# Best of the Beatles: The Grand Finale **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656 "2014-05-04T19:08:35Z")\ **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:** [May 4, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/1 "2014-05-04T19:08:35Z")
Back in February, I started a series of polls voting on people’s favorite songs in various Beatles albums. One by one, each of the original UK studio albums were voted on - [_Please Please Me_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17098310), [_With the Beatles_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=715774), [_A Hard Day’s Night_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=715934), [_Beatles for Sale_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716149), [_Help!_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716404), [_Rubber Soul_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716538), [_Revolver_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716897), [_Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=717193), [_Magical Mystery Tour_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=717637&page=1), [Part One](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=717988) and [Part Two](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=718787) of _The Beatles_ (aka _The White Album_), [_Yellow Submarine_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=719358), [_Abbey Road_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=720059), [_Let It Be_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17284225), and [Part One](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=721171) and [Part Two](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=721416) of the _Past Masters_ series. Now it’s time for the Grand Finale - where the top songs are pooled together into one poll. It’s funny, because I didn’t foresee this back when I made the first poll, but what we have now is an “album” of sorts. It’s like a sampling of the best songs from a wide range of time - if you were to just vote on all the Beatles songs at once, the top few would probably be mainly later songs. This way, there’s a “representative” of many phases. Anyway . . . **Brandishes large pair of scissors and dramatically cuts red ribbon** Let’s vote! ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/2 "2014-05-04T19:39:12Z")
Oh, one more thing - I sandwiched the two _Past Masters_ songs where they’d fit in the timeline. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/3 "2014-05-04T19:48:20Z")
This breaks my brain. It’s too hard to vote. However, I snuck a peak at the current tally and am pleased to see Strawberry Fields ahead 3 votes to nothing for any of the others. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/4 "2014-05-04T20:15:01Z")
Haven’t peeked…also haven’t voted. Jeez. I’m torn between Yesterday and A Day In The Life. Hell, I guess I have to think about this one. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/5 "2014-05-04T20:17:27Z")
_Eight Days A Week_ ---
**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:** [May 4, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/6 "2014-05-04T20:25:37Z")
Total tie between _Rain_ and _I Feel Fine_. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/7 "2014-05-04T20:30:38Z")
This feels like _Sophie’s Choice_ (oops – I Godwinized the thread! ;)) Eight Days a Week, Rain, Strawberry Fields Forever…crap. I’ll go with A Day in the Life. Or did I just vote for Rain? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/8 "2014-05-04T20:40:03Z")
I don’t see a very hard choice at all here. The hard choices have already been made (with lots of songs better than many of those on this list having been eliminated). The competition here is between “A Day in the Life” and “Strawberry Fields,” and just maybe “Eleanor Rigby” or (for some people, but not really for me) “Yesterday”. I am going for “A Day in the Life” (as I knew I would at the start of the whole exercise). As compared to “Strawberry Fields”, Lennon’s vocal seems more poignant here, we have the exquisite contrast between Lennon’s heartfelt rendition of an absurdist lyric and McCartney’s matter-of-fact and literal evocation of the mundane, and the production (especially at the end) that goes so far over the top that it becomes tasteful again (George Martin showing Phil Spector how it is _really_ done). “Strawberry Fields” may be John’s masterpiece, “Eleanor Rigby” (or maybe “Penny Lane”, not on this list) may be Paul’s, but “A Day in the Life” was _The Beatles_’ masterpiece. