The Beatles Appreciation Thread

[Matt]

It's interesting to see the split for "A Day In the Life" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" for the second choice. They're both songs that I think could very easily be the Sole Survivor. And it's almost a dead heat.

That being said, I'm not even sure that I'd vote the same way between them next time they come up (they'll both survive this round). They're both so great, and trying to choose between them is really hard.

[Matt]

We've heard all the Beatles Christmas messages. Now, time to start the solo Beatles Christmas songs. I'm saving John's for the place of honor (tomorrow night), since it's easily the best solo Beatles Christmas song. This one is Paul's, and it's always annoyed me. But, maybe someone out there will enjoy it. 



Listen to it here: Wonderful Christmastime

[Matt]

That's it for round 99. This was another landslide vote, and we lose "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds".

Ouch! Matt how tough can the next round be?

Well............. 



BEATLES SONG SURVIVOR - ROUND ONE HUNDRED

For the remaining rounds, I'll be posting three songs. We'll be voting off one song, and listing a second choice that will only be used as a tie-breaker if needed.

1.  "I Am The Walrus" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: Lennon; from Magical Mystery Tour
2. "Revolution"  (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: Lennon; from Past Masters, Vol. 2
3.  "Hey Jude"  (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: McCartney; from Past Masters Vol. 2


(When I end a round and start the next, I'll need to take the songs from the previous round down so that the next round's songs will fit on the website. Therefore the links in each round will still show up, but they won't work once that round has ended.)

You can join in the game anytime. You don't need to have been voting from the beginning to play.

[Matt]

1) Hey Jude

2) Revolution

[Gant]

1   Revolution

2   Hey Jude

[Sylvie]

1. Revolution
2. I Am The Walrus

I simply LOVE "Hey Jude" ...

[[email protected]]

1) Hey Jude

2) Revolution

[Lin Sunderland]

1   Revolution

2   Hey Jude

[Doug]

1 Hey Jude
2 Revolution

[Brendan]

Matt, I made my mom a mixed CD of differant artists singing Christmas songs and I put that McCartney one it. Everytime it comes on I cringe. I can't stand that song. It just seems so tacky.

1) Revolution
2) I Am The Walrus

[Lucky Punk]

Ahhh, I see what you mean Matt

OK here goes

1. Hey Jude .............. there I've done it now

2. I Am The Walrus


Long live the Revolution

By the way I hope every one here has a Merry Christmas

[Matt]

Merry Christmas, Beatles fans!


"Happy XMas (War Is Over)" was written and recorded by John and Yoko (with the Harlem Community Choir), and released December 1, 1971. John and Yoko's campaign for peace included huge billboard displays such as this one, which Yoko recreated in 1998:

This is a billboard event John and I did 29 years ago, in Xmas of 1969. At the time, it created good vibrations around the world and gave people strength.

The message is "We can do it". and it's still valid. If one billion people in the world would think peace - we're gonna get it. You may think "well, how are we going to get one billion people to think? Isn't this something we should leave to the politicians, who have the power to do those things?" Well, politicians cannot do anything without your support. We are the power. Remember, you don't have to do much. The power works in delicate and mysterious ways. Visualize the domino effect and just start thinking positive, that we are all together in this. Thoughts are infectious.

For this Holiday Season I wanted this to be a gift to you from John and I. Have fun with it. Stand in front of the Billboard. Take photos of yourselves, your friends and family. Send them out, so the message will circulate.

Above all, have fun. I hope you have a good one. Lots of love.

Yoko Ono

December 1, 1998

(Courtesy of http://www.instantkarma.com/warisover.html)






Listen to it here: Happy XMas (War Is Over)

[allycat]

1) Hey Jude (always thought that song was overrated!)

2) Revolution

Merry Xmas Beatles fans! I love 'War Is Over'. The best Xmas song ever...

[Christopher]

"Hey Jude" is one of my favorite Beatles songs, if not my number one favorite out of the few songs I've heard from them over all.

I tried once to listen to one of the songs through the links provided, and saw how incredibly long it would take for my incredibly slow computer to download, so that's actually the reason why I've stayed away from this thread. I've heard a good portion of the songs they play on the radio, and I own the Beatles 1 CD, and that's about it.

[Matt]

Well, Christopher... I was gonna say that you should vote this round so that you could help save "Hey Jude". I mistakenly assumed that "I Am The Walrus" and "Revolution" would be on the Beatles 1 CD. But, of course... they were both "B" sides (to "Hello Goodbye" and "Hey Jude") so, they didn't make the album.  Yup... somehow Paul's songs wound up the "A" sides most often in those later years. 

This is the main reason why I'm not a fan of Beatles 1. Those two singles in particular are really Double A-side singles, but 1 ignores this. John's later works aren't represented well at all on this CD. From 1966 to 1970, John's greatest and most creative and innovative period, there are only THREE of his songs on this CD. THREE! Meanwhile, TEN songs on 1 from this era are McCartney songs! THREE Lennon songs to TEN McCartney songs!! And it's particularly annoying because this album is very often the only Beatles album that some younger fans will ever have. They buy this one album, think they have the "best" of the Beatles, and may never buy a studio album of theirs to learn what The Beatles were really about. What a lopsided view of the Beatles 1 gives! The Beatles are best represented by their studio albums--not hit compilations. But, if compilations are the only albums some folks will ever have, a combination of the "Red" and "Blue" albums would be a much truer representation of their greatest music.

