Overrated vs. Underrated songs | Page 18 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Thread revival time!!! ‘Cause as you know I’m no stranger to controversy

This are my top 10 overrated/underrated Beatles songs. Some of them you know ’cause we’ve fought over them in different threads, some of them just came to me right now. I don’t know, it’s complete madness!! Keep in mind I am ranking them in a particular order. Not from favourite to least favourite or otherwise, no. I’m raking them for the difference gap. As much as my opinions differ from the rest, that’s higher on the list. Cool? Let’s go!

EDIT: Next post has made me realize I haven’t explain what overrated/underrated means to me. Well, in my case, I think I base most of my opinions on the consensus I’ve read in this very forum and Beatles’ comment sections on YouTube. It’s easy to say “Yesterday ” is overrated but it is so easy, that the song has actually been heading downwards in the forum polls. That’s why I’m not including it, because people have already spotted that it can be overrated. My picks are the ones that I haven’t seen praised as much or I have seen praised too much, amongst you guys. Yeah, Let It Be might be called the best song of all time by normies, but true Beatles fans have generally agreed that it is not that big of a deal, and I wanna go deeper. I wanna touch on songs that maybe haven’t even been discussed yet, basing it totally on my personal opinion against general opinion.

Overrated:

10) I Will

I’ve always felt it’s underwritten. And overproduced. It combines an already hit or miss melody with bits of instrumentation that don’t improve it but make it harder to like. And even in its very short runtime, it manages to screw up its simple quality with annoying “dum-dum”s in the right channel, not to mention that weird key change up the guitar makes before the ending. To me the love it receives is not justified. There are much better acoustic songs even in the White Album itself, at least three of them I would say, two of them by McCartney himself.

9) You’re Going To Lose That Girl

Not a bad song, and certainly not the worst on Help ! But man, the hype it’s got is monumental. To me is just boilerplate early Beatles, pairing up in quality with other no-brainers like Another Girl and The Night Before . I don’t find anything that separates it from the bunch. Someone once pointed out the particular part on the song were Ringo’s bongoes. After hearing that, I find it even more annoying. Those bongoes are accute and distracting. It is unfocused, unarriving. There’s a guitar lick that comes out of nowhere, as well as a vocal modulation. It’s a mess, and everyone puts it aside as if it were special but to me it isn’t. To me it sounds like the equivalent of someone telling you I Need You is one of her/his favourite Beatles songs. Not that you can’t like it, but… really?

8) Revolution

It’s good. But it is often cited as one of their top songs ever, by both fans and critics. I think it most certainly isn’t the case. I like the saturated guitars and its up-beat pace but it’s not diverse or ground-breaking enough to be a top contender. The melodies bound it to its simplicity, and the instrumental bridge is utterly uninteresting. It’s got editing mistakes all over and a certain feel of indecision, that probably is the reason Revolution 1 exists as well. I don’t know, to me it is merely a footnote on the Beatles catalogue, not a highlight.

7) Help !

One of their best songs? Take it easy. It could be improved in many fronts. First off, lyrics and the instrumental are completely oblivious of each other. It would be nice if, just like in Yesterday , at least the tone of the song matched the emotions being displayed. Help ! if anything is just a reminder of how much the band still had to learn about songwriting, and how the music couldn’t just be pulled out of nowhere to get it over with. Help ! is a decent early track, but in essence a songwriting failure. I would nominate Nowhere Man as a much better expression of John’s loneliness at the time, as it fits the lonesome lyrics more.

6) Long, Long, Long

A song that’s absolutely useless, and only an attempt of Harrison to make a slow-burner. He fails. In the end it comes off forced and boring and never goes anywhere interesting. With how much he proved to be a fantastic songwriter down the line, Long, Long, Long not being considered one of the worst tracks off the White Album by many is a mystery to me, considering how little personality it has, and how, just like I Will , is overproduced to compensate for the songwriting gap, yet it still shows, through its weaknesses, how powerful the song is not.

