The Top Ten WORST Beatles songs Let me make it clear, I love The Beatles - always have, ever since I bought "I Feel Fine" in 1965 aged 10 - I have grown with them, never tiring of their story or their music, but...I pondered the other day, what are my least favourite Beatles tunes? Which could I do without?
I decided to find out. Now, to simplify things, I restricted my choices to the studio songs released between 1962 to 1970 - including all the b-sides, the 4 unique Yellow Submarine tracks, and the LP version of Magical Mystery Tour, but excluding the Polydor/Hamburg stuff, all the live stuff (Hollywood Bowl etc), the German language versions of "She Loves You" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand", and finally, all the post-break up Anthology series.
Browsing through the albums in order, it wasn't difficult to spot the potential duds - there were a couple that I jotted down quickly as I knew I disliked them without too much thought, but it was heartening to see that my "long list" only stretched to thirteen, which confirmed to me that, overall, their catalogue is without peer. So, (drum roll), here, in order of release, are my top ten WORST Beatles songs...
1) BOYS (FROM Please Please Me - 1963) A vehicle for Ringo, it's an energetic rocker, but if there's filler on their debut LP, it's this.
2) I WANNA BE YOUR MAN (from WITH THE BEATLES - 1963) Another Ringo vehicle (is there a pattern emerging here?) this was knocked off by John and Paul to give to The Rolling Stones, it's a repetitive, below-par rocker.
3) MICHELLE (from RUBBER SOUL - 1965) I expect some flak for this, but I have always thought little of this lachrymose dirge, I thought it would maybe grow on me over time, but from it's nonentity of a guitar break, to the French vocal lines, it falls flat.
4) WHAT GOES ON (from RUBBER SOUL - 1965) Sorry Ringo, it's not personal - I love Yellow Submarine and Octopus's Garden, and I even love the Carl Perkins style guitar picking from George, but beyond that...meh.
5) RUN FOR YOUR LIFE (from RUBBER SOUL - 1965) Most people point out the misogyny in Lennon's lyric as a reason to dislike this, but for me it's more the Beatles-by-numbers tune that screams "filler!"
6) Here There & Everywhere (from REVOLVER - 1966) Revolver is a classic album, and every track is superb - except this yawnfest which let's the album down big time.
7) BLUE JAY WAY (from MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR - 1967) This is my favourite of my ten least favourite, if you get my drift. I like it's dreamy psychedelic vibe, but it outstays it's welcome, and more often than not has me reaching for the skip button.
8) WILD HONEY PIE (from THE BEATLES (WHITE ALBUM) - 1968) On everyone's list.
9) DON'T PASS ME BY (from THE BEATLES (WHITE ALBUM) - 1968) Sorry again Ringo, but when people do the "What tracks would you leave out to make the White Album a single disc?" list, this appears on most of them.
10) OLD BROWN SHOE (b-side of "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" - 1969) For many years the White Album track "Long Long Long" would have easily made this list, but the recent remaster/remix by Giles Martin has made me warm to it's rustic charm, so I can conclude this list with George's awkward shuffle that falls well below the usual standard of the band's output.
So, there you have it - looking at the list it would appear that my least favourite Beatles album must be Rubber Soul, which is generally highly regarded amongst fans, and of course it has some killer tunes, but if I had to choose one LP it would have to be Rubber Soul. Oh, and if you are wondering which other three songs were on my “long list”, they were “Don't Bother Me”, “Little Child” and “I'll Cry Instead”.