170: Hold Me Tight

Album: With the Beatles
Writer: McCartney
Singer: McCartney

Verdict: I like this better than the band did that’s for sure. The verses, like most of their early stuff, is garbage. But I think the chorus has a pretty neat hook. Paul and John harmonize well, and I like how it crescendos upwards until Paul belts “It’s you!” But yeah, faint praise.  

169: Rain

Album: Past Masters, Volume 2
Writer: Lennon
Singer: Lennon

Verdict: I’m getting to the point now in the countdown where it’s inevitable I’ll say something negative about a critically acclaimed song. Rain is hugely popular among critics, and it was a Top 30 single in the U.S. for the band. I like the song when it first starts up. The slowed-down rhythm track is appealing to me. Their voices drone at a high pitch, which after two minutes is tiresome to my ears. And the last verse, which is literally played backwards, feels like obnoxious experimentation to me.

168: Tomorrow Never Knows

Album: Revolver
Writer: Lennon
Singer: Lennon

Verdict: Considered by most critics one of the best songs of all-time. I even had a friend who considered it his second favorite Beatles song. I’ve tried and I’ve tried and I’ve tried to like it and I just can’t. The lyrics are certainly nothing special, just vaguely Eastern inspired stoner stuff. So it comes down to the music, which to my ears is just a bunch of screeching. God I sound like my grandmother. I don’t find the Hammond organ aesthetically pleasing. I like the tamboura by itself, but with this melody it clashes. Everything just seems to be working against each other. I certainly don’t hate it like I do Dr. Robert, and it’s not a bad ending to Revolver. I would just never listen to it on its own.

167: I Want To Hold Your Hand

Album: Past Masters, Volume 1
Writer: Lennon/McCartney
Singer: Lennon/McCartney

Verdict: Along with She Loves You, the defining beginning of the British Invasion. Not quite as catchy as She Loves you, but I like the chords here better. Overall, though, it’s just a mindless, repetitive pop song. I occasionally like me some mindless, repetitive pop songs. But “hold your haaaaaaaand!” is awkward. Rolling Stone loves this song almost as much as Tomorrow Never Knows (16th best song ever), which means I will never write for that magazine. However, this song is one of the few adaptations from the movie “Across The Universe” I like better than the original.

166: Boys

Album: Please Please Me
Writer: Luther Dixon and Wes Farrell
Singer: Starr

Verdict: A Shirelles song originally. I appreciate they covered a girl song and didn’t worry themselves about possible homosexual innuendo. It’s simple and fun, and Starr seems to be enjoying himself. I just wish it was more energetic.