# The Beatles (White Album) - Let's make it a single disc - Which songs do we keep? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310 "2013-10-26T14:40:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/41 "2013-10-28T05:46:12Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > What can I say? I liked the version on the flip side of Hey Jude. After hearing that first, R1 on the LP just seemed really sluggish and draggy to me. I couldn’t agree more–and adding “In” after “count me out” entirely disrupted the whole point of the lyric. I’ve honestly long suspected it was ghosted. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/42 "2013-10-28T05:58:47Z")
Keep everything. Just spin the disc twice as fast. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/43 "2013-10-28T16:13:07Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > I couldn’t agree more–and adding “In” after “count me out” entirely disrupted the whole point of the lyric. I’ve honestly long suspected it was ghosted. From what I remember, Lennon was conflicted about the lyrics to “Revolution” fearing it would be viewed as a rejection of all social change. He threw “in” on the album version to alleviate these fears. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/44 "2013-10-28T23:01:51Z")
OK, I can hold my tongue no longer. 27 people would keep Revolution 9? _Really??_ mmm ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/45 "2013-10-28T23:12:21Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > OK, I can hold my tongue no longer. > > 27 people would keep Revolution 9? > > _Really??_ > > mmm Yeah… I was disappointed there were so few. It wouldn’t be the White Album without it. If you become naked… ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/46 "2013-10-28T23:39:46Z")
> [@campp](#): > > That was brutal. The last three to go were rough on me. > > Can we re-design the cover also? The Off-White Album? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/47 "2013-10-29T00:36:43Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > I couldn’t agree more–and adding “In” after “count me out” entirely disrupted the whole point of the lyric. Well, it certainly made the ‘message’ a good deal less trite and simplistic. Personaly I think Revolution 1 is superior to the single version musically, too. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/48 "2013-10-29T01:34:49Z")
[Previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=506300) on the question. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/49 "2013-10-29T02:45:05Z")
“Helter Skelter” rocks hard, and is thought to be one of the first heavy metal songs! I agree with **njtt** on “Long, Long, Long”. I actually just like it for itself too. I like “Don’t Pass Me By” - I like the big fat instrumentation of it! I think “I Will” is one of Paul’s sweetest songs. You gotta keep “Julia”, it’s about John’s mom! I voted for 12 songs. I did not vote for “Blackbird” because here’s why…when Paul showed up at the concert for Sandy relief, I was all excited to see him. And he played “Blackbird” and I realized how there’s nothing to that song. Trite lyrics that repeat over and over. You know Paul just had a bit of a song in his head and threw it on the album because it needed “more Paul” or something. Basically I feel betrayed by “Blackbird,” thinking it was some sort of deep musical masterpiece all these years but really it’s just about as good as a commercial jingle. Bah. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/50 "2013-10-29T09:16:27Z")
I have to make a correction. Swap one _Rocky Raccoon_ for one _I’m So Tired_. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/51 "2013-10-29T19:43:46Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I participated just as a larf, but yeah, **I agree with the [Paul McCartney quote](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_(album)#Editing_concerns_and_release).** As did I. And my voting reflected that. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/52 "2013-10-30T03:04:00Z")
Incidentally, Is “Can You Take Me Back Where I Came From?” considered a separate song, or the intro to “Revolution 9”? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/53 "2013-10-30T03:10:09Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > Incidentally, Is “Can You Take Me Back Where I Came From?” considered a separate song, or the intro to “Revolution 9”? I have always understood it to be the coda of Cry Baby Cry. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/54 "2013-10-30T04:21:11Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I have always understood it to be the coda of Cry Baby Cry. I’ve always felt that it belonged more to “Revolution 9” than to “Cry Baby Cry,” but it is banded with the latter. In reality it is a separate song–interestingly, it serves to break up what would otherwise be three songs in a row by the same writer, something that happens nowhere else on the White Album. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/55 "2013-10-30T04:46:25Z")
I think it fits nicely with Cry Baby Cry, and makes it a better song (though still not that great). The Beatles were masters of cobbling together apparently unrelated song fragments (often John bits with Paul bits) to make a whole greater than the sum of its parts (A Day in the Life, Happiness is a Warm Gun, side two of Abbey Road). It is not obviously musically or lyrically related to the rest of CBC, of course, but the mood and feeling of it fits, and the yearning for regression meshes with the baby theme far more than with with anything in Revolution 9. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/56 "2013-10-31T22:27:59Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > 27 people would keep Revolution 9? > > _Really??_ > [@Johanna](#): > > Yeah… I was disappointed there were so few… How’s it feel to be whooshed by the Beatles? mmm ---
**Author:** ![weef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@weef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/weef)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/57 "2013-11-01T01:38:50Z")
The top 15 so far: While My Guitar Gently Weeps 150 94.34% Back in the U.S.S.R. 145 91.19% Blackbird 132 83.02% Dear Prudence 132 83.02% Helter Skelter 113 71.07% Happiness is a Warm Gun 107 67.30% Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da 102 64.15% Revolution 1 98 61.64% Julia 90 56.60% I’m So Tired 87 54.72% Rocky Racoon 85 53.46% Martha My Dear 83 52.20% Birthday 81 50.94% Glass Onion 81 50.94% I Will 70 44.03% The rest: Sexy Sadie 68 42.77% Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey 63 39.62% Why Don’t We Do It in the Road? 61 38.36% Cry Baby Cry 58 36.48% Mother Nature’s Son 58 36.48% The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill 56 35.22% Savoy Truffle 50 31.45% Piggies 46 28.93% Yer Blues 46 28.93% Don’t Pass Me By 40 25.16% Revolution 9 34 21.38% Long, Long, Long 33 20.75% Honey Pie 30 18.87% Good Night 26 16.35% Wild Honey Pie 11 6.92% I agree with this list except my top 15 had these: Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey 63 39.62% Piggies 46 28.93% I left off these: Helter Skelter 113 71.07% Rocky Racoon 85 53.46% ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/58 "2013-11-01T02:29:14Z")
No love for “Savoy Truffle”? I think it rocks, and the fact that it’s a sinister, menacing song about tooth decay is just icing on the cake. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/59 "2013-11-01T02:41:35Z")
> [@weef](#): > > The top 15 so far: > > While My Guitar Gently Weeps 150 94.34% > Back in the U.S.S.R. 145 91.19% > Blackbird 132 83.02% > Dear Prudence 132 83.02% > Helter Skelter 113 71.07% > Happiness is a Warm Gun 107 67.30% > Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da 102 64.15% > Revolution 1 98 61.64% > Julia 90 56.60% > I’m So Tired 87 54.72% > Rocky Racoon 85 53.46% > Martha My Dear 83 52.20% > Birthday 81 50.94% > Glass Onion 81 50.94% > I Will 70 44.03% From this list I would drop “Ob-La-Di,” “Rocky Raccoon,” “Martha My Dear,” and “I Will.” (Guess I’m not much of a Paul fan).\* I’d replace them with “Savoy Truffle,” “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide,” “Cry Baby Cry” (complete with “Can You Take Me Back”), and of course “Revolution 9.” _Although I think that “Back in the U.S.S.R.” and “Helter Skelter” really f_in rock. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310/60 "2013-11-01T04:03:39Z")
You sons of bitches! How is Sexy Sadie not in the top 15? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-white-album-lets-make-it-a-single-disc-which-songs-do-we-keep/672310.md?page=4)