Previous polls (still active): Please Please Me and With the Beatles.
There can be only one–which would you choose?
I was at a “bad ass biker bar” in the 90s on a Saturday night. The bar played very alternative to the day hard edge rock. About midnight, in a packed bar the DJ put played Hard Days Night. At first it got quizical looks, then at about 60-90 seconds the bad boys started to smile. It wasn’t quite a sing along, but by the time the song finished, it wasn’t such a bad ass bar anymore. Yet, it was and will always be a Great rock and roll song. Perfect for any time or place.
This is an album I listened to a lot of when I was a kid. “Things We Said Today” is my favorite off it. It’s not as well known as a lot of Beatles tracks, but I just love how the feel of the song changes between the verse and bridge. Beautiful harmonies, great interplay of minor and major tonalities. A simple, but perfect song in every respect.
One of the most difficult for me. I picked “You Can’t Do That” for the nasty grit in John’s voice and the alternately raunchy and chiming guitars, but it could as easily have been the title track, “Any Time At All”, “Tell Me Why”, “Things We Said Today”, “I’ll Be Back”…
This is where it starts getting impossible…though not as impossible as the next album. I’m going to give the nod to “Can’t Buy Me Love” for the electrifying opening (as in “She Loves You,” the Beatles dive right in with the refrain, one of their many clever song structure ideas) and that awesome Paul vocal (“Tell me that you want the kind of thahngs…”). But it could just as well have been the title track, or “You Can’t Do That,” or “I’ll Cry Instead,” or “I Should Have Known Better,” or…
‘If I Fell’, with ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ close behind.
Hard Day’s Night for the guitar solo if nothing else.
“I Should Have Known Better” was a close 2nd, but I have to give my vote to “Tell Me Why,” if for no other reason than sheer exuberance of the performance.
God, what an intro! How did they ever come up with that astonishing rhythm? Loses points for me for the squealy falsetto bit in the bridge, though.
This actually was very difficult for me to choose. My personal favorite varies between “You Can’t do That” and “A Hard Day’s Night.” I love the energy of how the title track starts, it’s like an explosion. So, I went with it.
It was close between *I Should Have Known Better *and If I Fell, with the former winning by an eighth note.
Ahhh, now we’re talking.
This is one of my favorite Beatles albums, and it contains what I often cite as my favorite Beatles song: “I Should Have Known Better”. Love the harmonizing, love the harmonica, love when they sing, “…and when I ask you to be mi, i-i-iiiiiine!”
But I certainly can’t fault anyone for choosing any of the other tunes; they’re all first-rate.
mmm
Got to go with “A Hard Day’s Night,” thought I was very tempted to choose “You Can’t Do That.” Ultimately, I couldn’t choose it because the Beatles version is inferior to Harry Nilsson’s masterpiece.
Now that’s what a falsetto should sound like.
“Any Time at All” for the following reasons:
- Starts with a rocking chorus
- The call and response between John and Paul in the chorus
- The overdubbed vocals in the verses that blend the two halves seamlessly
Big honorable mention for the opening chord of “A Hard Day’s Night”.
This was hard as I liked all the songs on it. I gave the vote to the title track though
You said what I wanted to say, but better. 
Things We Said Today is one of my favorite Beatles songs of all time. Just the sound of it captivated me from the very first time I heard it. Hard Day’s Night is good too, but it doesn’t really come near any of the top slots IMHO.
After a ten minute debate, I had to go with Can’t Buy Me Love. But I also really wanted to vote for If I Fell and I Should Have Known Better…well, I wanted to vote for the whole album, that’s why it was a ten minute debate.
I voted for “Any Time At All” for sentimental reasons, but this is essentially a 6- or 7-way tie for me. What a record. And to think I was stuck with the US version for 20 years.
I’m glad it’s running third (albeit distant) in this poll. “All My Loving” blew away the competition in the last poll, but when it comes to Long-Distance Love Songs, it can’t even hold a candle to this beautiful, musically sophisticated song. One of my Fab Four Faves as well.