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To most Beatles fans, choosing between the songs of the Fab 4 is a bit like choosing between children. But, on the JamsBio exclusive, Playing The Beatles Backward, one intrepid fan dares to rank the original songs of The Beatles and give his reasons why in a worst-to-first countdown. Check back each day for the next five songs on the list, prepare to hit the message boards to defend your favorites, and follow the countdown all the way to Number 1.

The complete list to date.

The Last Five:

104. “Martha My Dear”

103. “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite”

102. “Revolution 1”

101. “Ballad Of John And Yoko”

100. “Girl”

99. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”

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In terms of “Sgt. Pepper’s,” context is everything. Played all by itself, devoid of its purpose, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. And, since this list is all about the individual songs of The Beatles, the opening salvo of the Greatest Album of All suffers a bit by comparison.

You never hear the song on the radio by itself anyway, since no radio programmer would ever leave audiences hanging by fading out before “With A Little Help From My Friends” begins. I came close to making them a package deal for that reason, but I ultimately decided to keep them separate.

The way that “Sgt. Pepper’s” begins, it gives no indication of the musical variety that’s to come on the rest of the album. It’s straightforward, crunching rock. Only when the horns kick in during the chorus do you get the sense that you’re in for something different. This is Paul’s baby all the way, and you have to admire the way he gets the little things in the lyrics just right, sounding very much like a self-deprecating, hammy MC (“They’ve been going in and out of style”) before joining the “band” in the chorus.

That same attention to detail is evident in the production as well, from the musicians warming up while the crowd bustles about to the laughter of the audience during the bouncy horn interlude. These nifty touches on the edge of the song make it a perfect table-setter.
But, on its own, “Sgt. Pepper’s” is like a promise unfulfilled. And so, for that reason, it settles into a modest spot on this countdown.

98. “She Said She Said”

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Credit Peter Fonda’s acid-inspired ramblings as the inspiration for this Revolver track. Then credit John Lennon for taking those ramblings and turning them into a song that sounds fascinating and fresh each time you listen.

Fonda apparently harshed The Beatles’ buzz during a California party hosted by the group by wandering around and telling anyone who would listen that, “I know what it’s like to be dead.” Lennon got a little freaked out by all of this, flying as he was on the “dreaded Lysergic,” as George humorously dubbed it in the Anthology documentary.

And so John wrote “She Said She Said,” changing the gender to fit with the boy-girl dynamic of the majority of the group’s songs at that time. His point is that the girl’s profound observations are not mutually exclusive, and the back-and-forth arguments sound like the kind of skewed narrative one would expect from two people trying to get on the same wavelength while those waves are being refracted every moment by the drugs. Many Beatles’ songs are purported to be drug songs; this one is, no doubt.

The music is heavy stuff, with George’s lead guitar twisting and turning behind Lennon’s spacey vocals. The bridge is a typically ingenious Lennon concoction, as he momentarily breaks off from the conversation as the tempo shifts to a gallop.

This song always seems on the verge of collapse but somehow hangs on until the fade-out. Lennon eventually leaves the party at song’s end. But the spell cast by “She Said She Said” hangs around long after all the guests have gone. Even the obnoxious ones.

97. “Tell Me Why”

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Those irresistibly ebullient harmonies are at odds with the sentiment being presented by John Lennon’s lyrics in “Tell Me Why.” If you just block the meaning of the words out and imagine The Beatles humming their way through the song, you’d think that this was a real happy-go-lucky number.

But, alas, John is bemoaning a love who won’t give him the reasons for her ambivalence, causing him all kinds of heartache. “I really can’t stand it/I’m so in love with you” is the line that typifies Lennon’s predicament here, as he is faced with a woman who brings him little happiness even though she is everything to him.

The other Beatles don’t let him wallow though. George and Paul add some chipper backing vocals (including some endearing falsetto in the bridge), and Ringo keeps the pace lively so that there’s little time to stop and cry. It all adds up to a minor gem from A Hard Day’s Night, one that leaves the listener with a warm buzz even as the singer finds little solace.

96. “Because”

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Many of the elements that make up this song that kicks off Side 2 of Abbey Road miss the mark. The harpsichord at the start gives the song a weird, gothic vibe that must have seemed like a good idea at the time. And the “Wow, Man” lyrics are an acquired taste. For example: “Because the world is round, it turns me on.” Really? What other random phenomena float your boat, fellas? Photosynthesis? Isosceles triangles?

Yet you can forgive all of these misdeeds the minute that John, Paul, and George take off into those gorgeous, gravity-defying harmonies. What other proof does their need to be that The Beatles could sing rings around most of the competition? The three voices, which become nine with all of the overdubs, soar into the stratosphere leaving slack-jawed awe in their wake.

That’s why I’m partial to the versions of this song found on Anthology and Love, which strips everything away except the vocals. For a band that was brave enough to take gigantic chances in their genre-hopping and overall experimentation, an all-out a cappella track is something they failed to try during the time they were together. “Because” would have been the perfect opportunity to do it.

95. “Yellow Submarine”

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I have a 6-year-old daughter who loves The Beatles. Adores them. She shows an uncanny ability to memorize their songs after hearing them just once or twice. My family and friends all accuse me of foisting my own obsession on her, but I plead innocence.

You see, when she wasn’t even two years old, we were trapped in the basement of my house due to some upstairs renovations, which deprived us of her usual collection of Elmo and Wiggles videos. The only thing I had even remotely resembling a cartoon to show her from my own collection was Yellow Submarine. I didn’t think that she thought too much of it while it was on, but then my Mom, while babysitting the next day, told me that my daughter had led her down the steps so she could watch “the guys.”

Now, I may have encouraged her a little bit since then, but her devouring of all things Fab 4-related has pretty much been of her own doing. I can’t tell you how special it is to have my love of the Beatles, something that I’ve cultivated since my own childhood, as common ground with my little angel.

I have “Yellow Submarine” to thank for all of this, because it inspired that animated movie that first captivated my little girl. The Beatles realized something that seems pretty basic now but was counterintuitive at the time: kids love good music too. And so, Paul McCartney wrote this simple song for Ringo Starr to sing, and suddenly it sounded like the most fun place to be in the whole world was underwater with the ragtag crew that The Beatles and friends conjured.

I’m 36 years old myself, and I still get swept up in the magic of this simple creation. While it obviously can’t measure up to the more adult achievements of the band, “Yellow Submarine” still earns a respectable spot on this list for its ingenious insistence on recognizing the children both inside and among us.