# Poll: The Beatles' Worst Song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176 "2010-03-20T22:10:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/61 "2010-03-21T06:12:57Z")
> [@Sidney Evgeni Jordan](#): > > The verse melody is OK, but that chorus … SCREECH (sad drone - we gave her most of our lives)… (SCREECH) is leaving…HOME. I’m a Beatles fan and own many of their albums, but the lyrics on this song are just maudlin. I’m prepared to hear about why I’m wrong on this one, though. I think you’ve confused maudlin with melancholy. I’d argue that “SLH” is unrivaled in pop music in exploring the rift in generations, showing insight and empathy for parents who aren’t demonized and have nothing but love for their daughter, but who also don’t understand the need and impulse for freedom and independence. Rebellion doesn’t have to be loud and abrasive; sometimes its articulated in the silence of absence. The song perfectly emulates the echo of an empty room and the inner echo of the parents’ insulated shock and confusion. In fact, it’s only the last line that gives her reason for going, but when it does (“something inside that was always denied”), the answer is a universal one in its understanding, and the song resolves itself at that moment with a beautiful major chord that has been missing from the song until then. It’s a song saturated with grief, and lyrical in the everyday details that demonstrate that it’s a day like any other, but also a day when everything has changed forever. “Sgt. Pepper’s” has the reputation for being (debatably) their greatest album, and “SLH” is arguably the most mature song (emotionally and musically) on that album. It’s a diamond of narrative economy and emotional expressionism, and a beautiful example of what great songwriting craftsmen they were. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmundex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@Sigmundex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmundex)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/62 "2010-03-21T06:17:20Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:11, topic:533176”] Other: Birthday. The only Beatles song that I _always_ skip or change stations for. I agree that there’s some good stuff on your list of potential worst. [/QUOTE] I half agree with this one, but the fact is, the killer second half guitar riff takes that song back out of the gutter. I just hate four/four boom-tish boom-tish boom-tish rhythms, but the second half of the song redeems itself. My personal ‘skip to the next song’ tune is LET IT BE. If you’re not familiar with the lyrics, here’s a sample, “Let it be, Let it be, Let it be, Let it be, blah blah blahh, blah blah blah, Let it be, Let it be”. Urgh. And this is from a frakking HUGE Beatles fan! ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/63 "2010-03-21T06:27:55Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:11, topic:533176”] Other: Birthday. The only Beatles song that I _always_ skip or change stations for. [/QUOTE] YES! This one! Although my opinion might be colored by the fact that I originally heard it sung by the Looney Tunes characters when I was a kid. I can’t think of the original without thinking of that. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/64 "2010-03-21T07:51:39Z")
I find it hard to hate Birthday because when I was ten years old it was GREAT!! but I can see its shortcomings now. Since Mister Moonlight is ineligible, I am changing my vote to Bungalow Bill, mainly because of the Yoko participation. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/65 "2010-03-21T09:59:32Z")
I get high when I see you go by My oh my. When you sigh, my, my inside just flies, butterflies:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/66 "2010-03-21T11:09:43Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > The worst Beatles song is probably Wild Honey Pie. Seconded. Awful. Just awful. At least it’s so short that the agony is brief. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/67 "2010-03-21T13:08:41Z")
> [@Promethea](#): > > Seconded. Awful. Just awful. At least it’s so short that the agony is brief. Of note: This is the first time in reading this thread that I though, yeah, I shoulda put that on the list. (Wild Honey Pie, that is) ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/68 "2010-03-21T13:15:54Z")
I think “She’s leaving home” is bordering on cheesy, but the melodies and arrangements in it are simply gorgeous which keeps it on the right side. “Wild Honey Pie” is obnoxious, but seems more like filler to me than a real song. But I don’t know. I’m actually not a fan of the White Album, even it’s acclaimed tracks. I think “Birthday” is particularily annoying and banal and definitely one of my least favorite Beatles tracks. Don’t really mind “Old Brown Shoe”. The mix is a bit weird, but the riffs work for me. “You know my name” makes me slightly uncomfortable. It’s like being stuck at a party where everybody has taken LSD except for you, only it’s missing the brilliance of songs like “I Am the Walrus”. However, it has some charming quality to it that I can’t quite put my finger on. “Octopus’s garden” is simply ridiculous. It’s Ringo’s “Yellow Submarine”, not sure why they felt it was needed. Anyway, my vote goes to “Birthday”. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/69 "2010-03-21T13:18:55Z")
