Featured Stories
By
JBev
December 9th, 2008
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:
59. “Glass Onion”
LISTEN HERE 
I suppose this is as good a time as any to give my take on the whole hidden messages in Beatles’ songs topic, as this song contains John Lennon’s assertion that the “Walrus was Paul,” even going so far as calling it a “clue.” That’s about as overt as any of this cloak-and-dagger stuff gets, of course, but it’s the lone acknowledgement of it by a Beatle in one of their songs.
Now I’ll admit that I’ve had fun with this in the past. Mind you, even at 12 years old I wasn’t foolish enough to think that the story behind these clues, that Paul was dead and had been replaced by an impostor, was true. That didn’t stop me, at that age, from cueing “Strawberry Fields Forever” up 93 times in a row (which, let me tell you, is an arduous process on an 8-track player) to try and discern what the heck John was saying in that weird closing section.
John’s imagery is wonderfully clever, and the orchestration on top of the driving beat gives the song a spy-movie vibe, adding to the intrigue and deception.
It’s a lot of fun for conjecture, but I came to the conclusion as I got older that it ultimately detracts from where the real focus should be: the music. My best guess is that the group was probably throwing a bone here and there to obsessed fans and getting a giggle of it, although they couldn’t possibly have expected the bizarre phenomenon that emerged. (The fact that the rumor became public in 1969 and yet most of the so-called clues pre-date that bear this theory out.) If you spend your time doing detective work instead of just listening and enjoying, you might miss the good stuff right in front of you.
Ironically, that’s the whole point of “Glass Onion,” which, of course, only ended up giving the conspiracy theorists their tastiest morsel. John was saying that you can hear anything you want to hear in the songs if you set your mind to it. He never comes down against this over-analysis in the lyrics, but you can sense the disdain in his voice when he implores, “Listen to me.”
John’s imagery is wonderfully clever, and the orchestration on top of the driving beat gives the song a spy-movie vibe, adding to the intrigue and deception. “Glass Onion” is the sound of Lennon flaunting his wicked sense of humor while implying that some of his listeners need to get one of their own.
That said, I’ve got one for you that I believe is relatively obscure. A DJ friend of mine turned me on to it. If you play “I’m So Tired” backwards, you can hear John saying what sounds like “I wish I were not a Beatle.” Check it out. Now there’s a message that wouldn’t stay hidden for very long.
58. “Hello Goodbye”
LISTEN HERE
This, my dear friends, is ear candy. Nothing more. It’s no good for you. It will pack on calories. It might even lead to dental decay. But it’s damn tasty. I’m not proud of myself, but I often indulge.
Legend has it that Paul wrote the song by having a friend shout out words and then Paul would answer with the opposite. The song earned the enmity of Lennon who couldn’t understand how it deserved to be a single. And yet, the result (#1 in the U.S. and UK) is undeniable.
The music sounds so good that it practically shimmers. It’s like McCartney is out to set the Guinness World Record for most hooks crammed into one song. Instrument piles on top of instrument, but unlike the Wall Of Sound, each is given a little space to shine rather than blending in with everything else. And that chorus, always rising, is a feast of melody.
By the time that celebratory improvised coda fades out, “Hello Goodbye” has hit every pleasure-nerve in the body. So what if it’s just a roll call of opposites that sounds like something Big Bird should be explaining to a 3-year-old. Go ahead. Indulge. Resistance is futile.
57. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
LISTEN HERE
George Harrison, circa late-60’s, had a unique way of wrapping his humble lyrics about the interconnectedness of all living things in ornate musical packages. This type of juxtaposition is all over his staggeringly great solo breakthrough All Things Must Pass. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is a test run for this style, a recording of stately beauty and unrestrained grandeur.
There is a certain charm in hearing the demos to this song from Anthology, with just George on acoustic and hauntingly lonely organ. The effect is far more forlorn. But from the first notes of the official recording, with its rapid one-finger piano riff and Ringo’s high hat, you can tell that George is going for the anthemic sound that usually was associated with McCartney’s ballads.