5) Helter Skelter

I think this song means more in general when I read about it and don’t actually listen to it. It’s absolutely stunning how ahead of time Paul was on this one, virtually creating the hardest rock song until that point just out of pure competitive instinct. He was a genius. But when I actually rate it as a song, it’s just not that good. The songwriting and harmonic tone falls down once the song reaches its climax, and the overblown editing doesn’t let me enjoy anything else but the fact it is overblown, and for four minutes it’s just too long. Melodically it has a lot of dead-ends. I get how significant it is, and it deserves that title. But as an actual song? I don’t think so. In many cases the original product that spawns imitators is usually the best. Well, to me, Helter Skelter is one of those rare cases were the imitators completely surpassed the initial influence. In this case heavy metal.

4) Within You Without You

I think it’s not original at all. George had already broken that mole in Revolver with Love You To , which was a much more stimulating (and shorter) song. Within You Without You just seems like a five-minute reprise of that, with George smugly reminding you he’s so unique because he can make Indian music. But it’s just… boring. One of the best qualities of the Beatles was their way of mixing their influences with a style of their own, and converting rock and roll, opera, jazz, Indian, Japanese, acoustic, orchestral music, etc. into pop pieces. Blue Jay Way was a fantastic mix of Indian music with dark rock and roll. Within You Without You is Harrison just not having the tools to actually create something new, and he just throws generic Indian music into an album that isn’t supposed to have it.

3) A Hard Day’s Night

I don’t know why this one was picked to be the highlight, the title, and the selling point of both the album and the film. It’s got energy, it’s a cute dancer, but it’s just messy. It’s one of those songs were I can’t tell the chords being played in the guitar, because I think they didn’t knew that very well either and had a hard time covering it upBut yet it keeps appearing in all of this top Beatles songs lists, and I don’t get it. I don’t blame the advertising department for picking it as a marketable title, given the refrain is mildly ear-grabbing, but I am amazed hearing Beatles fans, you know, people who have heard all of their albums and songs, saying this is actually a high point in their songwriting career, because to me it absolutely isn’t. Every performance on the song from the lazy singing to that stupid annoying cowbell screams “generic”.

2) The Word

This is such a fake-edgy song. After the “bigger than Jesus” incident I think John could’ve come up with a better response. Not that the lyrics aren’t creative enough to be admired on their commentary on dogma, but the musical aspect of it is just so thrown together. It suffers from John’s obsession with vocal harmonies, George’s obsession with acute guitar chords and Ringo’s obsession for the maracas. It’s a mess, and everybody loves it, when always for me it seemed to ruin the pace of Rubber Soul . A prove that writing high on weed is a bad idea if you don’t have good melodies pre-arranged. It has a pace scattered like breadcrumbs, a repetitive chorus and a non-ending.

1) While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Classic Jules. The ultimate “I don’t know what everyone likes about it” song for me. Considering this top ten, this is probably one of the best one of these. But the love this track continues to receive escapes my comprehension more than the others. I, even now, never shy from an opportunity to ask again: why is it so good? The writing and production are fine at best. At worst, the songwriting is pretentious and non-sensical, the refrains don’t sound good, it is one of those songs in which I believe every phrase either lacks or surplus syllables as well as the phrases making absolutely no sense and expressing nothing but vague feelings of uncertainty, narrated in a condescending way. I still don’t know what “I don’t know why you were inverted, no one alerted you” means. And I don’t care, it just sounds awful. The chord progression in the verse I like enough so that when the bridge hits it completely ruins it. The major chord progression is a big red hot mistake. The production is only worst. With annoying bright piano chords and watery melted guitars. Aesthetically, it sounds like one of those cheese sandwiches you overcook on the microwave for so long the cheese has gone sideways and all over the place and you can’t hold it with your hands anymore. There’s just no instrumental subtelty, it’s on-your-nose, it’s unfocused. Eric Clapton features in the track, and he is completely useless. With everything he made prior with Cream, I to this day am amazed at how low-key and boilerplate his performance is on the track. I’ve listened to the acoustic version of the song, which only makes me shake my head at it even more, because it actually could’ve been good. Instead I’m stuck with a song that sounds cheap and unfinished, not to mention it never goes anywhere, but instead keeps circling around nothing for almost five minutes. Top ten Beatles song? There’s just no way.