Songs not on the original list that received a mention (it was not always clear if the poster used these as an actual ‘other’ selection, or was simply ranting about how much s/he hates it): A Day in the Life Birthday Blue Jay Way Bungalow Bill Glass Onion Help! Her Majesty Hey Jude I Want You (She’s So Heavy) It’s Only Love Let It Be Love Me Do Maxwell’s Silver Hammer Michelle Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da Octopus’s Garden Rocky Racoon Run For Your Life She’s Leaving Home Taxman When I’m Sixty-Four Wild Honey Pie ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/70 "2010-03-21T13:20:47Z")
**I Wanna Hold Your Hand** Incredibly lame when you think about it, also repetitive lyrics and overplayed. The worst of their already lame boy band era playlist. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/71 "2010-03-21T13:34:39Z")
> [@The\_Weird\_One](#): > > LOL When I was 15 – this would’ve been in '96 – my two-years-younger brother and I bought The White Album and played it over and over on the family stereo in the living room. My mom always made us skip over ‘Why Don’t We Do It in the Road’ because she thought we were too young to listen to such an “obscene” song. Sheesh, thank God she’s mellowed since then. When I was ‘knee high’ I got it stuck in my head, and sang it incessantly. Everywhere. In front of my grandparents. At a party they were throwing. But it really is a very nice tribute to the blues. ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/72 "2010-03-21T14:26:35Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > I think you’ve confused maudlin with melancholy. I’d argue that “SLH” is unrivaled in pop music in exploring the rift in generations, showing insight and empathy for parents who aren’t demonized and have nothing but love for their daughter, but who also don’t understand the need and impulse for freedom and independence. Rebellion doesn’t have to be loud and abrasive; sometimes its articulated in the silence of absence. The song perfectly emulates the echo of an empty room and the inner echo of the parents’ insulated shock and confusion. In fact, it’s only the last line that gives her reason for going, but when it does (“something inside that was always denied”), the answer is a universal one in its understanding, and the song resolves itself at that moment with a beautiful major chord that has been missing from the song until then. It’s a song saturated with grief, and lyrical in the everyday details that demonstrate that it’s a day like any other, but also a day when everything has changed forever. “Sgt. Pepper’s” has the reputation for being (debatably) their greatest album, and “SLH” is arguably the most mature song (emotionally and musically) on that album. It’s a diamond of narrative economy and emotional expressionism, and a beautiful example of what great songwriting craftsmen they were. Well, I think we just disagree on this one. I think it’s an interesting and worthy topic for them to embrace, but the song is a miss for me, both musically and in its sentiment. I do like a lot of the other melancholy Beatles songs, though. ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/73 "2010-03-21T14:42:48Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > I think you’ve confused maudlin with melancholy. I’d argue that “SLH” is unrivaled in pop music . . . . “Sgt. Pepper’s” has the reputation for being (debatably) their greatest album, and “SLH” is arguably the most mature song (emotionally and musically) on that album. It’s a diamond of narrative economy and emotional expressionism, and a beautiful example of what great songwriting craftsmen they were. I do “get” the craftsmanship invloved in _She’s Leaving Home_, and even appreciate going at a different angle by involving the parents point of view in a “rock song.” But even spotting them those points, I still find the song to be dreary, drippy, and pretentious. I guess I see Paul’s attempt to give voice to the parents’ anguish as false as the mid-aged tunesmiths of the period trying to crank out hip songs for the kids. And I do know it is based on a story he read in the newspaper. But hey, it’s a song and you like it. So feel free to have my share of it. In fact, from now on, I will think of you fondly whenever I hit the skip button to avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/74 "2010-03-21T14:52:44Z")
RE: She’s Leaving Home…Lyrically, I think it’s outstanding work. A detailed, insightful snapshot of so-typical teen angst and clueless parents (_We gave her everything money could buy…)_. Musically it works for me as well. What, this should be an upbeat, peppy number? McCartney’s lead vocal - and Lennon’s backing - fit perfectly with the string arrangement. Trivia (From Wiki, of course): [ul] [li]The harp player was the first female to appear on a Beatles song. [/li][li]This was the first time a Beatles tune was not arranged by George Martin.[/li][li]The stereo version runs a bit slower - and consequently, is at a lower pitch - than the mono version.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/75 "2010-03-21T15:04:19Z")
