The White Album is a real mixture of some very good stuff and some that is not so good. Of these, I love “Happiness Is a Warm Gun”, but it is a bit too weird and fragmented to get the vote. I am very fond of several others here, and there are others yet that I could well do without. There was a time when I thought “I Will” was the most perfect song ever, but I am over that now. George gets the vote this time, even though it was largely Clapton who was responsible for making it so good.
(I am a bit baffled by how many people seem to like “Dear Prudence”, which I can’t stand. The Siouxsee and the Banshees version is far superior to the original, in my opinion, although I am generally no great fan of Siouxsee.)
I went with “Rocky Raccoon”, mainly for the lyrics, although on another day I might have chosen “Glass Onion” or “USSR”. Please don’t shoot me with your warm guns, but “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” never did much for me.
The words add to it for me. George had a history of musically weak songs with misanthropic lyrics that I always found annoying. While My Guitar keeps the misanthropy but the music is so beautiful that it lifts them.
Oh yeah, theirs is much better. Esp. the live version from Nocturne. Their version of “Helter Skelter” from the same record is better than the Beatles version, too.
I thought you were going to refer to George’s penchant for scolding preachiness, in this and several other songs. (I still voted for it, for the music.)
“Blackbird” is definitely one of my favorite songs on the album. The opening acoustic part was actually based off Bach’s Bourree in E minor - it was a piece he and George Harrison had tried to learn together as children. The whole symbolism of the civil rights movement makes it even better.
It’s not so much the misanthropy as the awkward rhyming. I do, however, agree that the music itself is absolutely amazing, especially Clapton’s guitar solo.
Happiness Is A Warm Gun. The love for While My Guitar Gently Weeps has always eluded me - too rock, not enough roll. As stated upthread, I think the lyrics are actually among the band’s worst.
Well, not as young children - they were probably somewhere in their teens. And it was Paul and George, not George and Bach, if that’s what confused you.
I had “Back in the USSR,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” and “Julia” pretty much all tied for first place. I chose to vote for “Julia” because it’s so lovely and moving and meaningful.
I looked, waffling for a long time, but eventually voted for Blackbird. I love hearing it, and I love playing it. It’s the one constant on this 1/2 album that I’ve never had a period of dislike for. (Oddly, Blackbird and Rocky Raccoon are the two Beatles songs I have been able to play and sing start-to-finish for the longest amount of time. I don’t think I’ve played either in a few years, but I could pick up the guitar and give you either one of 'em. I think that means something. Don’t know what, but something).