Give credit to Eric Clapton for the way he appropriately tailored his guest appearance to the sound of the group. His playing in the verses nicely complements the melody. When finally allowed to run free in the vocal-free portions of the song, he does not disappoint, soaring skyward and then swooping down again to wrench every bit of emotion from his instrument.
The lyrics come very close to preachiness, I admit, but George’s vocal delivery helps stem that tide. This is one of his best singing performances. I especially like his falsetto in the bridges, where he lets some disappointment toward the person he’s addressing show: “They bought and sold you.”
The kind of spiritual peace that Harrison espoused on this White Album classic was certainly not for sale. But George was beginning to understand that though the message may be modest, it needs to be lavishly presented sometimes to get people to listen.
56. “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”
LISTEN HERE
Two things jump out at you when you hear this song. The first is the obvious Bob Dylan influence on John’s lyrics. Following hard upon “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” which was released earlier in the same year (1965), it was clear that John had really become fixated on the folky introspection of albums like Another Side Of Bob Dylan.
Dylan himself was well into his electric period by this time, but he took the time on his 1966 masterpiece Blonde On Blonde to do a kind of answer record to “Norwegian Wood” with the song “4th Time Around.” In typical Dylan fashion, his song was far more inscrutable, and it’s hard to say whether he was praising Lennon with the song or mocking him. Whatever the case, Lennon’s song has certainly won the battle of longevity.
Part of the reason for that is the second thing that jumps out at you: George Harrison’s sitar. By adding this Indian instrument, on which George seems to be finding his way note-by-note, the group put an exotic spin on what could have been just a simple slice-of-life of a pop star. The Beatles seemed to understand better than Dylan that such flourishes could make more profound stories like this one go down smoother for a mass audience. Then again, knowing Dylan, that likely wasn’t much of a concern to him.
Lennon’s lyrics are clever and honest. It’s not exactly a flattering self-portrait he paints here, that of a man who feels so entitled to a one-night stand after which he, when resorts to burning down the poor woman’s flat. The dashes of humor soften him up a bit, such as his bewilderment at the girl’s lack of furniture.
Throw in Paul’s lovely high harmonies (would that make him Joan Baez to Lennon’s Dylan?), and you’ve got a truly adult achievement far removed from the catchy pop ditties that had pretty much been the group’s calling card to that point. “Norwegian Wood” may not be a warm-hearted tale, but it’s all the more affecting for its clear-eyed look at sexual politics. Certainly the term “pop music” doesn’t sound like it could contain this ambitious recording.
55. “Come Together”
LISTEN HERE
“Come Together” kicks off Abbey Road with a resounding purpose. When you look back at the album, it’s John Lennon’s definitive contribution to it; an injury from a car accident and his general indifference toward the band by that time mitigated his presence in the studio.
Rarely has such a raw and earthy track been laid down in the service of such truly bizarre lyrics.
Paul’s rumbling bass and Ringo’s thumping drums take charge in the early going, staying well below John’s powerful but not overdone vocal. In the instrumental break, McCartney adds some swampy piano that really gets into the grime. Finally it’s George’s time to speak up, and he adds some sky-scraping guitar fills that soar above all the murk below. The close-out is especially fine, with each repeat of the refrain answered in tune by Harrison’s teardrop leads.
Rarely has such a raw and earthy track been laid down in the service of such truly bizarre lyrics. Lennon’s main character here is someone to be equally feared and disdained, and yet he’s still somehow irresistible. The inscrutability of this dubious chap is part of the attraction, as Lennon describes him using wordplay that makes no sense and all the sense in the world: “toejam football,” “monkey finger,” “spinal cracker,” and “mojo finger.”
This creature has a strange sensual power (“Hold you in his arms ‘til you can feel his disease”), and there are even Messianic overtones (“Come together right now over me”). It’s a fascinating portrait that could easily describe a charismatic rock star or an oily politician. It never grows stale.
All mood and attitude, the song is a fine example of what The Beatles could do with a bluesy groove when it was attached to an equally worthy song. Unlike some of the more forced blues experiments on the White Album and Abbey Road, “Come Together” wears its grit well.
