140: Please Mister Postman

Album: With the Beatles
Writer: Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman, Brian Holland, Robert Bateman
Singer: Lennon

Verdict: Five writers, really? Anyway, the first Motown single to go #1 thanks to the Marvelettes. John doesn’t do it the same justice, but it’s such a solid song it works okay anyway. 

139: Please Please Me

Album: Please Please Me
Writer: Lennon
Singer: Lennon

Verdict: Their second single. Solid tempo for sure, but the word “please” is just not the prettiest word in song and I have to hear it fourteen times here.

138: The Word

Album: Rubber Soul
Writer: Lennon/McCartney
Singer: Lennon

Verdict: They wanted to try to create a song that basically had only one note. There’s a few notes here, but yeah, it’s mostly the same one. They also wrote it while high as a kite, and Paul said it hurt the lyrics. Yeah, it’s pretty simple. This is probably rated too high, but I like where it fits on the album and George plays a killer guitar.

137: Carry That Weight

Album: Abbey Road
Writer: McCartney
Singer: McCartney

Verdict: A really nice segue from Golden Slumbers and to The End, reprising the heart of You Never Give Me Your Money. Necessary for the medley, but it’s definitely not a song that I want to listen to on its own.

136: Revolution 9

Album: The Beatles
Writer: Lennon
Singer: All of them

Verdict: The Beatles avant-garde, mostly spoken word track. Many lists rank this as their worst song. I knew a guy who ranked it as his second favorite. I had trouble ranking it myself. Despite how crazy it is, there’s something so relaxing for me about it. John’s screaming and Yoko’s random phrases get stuck in my head. And I swear anytime someone says the number nine in any context all I can do for the next five minutes is go, “number nine…number nine…number nine.” I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to it, but I think it’s a fine ending to the white album. Or it would be if Good Night wasn’t after it.