# If you had to pick one song with Lennon's best vocals **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614 "2016-03-11T02:35:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/1 "2016-03-11T02:35:24Z")
A friend mentioned “Sexy Sadie”, [The Beatles - Sexy Sadie (2009 Stereo Remaster) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IcK4S5lDE0) and I realised, ok, I don’t think I can come up with a better one. His range, here, is amazing - especially right after he sings, really high, “however big, you think you are - ooo - are - are,” and then dips right down low to “Sexy Sadie, oooh…”. Apparently George Martin’s favourite Lennon vox was “A Day in the Life”, which, yeah, is up there, too. JL may not have had Paul’s dynamic melodic range, but had an intangible edge that I think Paul lacked. Actually JL’s constipated mumbling at the end of “You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)” ain’t bad either. “Wild Honey Pie” is also pretty suave. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/2 "2016-03-11T02:45:40Z")
“Twist and Shout.” _MY_ voice hurts just listening to it. JL must have been sore for a week. Great rock vocal. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/3 "2016-03-11T02:48:49Z")
“I’m So Tired” off The White Album ---
**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:** [March 11, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/4 "2016-03-11T05:26:24Z")
Anna. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2016, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/5 "2016-03-11T05:36:39Z")
“I’ll Be Back” “Bad Boy” ---
**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:** [March 11, 2016, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/6 "2016-03-11T05:48:08Z")
I don’t know why, but the first song that came to me was “Rain”. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2016, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/7 "2016-03-11T05:49:06Z")
It’s not his most technically demanding, but man, I love the vocal on “Ticket to Ride.” ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/8 "2016-03-11T06:12:03Z")
I know I’ve said this before in another thread, but the great Lennon vocal that doesn’t exist was his version of Oh Darling from Abbey Road. Lennon said in some interview that he thought the song was far better suited for his own voice than McCartney’s. I tend to agree. Lennon’s version of Stand By Me is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/9 "2016-03-11T06:45:14Z")
(Just Like) Starting Over. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/10 "2016-03-11T08:09:09Z")
Though I like I’m So Tired better, A Day in the Life is really his best showing. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/11 "2016-03-11T11:11:14Z")
“Money” ---
**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:** [March 11, 2016, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/12 "2016-03-11T11:33:15Z")
_She Said She Said_ is good – “when I was a _booyy_…”. Also _Across the Universe_ (“jai gurUUuu DEva”), _Not a Second Time_, (“youOOoo-oo-oo-oo-oo yeh”), and _Don’t Let Me Down_. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/13 "2016-03-11T11:48:56Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > “Twist and Shout.” _MY_ voice hurts just listening to it. JL must have been sore for a week. Great rock vocal. Oh yeah - one of the great rock vocal performances. Personally, I am a _Hide Your Love Away_ kind of guy. His pained, flat delivery captures the essence of the lyric so well. At the opposite end of the spectrum from Twist and Shout - and that breadth is what is so wonderful about Lennon. Side note: to be clear, Lennon _hated_ his own singing voice, and also hated recording vocals. That is why he was always looking for ways to “treat” his voice with different effects. And that is also why GMartin’s engineering team created a way to double Lennon’s vocals - so they could thicken up his nasal tone by double-tracking it (very common), but without Lennon having to record it twice. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/14 "2016-03-11T12:54:40Z")
“No. 9 Dream” ---
**Author:** ![LightWithoutHeattttttttttttttt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc8723/32.png) [@LightWithoutHeattttttttttttttt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LightWithoutHeattttttttttttttt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/15 "2016-03-11T13:41:53Z")
Steel and Glass, Twist and Shout, You’ve Got to Hide your Love Away are my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/16 "2016-03-11T14:46:06Z")
Really difficult to choose. I can’t think of a bad recorded performance. “I’m Only Sleeping.” “And Your Bird Can Sing.” ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/17 "2016-03-11T15:33:25Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Anna. I might second this. One thing Lennon did really well was soulful ballads, and he tore into this one particularly well… better than the [original,](http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=anna+arthur+alexander+youtube&view=detail&mid=81A6141CB4883FE3E6FF81A6141CB4883FE3E6FF&FORM=VIRE) I’d say. But there are so many other great Lennon vocals. It’s hard not to pick something from _Plastic Ono Band._ ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/18 "2016-03-11T15:38:21Z")
“It’s Only Love” is one of my favorites. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/19 "2016-03-11T17:00:45Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Side note: to be clear, Lennon _hated_ his own singing voice, and also hated recording vocals. Maybe HIS favorite among his vocal performances with [Two Minutes Silence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTQ7bmfAkNA). (The man could cover anything – Isley Brothers, Ben E. King, John Cage…) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614/20 "2016-03-11T17:06:51Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Maybe HIS favorite among his vocal performances with [Two Minutes Silence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTQ7bmfAkNA). > > (The man could cover anything – Isley Brothers, Ben E. King, John Cage…) That sounds suspiciously like John Denver’s [The Ballad of Richard Nixon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC9U_PvC8Fs). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-had-to-pick-one-song-with-lennons-best-vocals/748614.md?page=2)