If this poll had taken place closer to the time I originally bought the album, “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” would certainly have been my choice.
I think of “The Night Before,” “Another Girl,” and “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” as a trilogy of great, solid, rocking songs that no one ever seems to mention. They seem to be thematically linked, too–all deal, from three different perspectives, with rocky relationships and rejection. George, bless him, sees the flip side in his two songs: we may have a rocky relationship, but we’re gonna stick together if it kills us.
“Ticket to Ride” and “Yesterday” were close seconds, but I chose “Help!” because I can’t not sing along when I hear this song (and I always sing the background/harmony parts).
I voted “Ticket to Ride”. IMO, that was the first heavy metal song.
“You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” was the very first song I ever performed in public, singing and accompanying myself on guitar at my high school talent show, in probably 1981. I whistled the flute solo
Also in 1981, my church at the time hosted a concert by Christian rock artist Bob Bennett. He opened his concert with “Help!”, and you know, it worked in that context.
Yeah, I never would’ve expected it either. I think it’s fine as mild faux-Dylan songs go, but better than “The Night Before”, “I’ve Just Seen a Face”, or “Yesterday” (none of which I voted for)? Go figure.
I voted without looking; I didn’t know others shared my love for I’ve Just Seen a Face. I got laughed at by my friends a few years ago for admitting that I really loved that song.
It was a tough choice between that, *You’re Going to Lose That Girl *and You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away. Honestly, I didn’t think the latter would get many votes; I’ve heard criticisms from some that it is too Dylanesque and it somehow detracts from the song. But for me, when I think of the movie, my first thought is always John and his guitar and that song. So, it’s the one I chose.
*Yesterday *is a gorgeous song, but overplayed. I just listened to the whole album the other day and loved everything I heard so it was a tough choice.
Would you mind elaborating on this? I’ve heard this comment numerous times, from numerous sources, in books and articles, and I just don’t get it (but assume I’m missing it, since this seems like such an insistent sentiment). I hear nothing heavy metal about “Ticket to Ride.”
I love these polls, by the way, though I have found it impossible to vote. Every album has several ties for first.
That’s something that John Lennon said, and no, it makes no sense to me either. I guess he had a different idea about what “heavy metal” means. At the time he made the comment, the heavy metal genre as we know it would probably have been in its infancy, anyway.
We agree, obviously. But I’ve heard it offered as opinion from others (in this thread, for example, but also in articles), not just as relaying John’s thoughts (though perhaps that’s what they were doing, even if unintentionally). And it always gets me scratching my head.
I expected voting on this one to be the closest of the Beatles album polls, and it looks like that’s the way it’s turning out - lots of good songs without any one clearly dominating.
I can’t disagree with either of the current top vote-getters (“You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” and “You’re Going To Lose That Girl”). I picked “Another Girl” after being reminded by Mrs. J. what a good song it is.
I voted for Ticket to Ride ultimately because I decided if I could preserve just one song from the album for all future audiences, it would be that one.
The first thing is to rid yourself of the (extremely common) idea that “heavy metal” = “loud, distorted guitars”, although that does seem to be the most common feature. Heavy metal is an attitude and a feeling. I should actually have said TtR was the first heavy metal rock song, because much of Richard Wagner’s operatic work can be called “heavy metal”. “Kashmir” was the most heavy metal thing Zeppelin did, IMO - it’s more metal than even “The Immigrant Song”. I played bass in church one Sunday many years ago behind a piano player, with no electric guitars in sight (other than my bass), and one of the songs this guy played was outright metal in its attitude.
The main thing that makes Ticket to Ride metal is the insistence of that main guitar riff combined with Ringo’s drumming. It’s kind of hard to describe with words. I mean, techno dance music is insistent as well, but in a completely different way that does not make for “heavy metal”. Maybe techno’s “insistence” is vertical:
v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^
while metal’s insistence is horizontal:
→ --> → --> → --> → -->
Push, push, push, constantly moving you forward, whether you want to or not.
Another common feature of heavy metal is “tension and release” (though of course, it’s not unique to heavy metal). The song’s main guitar riff and Ringo’s drum pattern behind the verse definitely creates tension that builds steadily until the chorus, when that tension is released. And it’s not tension & release in the sense of stretching a rubber band and letting it go. It’s a tension created by pushing, rather than pulling, more like water pushing against a dam until the dam either bursts or the water flows over it.
I can’t really explain it any better than that - it’s a gut feeling more than anything.
From Wikipedia:
“Lennon proudly claimed that it was the first heavy metal song given the droning bassline, repeating drums, and loaded guitar lines.”
and
"Music critics Richie Unterberger of allmusic and Ian MacDonald both describe “Ticket to Ride” as an important milestone in the evolution of the musical style of the Beatles. Unterberger said, “the rhythm parts on ‘Ticket to Ride’ were harder and heavier than they had been on any previous Beatles outing, particularly in Ringo Starr’s stormy stutters and rolls.”[9] MacDonald described it as “psychologically deeper than anything the Beatles had recorded before … extraordinary for its time — massive with chiming electric guitars, weighty rhythm, and rumbling floor tom-toms. Macdonald also notes that the track uses the Indian basis of drone which might have influenced the Kinks’ “See My Friends”.[10]”
I voted for Yesterday, but not so much because of the song as because I think Paul’s performance, and the simple arrangement, is so vastly much better all the zillions of schmaltzy cover versions that have been done.
I am surprised there wasn’t more love for You’re Going to Lose That Girl. That was my second choice (but there are a lot of great songs here).
Tough choice between “Help!” and “Ticket to Ride” for me. Two perfect rock songs, two perfect performances. I ended up going with “Help!” because it was ever-so-slightly more “immediate” for me. “Ticket to Ride” took a listen or two before its brilliance was revealed to me (coinciding roughly with the moment I realized how fantastically clever Ringo’s drumming was in it), but I loved “Help!” from the first time I heard the first note. Just one of the most fantastically singable earworms out there - and all the more impressive because it isn’t one of those earworms that drives you mad after the third or fourth time.
