# What's the best song off of "Magical Mystery Tour"/"Yellow Submarine"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 28, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397 "2010-09-28T21:34:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lilacs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Lilacs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilacs)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/21 "2010-09-29T11:45:23Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > You just asked me to choose between Hey Bulldog, I am the Walrus, and Strawberry Fields, and those are probably three of my five favorite Beatles songs right there. This may take me a while. This could have been my post. I finally chose _Strawberry Fields Forever_. I had to. Some of my favorite lyrics ever from any band. My problem is my “favorite” song can vary by the day or the hour, usually. \*Living is easy with eyes closed Misunderstanding all you see It’s getting hard to be someone but it all works out It doesn’t matter much to me \* ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/22 "2010-09-29T12:14:17Z")
I screwed up and voted for “All Together Now” when I meant “Only A Northern Song” --can a mod edit the poll to reflect that? (Not that it’ll matter up against Strawberry Fields, but still… 😉 ) ---
**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:** [September 29, 2010, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/23 "2010-09-29T12:27:31Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > I screwed up and voted for “All Together Now” when I meant “Only A Northern Song” --can a mod edit the poll to reflect that? (Not that it’ll matter up against Strawberry Fields, but still… 😉 ) This halfway answers the question I was going to post: Who in the hell voted for All Together Now? 🙂 I nearly clicked on Penny Lane, then I heard John singing _let me take you downnnnn…_ in my head and realized that Strawberry Fields is a much more mature, complex work than Penny Lane, which is really not much more than a pleasant ditty. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/24 "2010-09-29T12:57:12Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I nearly clicked on Penny Lane, then I heard John singing _let me take you downnnnn…_ in my head and realized that Strawberry Fields is a much more mature, complex work than Penny Lane, which is really not much more than a pleasant ditty. That’s what I always thought, and I do still prefer Strawberry Fields, but as I mentioned above, Howard Goodall persuaded me of the merits of Penny Lane when he pointed out its subtle key modulations. It’s the middle section of this clip: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLkBCNuiygs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLkBCNuiygs) (warning: contains footage of Howard Goodall singing). I no longer think of Penny Lane as a “ditty”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/25 "2010-09-29T14:01:34Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > I screwed up and voted for “All Together Now” when I meant “Only A Northern Song” --can a mod edit the poll to reflect that? (Not that it’ll matter up against Strawberry Fields, but still… 😉 ) Since this is a public poll, your user name still shows up as a vote for All Together Now instead of Only a Northern Song. But I moved one vote to Northern song from All Together Now. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/26 "2010-09-29T17:03:54Z")
I voted for “All You Need Is Love,” but “Your Mother Should Know” would be not too far behind. Yes, I’m a heathen. Read this, [I Am the Walrus - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_The_Walrus), to see John Lennon’s puckish humor at its best. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/27 "2010-09-29T17:51:15Z")
Easy one for me (for a change): “Penny Lane” might just be my favorite Beatles song. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/28 "2010-09-29T21:56:30Z")
Went with _I Am The Walrus_. Been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. ---
**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:** [September 29, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/29 "2010-09-29T22:02:02Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > > > I nearly clicked on Penny Lane, then I heard John singing _let me take you downnnnn…_ in my head and realized that Strawberry Fields is a much more mature, complex work than Penny Lane, which is really not much more than a pleasant ditty. > > That’s what I always thought, and I do still prefer Strawberry Fields, but as I mentioned above, Howard Goodall persuaded me of the merits of Penny Lane when he pointed out its subtle key modulations. It’s the middle section of this clip: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLkBCNuiygs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLkBCNuiygs) (warning: contains footage of Howard Goodall singing). I no longer think of Penny Lane as a “ditty”. Thanks for the interesting link. The changing of keys within a song was nothing new with The Beatles; they did it with ‘Here, There and Everywhere’, for example, which was written in '66. mmm eta: Not to suggest that you claimed it was an original technique with Penny Lane ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/30 "2010-09-30T00:17:34Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > > [@Fenris](#): > > > > I screwed up and voted for “All Together Now” when I meant “Only A Northern Song” --can a mod edit the poll to reflect that? (Not that it’ll matter up against Strawberry Fields, but still… 😉 ) > > Since this is a public poll, your user name still shows up as a vote for All Together Now instead of Only a Northern Song. But I moved one vote to Northern song from All Together Now. Thank you. Consider this a tremendous blow struck on behalf of a sorely neglected great song. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/31 "2010-09-30T08:39:05Z")
Plenty of incredible songs here, but I went with “I am the Walrus” because it’s the most fun to sing. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/32 "2010-10-01T17:57:10Z")
_Strawberry Firleds_ for me. How can yo not vote for the song with the lyrics: Always know sometimes think it’s me, but you know I know and it’s a dream. I think I know of thee, ah yes, but it’s all wrong. That is I think I disagree. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/33 "2010-10-01T21:15:52Z")
Wow. What a hodge-podge poll. I get the reasons for doing it this way, but in my head: [ul] [li]Penny Lane / Strawberry fields is pre- Sgt. Pepper[/li][li]Magical Mystery Tour is a double-EP, not an album, and[/li][li]there’s two years and a whole double album between MMT and Yellow Submarine.[/li][/ul] But that’s only because I’m deliberately being an insufferable Beatles purist; and actually do see the merit of combining the soundtracks alongside the orphans that MMT already linked together. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/34 "2010-10-03T16:48:52Z")
I liked _Hello Goodbye_ ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/35 "2010-10-04T02:21:59Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > What may prove a controversial hybrid. Yeah, why mess with a straightforward poll-per-album format? Just follow how the records actually came out. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/36 "2010-10-04T06:24:02Z")
As much as I hated the film Yellow Submarine, I forgot how many truly great songs were on this album! ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397/37 "2010-10-18T19:15:20Z")
I do not regard this as a genuine, canonical Beatles album. _Magical Mystery Tour_ was originally issued as a double EP (the excellent songs from the execrable TV special) and they just bunged in a few otherwise unanthologized singles and B-sides to make a regular album later on. Among the latter are _Strawberry Fields_ and _Penny Lane_, the clear stand-out tracks here, but the best song from the real _Magical Mystery Tour_ is _I am the Walrus_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-magical-mystery-tour-yellow-submarine/555397.md?page=1)