What's Your All-Time Favorite Beatles Song And Why?
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Yes, I know, that's a tall order as they have more great songs than any other band before or after, but is there one song that when you hear it you just say "YES!"? And maybe when you first heard it (and perhaps it still does) it gave you chills. I am sitting here this evening listening to the remastered Abbey Road on my home theater system. The one song, if I had to pick one, that gives me that feeling, and has since I first time I ever heard it is "You Never Give Me Your Money." It's no small wonder that it's a Paul song. And what a song it is--so hauntingly beautiful in melody. The words take you through a visual journey that continues from this song on through the remainder of the album--like something on no other album I have ever heard. Paul vocals are amazing. The harmony that comes in one the second line of the song is musical artistry to a high degree. The guitar arpeggios are beautiful to say the least. The vocalizations that he does after "one sweet dream came true today...yes it did..." almost never cease to give me chills. And laced through the entire song are bass licks that are tasteful and incredibly masterful. In my mind there is no better! John used to refer to the sequence of songs from "You Never Give Me Your Money" to "The End" as just a bunch of pieced together unfinished songs that amounted to nothing that was really that great. In my mind that's like saying the Mona Lisa is just a picture of a woman. I don't know if it was jealousy on his part because Paul essentially created this masterpiece with bits and pieces from him or what, but ironically this was the Beatles at their absolute finest with Paul clearly at the helm. Anyway, I'd enjoy hearing your story as to what song really does it for you.
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Tough question - but I think for me, the Golden Slumbers medley is not only my favorite Beatles song...but perhaps the peak of all things rock and pop
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Stipulating that, of course, this is completely impossible and that there is no "best" Beatles song, the one that has always been magic for me is "Let It Be." From the very opening chords, it just gives me shivers. FYI, to my ears the definitive version is the Glyn Johns mix that was released as a single, not the Spectorized album version. The version on Let It Be Naked is a close second.
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rich n:
Tough question - but I think for me, the Golden Slumbers medley is not only my favorite Beatles song...but perhaps the peak of all things rock and pop
I agree about the Golden Slumbers medley being great. John and Paul seemed on top of their game in those songs. I was a freshman in college when it came out and the music reviewer for the college paper slammed Abbey Road unmercifully. I still shake my head at what a pompous idiot that reviewer was.
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My all-time favorite BEATLES song and why? This is a very tough question to ask, however, if I had to chose one, it would be "In My Life." Why? Because it sums up what life is all about in 2:27.
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Can't answer it. Seriously. Hard enough deciding what my favourite Beatles album is - and I'm torn between A Hard Day's Night and the White Album.
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moptops:
Can't answer it. Seriously. Hard enough deciding what my favourite Beatles album is - and I'm torn between A Hard Day's Night and the White Album.
agree.
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I don't know if we can include all-time favorite "bootleg" BEATLES songs or not but here it goes. I know that many of you own THE BEATLES HAIL, HAIL ROCK N' ROLL CD, I LOVE track # 12 which is the Hard Rock version of "Get Back!" This version KICKS A*S!
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If I Fell--love the John/Paul harmonies and Paul's voice at the top of his range singing "was in vain!"
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Nancy R:
If I Fell--love the John/Paul harmonies and Paul's voice at the top of his range singing "was in vain!"
"If I Fell" is a great song, I love the harmonies as well.
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jl4761:
Nancy R:
If I Fell--love the John/Paul harmonies and Paul's voice at the top of his range singing "was in vain!"
"If I Fell" is a great song, I love the harmonies as well.
I agree "If I Fell" is an awesome song and nice to hear the specific part that moves Nancy. Studio or alternate track is OK...I was just curious what really moves someone (and not everyone is affect by music like this). I love most of their songs, but for me whenI hear Paul singing the intro to "You Never Give Me Your Money" it takes me to a different place. It's a kind of magic when a piece of music does that for you
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Across The Universe. John takes you to another place in that song!
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There are many wonderful Beatles' songs. For me though, it's Hey Jude, with its beautiful uplifting music, incredible singing by Paul, and the inspiring words that can take the shi**iest day and turn it around. The line "For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool, by making his world a little colder"; may be the wisest and most wonderful line in all music. Whenever I hear that song, time stops and things just get better.
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Nancy R:
If I Fell--love the John/Paul harmonies and Paul's voice at the top of his range singing "was in vain!"
Which version Nancy? The voice crack version or the non voice crack version? I know...I know...BOTH versions!
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A hard, hard question to answer, indeed.... but it was always A Day in the Life, followed by Let it Be. Spine-tingling, those. You Never Give Me Your Money is in the top ten or so.
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Considering that there are about 30 Beatles songs that comprise my "top 5" this is nearly impossible. But with the ole 'gun to the head, pick just one' predicament, I'd go with "For No One."
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THE BEATLES NEVER recorded a bad song! Its extremely difficult for me in choosing one all-time favorite BEATLES song. I chose "In My Life" because its the all-time greatest song ever recorded.
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moptops:
Nancy R:
If I Fell--love the John/Paul harmonies and Paul's voice at the top of his range singing "was in vain!"
Which version Nancy? The voice crack version or the non voice crack version? I know...I know...BOTH versions!
Yeah, I heard the "voice crack" version on Anthology, but I prefer the one where his voice doesn't crack!
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beatlesfanrandy:
There are many wonderful Beatles' songs. For me though, it's Hey Jude, with its beautiful uplifting music, incredible singing by Paul, and the inspiring words that can take the shi**iest day and turn it around. The line "For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool, by making his world a little colder"; may be the wisest and most wonderful line in all music. Whenever I hear that song, time stops and things just get better.
I used to just LOVE that song--when it came out I was 13 and they played it about twice every hour on the radio for months! Now, I hate to say, after hearing it thousands of times, I'm sick of it! It's still a great song, but not one I'd want playing at my funeral or anything.
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jl4761:
THE BEATLES NEVER recorded a bad song! Its extremely difficult for me in choosing one all-time favorite BEATLES song. I chose "In My Life" because its the all-time greatest song ever recorded.
I don't know about that first statement! What about "What Goes On" or "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" (not to mention "Revolution #9!)