A Grand Introduction to the Beatles

My brother Nathan has one of the most eclectic music collections of anyone I know. He is familiar with all sorts of artists I’ve never heard of as well as plenty I’m obsessed with. He has a song for every occasion and delights in playing one after another and finding in some of them a nugget of inspiration for his next video. Music is one of his greatest passions. But up until a few years ago, he hated it. Oh, he would make the occasional exception: listening to Simon and Garfunkel with me and declaring Old Friends his favorite song, singing along to an installment of VeggieTales’ Silly Songs with Larry, occasionally allowing us to listen to Froggy, our oldies station, while he was in the car with us. Usually, however, when someone turned on music, he complained. Since his graduation from an obsession with Raffi as a toddler, his disdain was evident nearly every time a tune seeped out of the stereo.

The Beatles changed all that. His acquaintance with their music was a process, aided largely by Froggy, which plays a large selection of their songs, and a good friend of his who was already a Beatlemaniac. It helped that he was already a Ringo fan thanks to his association with Thomas the Tank Engine. Perhaps I even piqued his interest a bit when I returned from England in 2001 with a Yellow Submarine pin and pen for him. But it seems his fandom didn’t really take off until later that year with the unfortunate death of George Harrison. After that point, he immersed himself in the Beatles. While I had always found their music enjoyable enough, I had only been a casual fan until the dawn of Nathan’s obsession. I soon began hearing dozens of songs with which I was unfamiliar, or which I’d heard of but never really listened to. It soon became apparent just why so many people fell in love with them back in their prime.

This album collects the Beatles’ 27 number-one hits, making it an ideal starter CD. If none of these songs makes you fall in love with those cuddly Liverpudlians, chances are Beatlemania is not in your future. Paul McCartney and John Lennon were incredibly prolific during their partnership, writing an amazing number of songs, and George Harrison contributed a few as well. So this is only the tip of the iceberg, but the included songs are certainly among the best the Beatles put out.

Love Me Do - Definitely in the bubblegum phase of the group. It’s fun, it’s catchy, but it’s one of the least lyrically interesting songs in their canon. To tell you the truth, I find it rather annoying. Love, love me do. You know I love you. I’ll always be true. So please, love me do.

From Me To You - This one isn’t bad, but it’s not one that particularly sticks in my mind. Not as memorable as most of their early hits.

She Loves You - This, along with the next one, are both among the first Beatles songs I was familiar with. In the case of this particular song, that familiarity was aided by Alvin and the Chipmunks. Not a bad cover, if you ask me…

I Want To Hold Your Hand - I recall watching a tribute to the Beatles on the news a few years back, probably on a significant Beatle-related anniversary. It cited this song and noted that while some folks in their day thought the Beatles were bad news, this plea was so earnest and harmless that it made current listeners long for a more innocent time.

Can't Buy Me Love - It’s a nice sentiment, though it seems like the speaker is more interested in getting out of giving his girlfriend expensive gifts than in passing on them himself. Anyway, it’s a nice catchy song.

A Hard Day's Night - I also first experienced this song as a cover by Alvin and the Chipmunks. It’s a strange expression, one which I learned was accidentally coined by Ringo. Thematically a bit like John Denver’s Back Home Again, though this is a much more upbeat song. Denver wins out for me as far as lyrics go, though; the Beatles’ tunes at this point still weren't evidence of the work of master wordsmiths.

I Feel Fine - Another very catchy ditty. I have neutral feelings about most of it, but I really like the harmony on I’m so glad and She’s so glad. Those six words make the song for me.

Eight Days A Week - A bouncy song with a nice sentiment attached, but another of the tracks that isn’t very memorable to me.

Ticket To Ride - This is a fairly hard-rocking song. My brother and dad heard on the radio that Karen Carpenter’s dirge-like rendition of this number was rated the worst Beatles cover ever. Having heard William Shatner’s maleficent mangling of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, I find that rather hard to believe, but certainly it accomplished a very different effect than the original.

