting while waiting for the poll to come up… Contrary to my opinion of volume 1, this disk is damn good. The only two I wouldn’t consider voting for are Rain and The Inner Light…and I do like Rain, just not enough to give it the nod. Get Back also slides off the list, due to being inferior to the album version (which I voted for on Let It Be). The ending, in particular is weaker. You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) is one of those weird songs, where the elements all say ‘this should be terrible’, but I love it. In the end, I think Day Tripper takes my vote. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/4 "2014-04-21T02:20:46Z")
_Rain_, for it’s another “Revolver” nod. It’s also a good song and deserves some love. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/5 "2014-04-21T02:38:20Z")
I like “Revolution” by a hair over “Hey, Jude.” And did anyone else notice how passive aggressive “We Can Work it Out” is? It sounds like the singer is trying to reach a compromise, but he is really saying, “Do it my way or it’s over.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/6 "2014-04-21T03:13:22Z")
Octarine, a nitpick: “Day Tripper” wasn’t on a studio album. It’s not an “alternative version” – there’s just one, released as a single with “We Can Work It Out.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/7 "2014-04-21T03:21:07Z")
Wait, I think you might have been referring to the US album “Yesterday…and Today.” Those don’t count in my book…in any case, is it different than the single version? ---
**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:** [April 21, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/8 "2014-04-21T04:12:49Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Wait, I think you might have been referring to the US album “Yesterday…and Today.” Those don’t count in my book…in any case, is it different than the single version? There is in fact an extremely trivial difference between the two versions: the Y&T version has the opening riff played by a single guitar in the right channel, which is then joined by a unison guitar on the left, while the PM version has the guitar double-tracked from the beginning. I’m sure **Octarine** wasn’t referring to this, though. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/9 "2014-04-21T04:19:05Z")
I should have picked “Day Tripper” for the guitar sound and riff, but “We Can Work It Out” is just so quintessentially “Beatles sounding” to me, so I went with that. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/10 "2014-04-21T04:38:31Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I like “Revolution” by a hair over “Hey, Jude.” > > And did anyone else notice how passive aggressive “We Can Work it Out” is? It sounds like the singer is trying to reach a compromise, but he is really saying, “Do it my way or it’s over.” Lennon said most of the song was Paul being Paul. John’s contribution, in contrast to Paul being Paul, was the “Life is very short and there’s no time…” part. ---
**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:** [April 21, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/11 "2014-04-21T05:01:08Z")
I was just looking mainly at non-album tracks here (and, yes, I realize some of them are quite different than the album versions, and I kept that in mind), and ended up going with “Lady Madonna.” It’s just a fun song with a fun rollicking piano part. I really dig the piano on that. Otherwise, “Rain” was a very, very, very close second. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/12 "2014-04-21T06:06:30Z")
\*\*Day Tripper. \*\* If **Across The Universe** had been the Anthology version or the LIBN version, it would have easily been my pick. The one offered on this list (the “tweetybirds ducks/wah wah/random girls” version) is preferable only over Spector’s hideous LIB mix. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/13 "2014-04-21T06:50:16Z")
You Know My Name was by pick, edging out Rain. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/14 "2014-04-21T09:02:34Z")
Went with 'Rain" for the jangly guitars that I love so much, but “Lady Madonna” is a close second. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/15 "2014-04-21T16:41:41Z")
Rain was an easy choice for me, but Lady Madonna would be my second pick precisely for the reason **pulykamell** gave. (I already voted for Across The Universe on the Let It Be album.) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/16 "2014-04-21T16:55:36Z")
PM2 is IMO much richer in choices (even with the mighty Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane/All You Need Is Love having been absorbed by a soundtrack) than PM1, partly because of the distinctly expanded creative range from the Rubber Soul sessions on, and partly because PM1 was weighted with early-career covers/weak B-sides and the two German versions. We have here a more solid continuity of strong releases. Like **TreacherousCretin** I’m underwhelmed by the original-release single and album versions of _Across the Universe_. People got carried away with the production. My decision will be between _Revolution_(single) and _Rain_, which tends to not get the appreciation it deserves. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/17 "2014-04-21T17:16:45Z")
Lots of great songs to pick from, but I really think “We Can Work It Out” is the high-water mark of the Lennon-McCartney partnership. It’s Paul at his most “John-like,” and probably the most sympathetic contribution John made to any of Paul’s songs. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/18 "2014-04-21T19:15:58Z")
I voted for “Hey Jude” - true, the na na na na na na nas may go on a _little_ bit too long, but it’s still a fantastic piece. > [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > There is in fact an extremely trivial difference between the two versions: the Y&T version has the opening riff played by a single guitar in the right channel, which is then joined by a unison guitar on the left, while the PM version has the guitar double-tracked from the beginning. I’m sure **Octarine** wasn’t referring to this, though. I think the whole point of the _Past Masters_ project was to round up all the non-studio stuff, so by virtue of being in the collection, it’s an alternate take. I could be wrong, though - some of them sound almost identical. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/19 "2014-04-21T19:38:37Z")
I’m a sucker for a good bass line, so “Rain” has always been a personal favorite. “Paperback Writer” and “We Can Work It Out” are great songs, too, but… god damn, Paul just does some amazing things in “Rain.” And that rich yet fluid bass tone is unmatched in any recording I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577/20 "2014-04-21T20:17:32Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Octarine, a nitpick: “Day Tripper” wasn’t on a studio album. It’s not an “alternative version” – there’s just one, released as a single with “We Can Work It Out.” Another nitpick: The background vocals on “Paperback Writer” weren’t sung to the _tune_ of “Frère Jacques” - they literally sang the words “Frère Jacques”. Oh, and I picked “Rain”, which just barely edged out “We Can Work It Out”. Actually kind of surprised by the love for “Rain” here. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-past-masters-volume-two/686577.md?page=2)