I give 1 a big , and STRONGLY urge anyone who doesn't know the Beatles beyond 1 to rush to their nearest record store and buy "The White Album", "Revolver" or "Abbey Road".

Sorry for the rant. 

I was watching the Imagine DVD a couple of weeks ago, and there was this scene were John and Yoko were walking through Central Park, and they got called over by fans who were freaking out that they were meeting John Lennon. After they got to meet John, one of them yells "Hey man, I have the Blue album. That's the greatest album ever, man!" and John just kinda nods as he's walking off. Can you imagine what he was thinking? "BLUE album? The only coloured album we ever made was the f***ing White Album!"

There was another scene from the Imagine DVD that I like so much that I'll post it verbatim. Yoko narrates the beginning of the segment:

YOKO:  There was no sort of particular security, and one of our assistants told us that there was this strange guy that was just staying in our gardens almost every night. John always felt responsible for these people because they were the result of his songs. That's how he felt.

(Scene shows John and Yoko outside with one of their assistants, and a young homeless man.)

JOHN (to fan): Don't confuse the songs with your own life. I mean, they might have relevance to your own life, but a lot of things do. So we met, you know. I'm just a guy who writes songs.

FAN:  Yeah. I figured that if we met... I'd know, just by meeting you.

JOHN: Know what?

FAN:  That it all fits, you know?

JOHN: Anything fits, you know, if you're tripping off on some trip, anything fits, you know.

FAN: Like when you said "Boy you're gonna carry that weight a long time..." that was just....

JOHN: That's Paul who sang that.

FAN: Paul sang that?

JOHN: But that belongs to all of us. He's singing about all of us.

FAN: Remember that one "You can radiate everything you are. You can penetrate anywhere you go?"

JOHN: Yeah. I was just having fun with words. It was literally a nonsense song. I mean, Dylan does that. Anybody does that, you know. You just take words and you stick them together and see if they have any meaning. And some of them do, some of them don't. See, that last album of mine was me coming out of my dream. You can last your whole life on that dream, you know? And then it's all over.

FAN: You weren't thinking of anyone in particular when you were singing all that?

JOHN: How could I be? How could I be thinking of you?!

FAN: Well, I don't know, maybe, I don't care, me. But it's just all... it's all somebody.

JOHN: I'm thinking about me, or at best Yoko, if it's a love song. I'm saying, you know, I had a good [email protected]#t today and this is what I thought this morning, and I love you, Yoko, or whatever. I'm singing about me and my life, you know. And if it's relevant for other people's lives, that's all right.

FAN: (Nods)

(Pause)

JOHN: You hungry? (waits for answer) Hmmm?

FAN: Yeah.

JOHN: Let's give him something to drink.

(They all go inside to John and Yoko's kitchen where they have breakfast together.)

Besides for getting to see how great John was to his fans, this scene makes me laugh because this guy was actually LIVING in John's gardens -- believed that John was writing songs TO HIM -- but didn't know that "Carry That Weight" was a McCartney song!

[Doug]

I give 1 a big , and STRONGLY urge anyone who doesn't know the Beatles beyond 1 to rush to their nearest record store and buy "The White Album", "Revolver" or "Abbey Road".

It was a good rant, and I agree with your choices of albums for a starting point.   

I've seen that scene your talking about many times, and it's funny, charming, and a little scary too, all at the same time.  I understand seeing John walking around New York during those last few years would have been a common thing, and he was usually very gracious to all the people he encountered.

[Christopher]

I was gonna say that you should vote this round so that you could help save "Hey Jude". I mistakenly assumed that "I Am The Walrus" and "Revolution" would be on the Beatles 1 CD.

I think I may have heard a very brief portion of "I Am the Walrus," but don't really remember it. "Revolution" is one that is commonly played on the radio.

[Americanbeauty]

1. Hey Jude
2. I Am The Walrus

[Matt]

That's it for round 100. This time we lose "Hey Jude".


BEATLES SONG SURVIVOR - ROUND ONE HUNDRED AND ONE

For the remaining rounds, I'll be posting three songs. We'll be voting off one song, and listing a second choice that will only be used as a tie-breaker if needed.

1.  "Dear Prudence" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: Lennon; from The Beatles (The White Album)
2. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (Harrison); Lead vocal: Harrison; from The Beatles (The White Album)
3.  "Helter Skelter" (Lennon/McCartney); Lead vocal: McCartney; from The Beatles (The White Album)


(When I end a round and start the next, I'll need to take the songs from the previous round down so that the next round's songs will fit on the website. Therefore the links in each round will still show up, but they won't work once that round has ended.)

You can join in the game anytime. You don't need to have been voting from the beginning to play.

[Matt]

I love "Dear Prudence", but I'm not willing to let go of "Helter Skelter yet. It's my favorite this round. So, off with Prudence.

2nd choice: "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".