Help! - The first song on the album that I love. Let’s face it, some of those early hits were a bit monotonous. This song is melodically vibrant, more lyrically complex and harmonically mesmerizing. It’s especially fun to sing along to as well because you can pick which half of the Beatles you want to join in with. When I think of great harmony, I tend to think of Simon and Garfunkel, the Beach Boys and Peter Paul and Mary before I think of the Beatles. This song stands up to any of those groups’ offerings masterfully.

Yesterday - My brother, it seems, is a very melancholy sort. He picked the most wistful song in the Simon and Garfunkel canon as his favorite and managed to do it again with the Beatles. It’s a very sad, quiet song, lovely in its understatement. From the mournful accompaniment to the plaintive vocal, this is a gorgeous song musically and lyrically. I heard once that it was the most widely covered song in the world. It certainly deserves to be a contender – though I suspect most covers fall far short of the original.

Day Tripper - Too hard-rocking for me. I just don’t like this one at all, so I don’t have much to say about it.

We Can Work It Out - This is another good one for demonstrating how tight the Beatles’ vocals could be. It takes a few melodic side trips, making us appreciate the pulsing rhythm of the verses all the more. Its most memorable line, however, is off by itself: Life is very short, and there’s no time for fussing and fighting, my friend. Another one of my favorites on the album.

Paperback Writer - Lyrically, I can identify with this, since I, like the weary speaker of the song and the tirelessly untalented Snoopy, long to get a publisher’s attention. Hopefully one day I will meet with a bit more success than seems to be in the cards for either of those two. Melodically, though, I just can’t get into this song. It’s rather whiny – which I guess makes sense, but it gets on my nerves…

Yellow Submarine - Definitely one of the first Beatles songs I heard, and still one of my favorites. My feelings towards the film are mixed. Largely it’s a little too weird for my taste. But I love the title song. It’s just odd enough to stick in the mind; it’s a Beatles signature that paved the way for plenty of related merchandise. There’s a definite childlike air to it as well. It sounds like a bedtime story one of them could have made up for a small child, and that is appealing. Very vibrant and imaginative.

Eleanor Rigby - If Yesterday is as melancholy as Old Friends, then Eleanor Rigby is as tragic as A Most Peculiar Man. Both pairs of songs even have a similar structure. In the former, the title both begins and ends the first verse. The lyrics are succinct, the pace is slow and the song is punctuated by a plaintive bridge. In the latter, the subject of both songs is a lonely person who dies and is not mourned by the community. The sad melodies proceed with rambling urgency as if to try to prove to the listener before it is to late that this person’s life had some meaning. Eleanor Rigby’s verses spiral downwards, leading the listener down a staircase of gloom throughout the duration of the song. The violins add to the song’s pathetic quality. There is also an interesting observation slipped in towards the end when the lyrics state no one was saved, hinting at the notion that clergy tend to prefer funerals to weddings for their redemptive possibilities. When no one bothers to mourn the dead, however, that opportunity is obviously lost. Probably the Beatles’ most depressing song.

Penny Lane - An interesting song to follow Eleanor Rigby. These songs are almost opposites. Both feature verses composed of vignettes, but Penny Lane is as cheerful as the previous song is gloomy. It’s a tribute to a particular place recalling all of the sights and sounds brought back with memories of that locale. The chorus has an open ending leading directly into the next verse, lending the impression that the speaker could continue his reflections indefinitely. In the end, he has to cut himself off before he gets too carried away. The tone is bright and the peeks at the characters who inhabit Penny Lane are amusing. Another favorite.

All You Need Is Love - One of the Beatles’ most quoted lyrics and the central theme of I Am Sam and Moulin Rouge. There’s an odd quality to this song, what with the regal introduction and continuing march quality that lends it the air of a war song – an ironic nod, perhaps, to the idea of making love, not war. The lyrics are seemingly candidates for inclusion in the Department of Redundancy Department, and I’m honestly not crazy about them. But it’s an enduring classic.

Hello, Goodbye - This is another of my very favorites. It has more of an early Beatles feel to it in terms of its lyrics. They are simple and repeat over and over again, but the harmonies build on one another, making for a joyous romp of a song that eventually loses itself in an exuberant extended coda. Though the lyrics call to my mind Leaves that are Green, with its disheartening sentiment Hello, hello, hello, hello. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. That’s all there is, its tone recalls Bye Bye Love, whose downcast lyrics stand in clear contrast to the cheerful melody in which they are enclosed. This is just a very fun and well-crafted song.

