NZBeatlefan's top 100 Beatles songs - A countdown | Page 3 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Here we go guys, TOP 5 TIME!!!!

5. Happiness Is A Warm Gun

We enter the top 5 with one of John’s most fascinating pieces of work. Written in India (?) in early 1968 and released on the White Album , this hard rocker has become a cult classic. It’s not very well known outside of hardcore fans, but those fans love it to pieces. This song is one of those “lets see how many fragments we can piece together” moments, a style that Paul would soon adopt with Abbey Road and beyond. The first section is relatively quiet, with some of John’s best lyrics over a finger-picked electric guitar. George gets some great distorted stings in there too. The next section is more raw, and features some of the most obvious drug references in a Beatles song. The riffs become more predominant and Macca’s bass becomes more alive (not to mention Ringo – but we will get there soon). The third section is my favourite. All it features is John yelling “Mother Superior jumped the gun” with the most intense backing the Beatles ever recorded. Man. There’s like 4 different time signatures in that tiny fragment itself! Ringo steals the show there, but then again, all four Beatles are at their peak! The last section is the longest and far more straightforward. It’s a great imitation of 1950’s doo-wop with the slightest amount of humour thrown in.

I can’t really describe this song. My cousin had informed me of how great this song was so I had to hear it. Once I did, I was blown away. At this point I knew the Beatles for hits like All You Need Is Love , I Want To Hold Your Hand and Yesterday . This seemed very unbeatlesque to me, but as I got to know their discography more I realised that this is typical of them: Different. After 1965, how many of their songs sounded the same? Very few. An amazing piece of music indeed.

Next up is most peoples #1, but is my #4.

I think I must have subconsciously known that @Bulldog!

3. Something

For me this is the greatest love song of all time (arguably the next song is a love song of some sorts, but it’s not a I love you sort of song). Written by George in the later part of 1968, the song made it’s appearance on the amazing Abbey Road album before being released as a double A-side single with Come Together . The song opens up with a little drum into and the note intro that makes it’s appearance through out the song. The lyrics and the way that they are sung is amazing. George sings them with great soul and you can tell he really means what he sings. My favourite moment through out the whole songs is that middle eight. Dude, how do you write something like that?! The change in time and tempo is seamless and this shows George was one of the best songwriters at the time.

My second favourite part of the song is the solo. I’ve already mentioned how it’s one of my favourite solos in a different post, but I’m gonna do it again. The way George performs those bends to create some sort of atmosphere is unreal. It’s not the worlds most technically complex solo and it was never trying to be, but it was the most perfect solo you could ever get for this song. Another cool musical thing is the mix of organ and strings. The reverb of the organ almost makes it sound like a mellotron when they’re playing together. How cool is that?

Something has always been one of my favourite Beatles songs. I can’t imagine this song not existing. I doubt George would have had the confidence to do All Things Must Pass if this hadn’t been recorded or released as a single. Because of the acclaim from the public and other band members, George had the confidence to go out there and create one of the best albums of all time. And I thank this song (and Here Comes The Sun /While My Guitar Gently Weeps ). 

Next up I have a song that could easily be #1, but I put it at #2 for a really stupid reason. Anyway, it’s up next and it’s our final song from the White Album !