Couldn’t vote - no Ob-La-Di I detest all songs with McCrapney’s voice. That one is a perfect mesh of irritating vocals and blatant commercial jingle composition. ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/76 "2010-03-21T15:25:51Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > RE: She’s Leaving Home…Lyrically, I think it’s outstanding work. A detailed, insightful snapshot of so-typical teen angst and clueless parents (_We gave her everything money could buy…)_. > > Musically it works for me as well. What, this should be an upbeat, peppy number? McCartney’s lead vocal - and Lennon’s backing - fit perfectly with the string arrangement. No, certainly not upbeat. I have no problem with downbeat. Hey, I love “Pet Sounds” and will listen to that slice of angst all day long, but She’s Leaveing Home just doesn’t do it for me. The two songs of the album that just suck all of the life out of the room for me are that and _Within You Without You_ And I think both are really period pieces, with SLH hitting the whole Summer of Love, kids just gotta be free thing. Now I was born in 1971, and probably heard the album the first time about ten years after it was released. At the time, those were the two songs that just weren’t any fun on the album. As I have gotten older, and more musically wise, I understand that they were both written in a particular era, and both are complex, well crafted songs. But I still don’t like them, and I have no particular generational attachment to them either. But for some some strange reason, I will gladly shout along to _Volunteers_, which couldn’t be more tied to the late 60s. It hits me, the two Beatles songs don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/77 "2010-03-21T15:26:11Z")
Am I the only person who detests “Strawberry Fields Forever”? I hate the rhythm, or lack thereof. It makes me nauseous just to have the tune in my head while I rant about it. I’m gonna have to go play some Stones now to kill the SFF earworm. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/78 "2010-03-21T15:33:34Z")
Instinctively, I also would have said _Mr. Moonlight_, but, as I read, it’s ineligible, having been a cover version. There has always been something about it that just grates on my nerves. I think even Lennon hated it, because he thought nothing of singing “Here I am on my _nose_, just begging if you please…” in Hamburg. Or maybe that was just Lennon being Lennon, but it seems to me that he didn’t make fun of songs he really liked. Actually, the Hamburg version almost redeems what would come later on _Beatles '65_. It seems to me that this was just resurrected as filler. The worst song, written by a Beatle would have to be _Run For Your Life_, which, likewise, seems to be just filler. Not because it’s considered misogynistic today by some unenlightened idiots who don’t realize that it’s wrong to take something out of the context of the times it comes from and reassess it using today’s mindset, but because the first two lines were a direct lift from Elvis Presley’s Baby, _Let’s Play House_. Lennon wrote: Well I’d rather see you dead, little girl Than to be with another man You better keep your head, little girl Or I won’t know where I am _Baby, Let’s Play House_, actually written by a guy named Arthur Gunter, who was a blues guitarist, and was released by him in 1954 on the Excello label, was covered by Presley the following year at Sun. Lyrically, it says: Now listen to me, baby Try to understand. I’d rather see you dead, little girl, Than to be with another man. One would wonder how Lennon ever thought he could get away with it. The fact that he wasn’t sued for it is also amazing, considering that Gunter lived until 1976. Hell, Chuck Berry sued him for less over _Come Together_. In any event, research shows that Lennon himself hated _Run For Your Life_ – he said as much in several interviews. I am inclined to agree with him. I mean, who am I to argue with John Lennon? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/79 "2010-03-21T16:03:52Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > juvenile political commentary. Hysterical. You obviously have no idea what kind of taxes these guys were paying, nor do you realize what effect those taxes had on the band. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176/80 "2010-03-21T16:06:46Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > I get high when I see you go by > My oh my. > When you sigh, my, my inside just flies, > butterflies:dubious: Yeah, that’s pretty bad. The verses have a “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” feel, yech. But the rest of the song could have been salvaged: “It’s only love and that is all…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-the-beatles-worst-song/533176.md?page=5)