Lady Madonna - I love the piano on this one. I think I missed the boat on it, though. When I listen to it, I usually hear a jab at religion similar to Simon and Garfunkel's Blessed. However, I've read that this is actually a tribute to motherhood, and reading it with that in mind I see that's probably right. I just can't get past the "madonna," I guess. I don't like it as much as some others, but it's still good.

Hey Jude - But I like this one a lot better. One of the longest songs to ever hit the airwaves, though I heard the record for longest number-one hit goes to McArthur Park. As to how that ever became a number-one hit… I like the story behind Hey Jude, the fact that Paul wrote it for John’s son as a way to comfort him during a difficult time. I’m amused by continual speculation about drug references. If they really are intended to be there, please don’t tell me. I just love the way the song builds, starting out so quiet and ending in an extended coda reminiscent of and rivaling the one in The Boxer. Watching a stadium full of people join in on a candlelight chorus of the song during the Superbowl gave me chills. Certainly one of the Beatles’ longest songs, and also one of the best.

Get Back - This is another one with strange lyrics, and it’s also a more hard-edged than most of Beatles songs. I usually tend to skip this one.

The Ballad Of John & Yoko - My brother couldn’t believe that this song made it onto the CD. He always skips it, but I think it’s an alright song. Sort of a chance for John to vent, I guess, as Paul Simon did in A Simple Desultory Philippic. He got an awful lot of grief over Yoko Ono, and this seems to be his way of lashing out. It’s an all right song, though it doesn’t really seem the sort that would make it to number one on the charts.

Something - A nice chance for George to shine. While Ringo is sometimes maligned as the least talented of the Beatles, George is too often forgotten altogether. Before his death, I couldn’t honestly say I knew much of anything about him. He always seemed to blend into the background. It is a sad fact that I often am unaware of many of the contributions of people until after their death. I have a much better idea now of who George was and just how important he was to the group. This song is calm and quiet, rather like its composer, and I’m glad it was included.

Come Together - The guitar on this is kinda fun, but the lyrics are waaay out there. I just don’t get it.

Let It Be - The Beatles’ swan song, comparable to and, according to one interview with Paul McCartney, inspired by Bridge Over Troubled Water. I’ve only heard that on one occasion, however. The much more common tale for the composition of this hymnlike masterpiece is that it came to Paul after he had a vision of his deceased mother comforting him with the words “let it be,” rather similar to the way Pat Monahan later explained his smash hit Drops of Jupiter as a gift from his late mother in the middle of the night. It’s awfully convenient that Paul’s mother’s name was Mary; no other name would have had nearly the same impact or potential for broader interpretation. I always assumed that Paul was talking about the mother Mary. I’m sure he was conscious as he was writing of the fact that many of his listeners would interpret the song in this way. Thus, a small private moment became a global message of hope and, as with Bridge, a band in interpersonal turmoil managed to end on a note of hope and brotherhood. Also like Bridge, the most notable instrument in the song is the piano, which provides a gorgeous legato backdrop as the song builds on itself. Definitely one of their best.

The Long And Winding Road - A very quiet song with a wistful feel to it. Perhaps it was meant on one level to be a farewell from the Beatles. Though the song continually comes back to reconciliation, it can be read as a promise that the individual members of the Beatles would continue to share their music with the public. It could also hint at the fact that while they weren’t able to remain together professionally, the Beatles would always maintain affection for each other. Disregarding any context into which the song could be placed, it’s still a nice, soft song celebrating love and loyalty. A nice finish to the album.

I’m not crazy about all the songs here, and many of my favorite Beatles songs didn’t make the cut. With a Little Help From My Friends, If I Fell, When I’m Sixty-Four, In My Life, Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, Octopus’ Garden and Here Comes the Sun are only a sampling of Beatles songs I particularly like but have to find somewhere else. I guess it wouldn’t be too strategic, though, to include every song a fan could possibly want on one album. In fact, given the Beatles’ output, it wouldn’t be possible. This at least is a grand introduction to one of the greatest bands of all time.