Album: The Beatles Writer: McCartney Singer: McCartney
Verdict: I think I overrated this a bit; satirical songs usually wear thin after a while. Especially since Paul is trying his hardest not to use his best singing voice. I think I just like how most of the song is just one long breath. I also had a girl go on a date with me once after I told her I liked this song. Then again, it wasn’t the best date.
Album: The Beatles Writer: McCartney Singer: McCartney
Verdict: A virtual solo by Paul. He sang while playing acoustic and dubbed in the percussion. Mostly lyrically absent, but nobody can do “doo doo wahs” quite like Paul. Definitely a song the guitar guy at the party could do to try to get attention.
Album: Past Masters, Volume II Writer: Lennon Singer: Lennon
Verdict: I don’t really care about John’s struggles with the media following his marriage to Yoko. But John drops some pretty awesome rhymes here. “Holland or France” with “Give us a chance,” and “Honeymooning down by the Seine,” with “You can get married in Gibraltar near Spain.” Plus it’s always fun to belt out, “Christ you know it ain’t easy!”
Verdict: A rare song for Paul where he sings in a lower key. A fairly simple “Ugh, my girlfriend sucks,” song, but I love the vocalizations, especially John’s harmony. My favorite line is “Time after time you refuse to even listen,” but that’s not surprising for me. I tend to enjoy when a singer stays on each note slightly longer than the rhythm would suggest.
Album: Beatles For Sale Writer: Lennon/McCartney Singer: Lennon
Verdict: Now that I’m to this point in the countdown I think I rated this too high. One of my favorite of the “yeah yeah” hits, but the band didn’t care for the song and never performed it live. I just love John and Paul’s harmony with the “hold me, love me” lines.
Album: The Beatles Writer: McCartney Singer: McCartney
Verdict: A nice rocker to begin the white album and I love that Paul wrote this during the height of the fear of communism. I mean, how dare he even consider that Soviets might be human beings. While it’s a parody of “California Girls”, it rises above that.
Album: Abbey Road Writer: Harrison Singer: Harrison
Verdict: A solid offering by George; he wrote it after escaping to Eric Clapton’s home to avoid dealing with the band. I enjoy the melody quite a bit and it’s a good spring song. The repetitiveness of the title gets to be a little much, though.
Album: Beatles for Sale Writer: Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller (and Little Richard?) Singer: McCartney
Verdict: An amalgamation of two songs, sort of. This is mostly a cover of Little Richard’s version of Kansas City, as he added the whole hey-hey-hey bit. Paul knocks it out of the park. Pretty sure this is the last cover song on the list.
Album: Magical Mystery Tour Writer: McCartney Singer: McCartney
Verdict: Hey, a placement of a Beatles song where the critics pretty much agree with me. A mindless pop lyric where Paul had someone just say the opposite of whatever he said and he wrote it down. It’s catchy, and I love the ending with the “Hey yas” and the tambourine.
Verdict: Man do the critics love this song. It’s one of Paul’s favorite songs. It’s one of John’s favorite songs. Mojo ranked it the 4th best song in the history of ever. I guess I get it. It’s a super sweet song in a similar vein to Something. But the rhythm just throws me at times, and I just think Paul uses the same high notes too often.
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