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/9 "2014-05-04T20:45:24Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I don’t see a very hard choice at all here. The hard choices have already been made (with lots of songs better than many of those on this list having been eliminated). The competition here is between “A Day in the Life” and “Strawberry Fields,” and just maybe “Eleanor Rigby” or “Yesterday”. I am going for “A Day in the Life” (as I knew I would at the start of the whole exercise). AS compared o “Strawberry Fields”, Lennon’s vocal seems more poignant here, we have the exquisite contrast between Lennon’s heartfelt rendition of an absurdist lyric and McCartney’s matter-of-fact and literal evocation of the mundane, and the production (especially at the end) that goes so far over the top that it becomes tasteful again. (George Martin showing Phil Spector how it is _really_ done.) > > “Strawberry Fields” may be John’s masterpiece, “Eleanor Rigby” (or maybe “Penny Lane”, not on this list) may be Paul’s, but “A Day in the Life” was _The Beatles_’ masterpiece. I feel pretty much the same way. For me, from this list, the choice is actually between “A Day In The Life” and “Eight Days A Week” as they represent newer-era Beatles versus old and they both to me represent a more total Beatles experience rather than as you mention, say, “Strawberry Fields” being all John or “Eleanor Rigby” being all Paul (more or less). Still haven’t voted though! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/10 "2014-05-04T23:07:25Z")
Voted for “A Day in the Life” but if “Day Tripper” had been there, I would’ve been strongly tempted to vote for that instead. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/11 "2014-05-05T00:04:15Z")
Although it has no hope against “Day in the Life” or “Strawberry Fields”, I voted for “Hey Bulldog” as the song on this set that I’m least tired of. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/12 "2014-05-05T02:21:12Z")
I Feel Fine ---
**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:** [May 5, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/13 "2014-05-05T02:52:13Z")
No vote. Stuck with a five-way tie. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/14 "2014-05-05T06:25:20Z")
I’ve gotta go with _In My Life._ It’s a great song, with lots of personal memories of the time in which it came out. I still say this is not an accurate way to find the best songs. It’d be accurate for the #1 winner, but not for others. For example: _Hey Jude_ and _All You Need Is Love_ should be on this list. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2014, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/15 "2014-05-05T06:57:53Z")
A Hard Day’s Night by a smidgen over Here Comes The Sun ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/16 "2014-05-05T11:12:03Z")
It’s a tie between _Eleanor Rigby_ and _While My Guitar Gently Weeps_. I’ll go with the former because I think that I’ve known and loved it since I was a child whereas the latter is a more “recent” discovery (20 years ago probably). ---
**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:** [May 5, 2014, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/17 "2014-05-05T11:21:43Z")
Because the list is in chronological order, the responses are producing an interesting curve. It seems there were two peaks: a big one from about mid-1966 to late 1967, and a smaller one in 1969. I’ll let a more mathematically inclined Doper come up with the polynomial function, standard deviation, etc. ETA: Note that “Strawberry” and “A Day” are in incorrect order, due to the former’s inclusion in the later “Magical…” products. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/18 "2014-05-05T15:20:31Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > “Strawberry Fields” may be John’s masterpiece, “Eleanor Rigby” (or maybe “Penny Lane”, not on this list) may be Paul’s, but “A Day in the Life” was _The Beatles_’ masterpiece. This sums it up for me as well. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/19 "2014-05-05T15:58:33Z")
“In My Life” got my vote, but out doesn’t seem many others agree with me. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656/20 "2014-05-05T16:23:10Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Because the list is in chronological order, the responses are producing an interesting curve. It seems there were two peaks: a big one from about mid-1966 to late 1967, and a smaller one in 1969. I’ll let a more mathematically inclined Doper come up with the polynomial function, standard deviation, etc. > > ETA: Note that “Strawberry” and “A Day” are in incorrect order, due to the former’s inclusion in the later “Magical…” products. I think what you are seeing is Lennon/McCartney peaking, followed by Harrison peaking. (The appearance of a second peak is almost entirely due to “Here Comes the Sun”.) In fact, throughout their career, George was always a couple of albums behind John and Paul in songwriting “style”, that is, _his_ songs sound like what _they_ were doing back then. It is actually more noticeable in his earlier songs I think. “I Need You” and especially “You Like Me Too Much”, both on the _Help!_ LP, sound _so much_ like they belong on _A Hard Day’s Night_. (That is not a put-down of the songs, _A Hard Day’s Night_ is, in my opinion, a better album than _Help!_). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-the-grand-finale/687656.md?page=2)