The band that made Rubber Soul and Revolver wouldn’t have even considered it. The issue with The White Album comes down to whether you appreciate or disapprove of that LP’s excesses - was The Beatles’ relaxation of their artistic discipline a fascinating diversion or a bad sign of things to come? Really, then, it boils down to a question of whether they should have put “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?” - an uber-primitive coitus-blues performed alone by McCartney - on the record. My favorite Beatles LP - and one of my favorite LPs by anybody - is The White Album, which is an opinion that (1) seems to be shared by most of my Beatles-loving friends and (2) not shared by most of the people whose Beatles books I have read.
In the case of “Love Me Do,” it’s the odd phrasing of the chorus - what in the world does “love me do” mean? The style of language apparently is derived from Lewis Carroll, who will eventually loom large in the band’s psychedelic era, though it also points to the tuneful nonsense that McCartney would embrace full on during his post-Beatles, “Bip Bop” period. Their first single, and a good example of how The Beatles (from the very beginning!) could write something so simple that a baby could understand it upon first listen, while also adding some unusual twist that made it unique and even nonsensical. If this song is the floor, most artists never manage to get above ground. The point is that the weakest of The Beatles is still pretty damn strong. (An extremely stoned John Lennon famously came up with the song’s distinctive mock-music hall piano lick as a way to make fun of how corny it was.) And yet … “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” is actually pretty good! It’s catchy, harmless fun and most likely the lamest song you’ve heard at least 200 times. Even The Beatles themselves - Paul, the songwriter, excepted, of course - hated this track, mainly because Macca made them play it over and over again during The White Album sessions. Let’s begin with the Beatles song that is easiest to clown.
If you disagree, please remember that I am neither a mod or a rocker, but a mocker.
I hope we are still friends after this.) But I think I have most of the crucial bases covered here. (I learned while writing this that one of my best friends considers “Long, Long, Long” a top-five Beatles tune, and it is not here. Keep in mind that there are more than 100 great Beatles songs, so I have definitely left off some winners here. With all of that in mind, here is my list of the 100 greatest Beatles songs. We know everything about The Beatles, and also never tire of rehashing old Beatles arguments. There is very little about them that is not already overly familiar there are also very few Beatles songs that the public doesn’t have passionate opinions about. This can make writing about The Beatles a challenge, particularly if you’re foolish enough to rank your favorite Beatles songs. Neither was “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Nor were “Drive My Car,” “Good Day Sunshine,” or “The Fool On The Hill.” Even their deep cuts are very well-known. “Blackbird” has been streamed nearly 200 million times on Spotify, and it was never released as a single or even played on the radio that much.
The Beatles are so famous that their “hits” extend well beyond the songs that were technically released as singles. The world keeps turning round and round, and yet we remain eternally stuck on The Fab Four. Even in the context of classic rock, this is an incredible phenomenon.
By now, the number of Beatlemaniacs who weren’t alive when the band was together likely outnumbers the fans who were. Which is strange, because they’re still one of the most popular rock bands on the planet. The Beatles broke up 50 years ago this year. We’re republishing it this week in conjunction with the release of Disney+’s The Beatles: Get Back, directed by Peter Jackson, as we consider it perhaps the most definitive ranking of songs by The Beatles ever published. Editors note: This piece was originally published in December of 2020.