My 20 Favorite Beatles Songs

I have so many childhood stories that somehow involve The Beatles. One such memory is brainstorming writing ideas for my 4th grade class. One of my favorite ideas was compiling a list of my 20 favorite Beatle songs. This is a significant memory. To my best recollection, this was the beginning of my love for making lists. The timeline makes perfect sense. It was around this time I was glued to the book Billboard’s Hot 100 which was just a collection of different music lists. This is where I learned that “Bette Davis Eyes” was the most successful song to mention a body part in its title. Anyway, the idea was to not only compile a list of my 20 favorite Beatle songs, but to redo the list several months later to see how the two lists compared. I wanted to track how my personal preferences changed over time; I’m still fascinated how “Greatest of all-time lists change over time to reflect a cultural shift. Sadly, I did not continue my list of 20 Beatles songs after the first edition. I’m going to begin rectifying this horrible mistake right now.

I’d love to see everyone else’s ranking of favorite Beatles songs. Here’s a huge confession: On two separate occasions, I set out to collect top 10 Beatle songs lists from 100 random people claiming to be Beatles fans. I would give each song a point value depending on how high it ranked on the list. Then I’d create the ultimate top 10 Beatles songs list based on these results. I was fascinated by how different these lists would be. Some lists consisted of only early Beatles songs; some others leaned heavily towards songs written by George Harrison (especially when I tried doing this after his death). The fact is The Beatles are one of the few artists who could invite such a variety of favorite songs.

Here is my list of my 20 favorite Beatles songs. I provided quick notes for a few of them. Some songs are obvious selections, some have always been personal favorites. When it comes to the Beatles, it’s hard to have a bad choice. The Beatles are so good that this is the type of list that can change constantly.

1. Hey Jude- The first half of the song is remarkable for McCartney’s compassionate, comforting vocals and the tightness of the band. The second half is incredible for its ability to hypnotize instead of bore. Some songs transcend analysis. This is one of them.

2. A Day in The Life- Too much to say about this song. I still get chills at the end.

3. I’m So Tired- Vocalists are like actors sometimes. Here’s the perfect example. Lennon nails that feeling of a restless mind. I always imagined a music video of this song where the speaker would wake up at 4 AM and go to the fridge for something to drink because he’s too distraught to sleep. This wins the award for the Beatles’ most underrated vocal performance.

4. We Can Work It Out- John and Paul made a brilliant deal early in their careers to give each other songwriting credit on any song either of them composed while with the Beatles. As a result, people assumed the two collaborated a lot more than they did. While the early days consisted of a lot of “eyeball to eyeball” songwriting between the two, they mostly just helped out each other’s almost finished compositions after 1964. “We Can Work It Out” was an exception. Here’s a perfect example of the usually optimistic McCartney(“We can work it out”) and the usually downbeat Lennon (“Life is very short”). I also think this songs is the best example of how awesome their voices harmonize with each other.

5. I Should Have Known Better- This was always my favorite early Beatles song. It has such a perfect bounce to the melody. So infectious.

6. In My Life- This song gets seems to get better the older I get. I guess it’s fitting for a song about looking back on one’s life.

7. Ticket To Ride- One of my favorite small Beatles moments: The single snare drum hit right before the final “She’s got a ticket to ride, but she don’t care”(2:39 into the song). On all previous times it was a drum roll. The Beatles were great at subtly foreshadowing a change in the song was about to come.

8. Help!- It’s easy to miss how desperate and sad the lyrics are when the music is so upbeat. This is another song that gets better and better every year.

9. And Your Bird Can Sing- My favorite guitar part on any Beatles song.

10. I Want To Hold Your Hand- Easily one of the five most important songs in rock history.

11. Here, There, and Everywhere- My wedding song. Libre would be mad if I didn’t include it on this list. Beautiful Beach Boys inspired harmonies.

12. Something-  Perhaps the Beatles' best love song. Easily the best George Harrison song.

13. Strawberry Fields Forever- The Beatles could create imagery with their music the same way Dylan did with his words. No song conjures up a dream-like, fantastical state like this one.

14. She Loves You- I love how the song is about love, which is typical for early Beatles, but it does not involve the speaker. So many early Beatles songs had tremendous energy and excitement, but this had the most.

15. Abbey Road’s Medley (Golden Slumbers/Carry The Weight/The End)- Technically it’s three songs, but everyone considers it one now. Appearing at the end of their last album, It’s such an eloquent swan song. I’m going to pretend they didn’t tag on the 30 second “Her Majesty” ten seconds after “The End”’s final chord.

16. Yesterday- The melody came to McCartney in a dream. Ahh, to be a genius.

17. Taxman- The song may have been written and sung by George, but it’s Paul who made this song special. Although George was the Beatles’ lead guitarist, he could not play the guitar solo the song needed, so Paul did it. It also contains the best bass guitar parts in the Beatles’ catalogue.

18. Rain- If it’s possible for a Beatles song to fly under the radar, it’s “Rain”. It’s hard to pinpoint any particular point as the dividing line between early/late Beatles, but this is as good as any. Clearly under the influence of some chemicals, John recreates a psychedelic experience with the help of Ringo’s best drumming, stellar bass playing by Paul, and great production by George Martin. Most other groups’ drug use resulted in music that may have been somewhat reflective of the experience, but was too indulgent to actually enjoy. Here’s an example how the Beatles were able to recreate their psychedelic experiences in a way the listeners could enjoy.

19. Eleanor Rigby- The finest lyrical moment for the Beatles. I love the line, “Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door.” A story about loneliness which is of course perfectly captured by the music as well.

20. Hello Goodbye- Speaking of lyrics, I love having discussions debating the value of lyrics in a song. I think the bottom line is there is no formula to calculate how much lyrics matter. Hello Goodbye is an example of a song I love where the lyrics are meaningless. Here is a song that is all about melody. The debate between lyrics vs. music will always rage on, but I think this is the bottom line for me: Lyrics really enter the equation when the artist is making a genuine attempt to make them matter. I’m not a big Billy Joel fan because I find his writing subpar and corny when he’s actually trying to create something that is more meaningful. The same goes for songs like All You Need Is Love and Across The Universe. I feel like John Lennon wanted these lyrics to be taken seriously, so since they fall flat for me, so does the song.