Underrated:

10) Baby, You’re a Rich Man

Not that the song gets any hate, because I understand many really like it. But to me it goes beyond that. This should’ve been their biggest sing-along as far as I’m concerned. I would pick it over Carry That Weight , All You Need Is Love , Hey Jude and Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da any day. It is melody perfection. A lot of people get hung up over the “baby, you’re a rich man, baby, you’re a rich man, baby, you’re a rich man” part and ignore the “how does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?” part and the “you keep all your money in a big brown bag inside the zoo!, what a thing to do!” part. It’s loaded with memorable, quality material. And the instrumental only fits it perfectly, not to mention how it doesn’t sound like anything the Beatles did before or after it. I personally don’t see why it shouldn’t crack some top tens for many people. It does mine. And it’s sad to see it even slightly overlooked.

9) Honey Pie

This is more of a contextual pick. I would understand why many wouldn’t choose to put it above many songs on the White Album as it is essentially anything but rock, but I personally find it very original. Off Paul’s granny catalogue, this is probably the most well-produced. I also love the way Paul just doesn’t care and does it anyway, even referencing it in the song when he says “I like it like that… I like this kinda-hot kinda music”, like he takes shit from nobody (John) on liking old 1930s vocal jazz. I always think of something like The Great Gatsby whenever I hear it; old-school vibes. The strings are dubbed in a radio-manner that’s sweet as sugar. It isn’t overlong, it isn’t overproduced, it isn’t pretentious, it’s simple and charming. The lyrics I think are more varied that what Paul usually did, and I think the vibe of the track completely fits it. It is about a man that loves a woman that is far away, but his unwillingness to reach her is bigger than his love for her, so he asks her to instead come to him. He’s not very romantic, but he is honest, and he could use some loving. I find that very human, and therefore refreshing. And the instrumental is also “lazy” in that flawed, charming kind of way. I completely get anyone not liking the vocal jazz vibe overall. But considering what the track is trying to achieve vs. what it ends up achieveing, I think it completely nails it.

8) Baby It’s You

Maybe people put it at their bottom spots because these are covers, but I personally think Please Please Me has the best bunch they ever did. Baby It’s You features a great backing instrumental to John’s passionate delivery. I love the way the track progressess: if you listen from 0:13 up to 0:47 you get a classic rockabilly ballad build-up and I think it’s extremely charming. When John says “’cause baby… it’s you” I personally love the way it is performed. And the shouts of “don’t want nobody, nobody!” are just as great. Maybe the “sha-la-la”s are a little corny, but I really don’t understand why this song always ends up on the bottom forum polls. It’s way better than that.

7) You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)

How come everybody seems to enjoy the tiny bits of banter presented on the re-releases’ extras but nobody enjoys this song? This is pure Beatles comedy. “Good evening and welcome to Slaggers”. When I heard that, I laughed my ass off, because it’s so classic John, and it’s nice to hear him really having fun with it. I would pick it to replace Revolution 9 on the White Album , as it is completely bananas and out of place and I really love it. As far as the progression, is actually quite interesting. A single melody and refrain, presented in 3 different ways. On one hand, the intro is extremely futuristic, and I mean even in a creepy way. Why does it sound so much like 90s R&B? Well, anyway… That part is absolutely great, Paul’s shouted lyrics are excellent. The middle piano section is very groovy and funny, with caveman drumming recembling the early James Bond intros. That weird part before the ending can be kind of off-putting maybe, but it’s fitting with the vibe of the song. And the ending melodies with Ringo’s classic hi-hat strumming and John’s ad-libs is pure comedy heaven. I get it if you’re a very serious person. But if you enjoy either Monty Python or Frank Zappa, there’s just no way this song doesn’t appeal to you. Listen to it again, please, I guarantee you it is better than what you remember.

6) All I’ve Got To Do

I thought I wouldn’t have to explain this one. But surprisingly enough it ranked very low on the forum poll as I was shocked when I saw it on the bottom half at the #166th position. I expect everyone to correct this mistake whenever the next poll comes alongAs for the song, is my favourite off With the Jules Beatles. I love its simplicity, John’s laid-back vocals and the instrumental’s preservation of smoothness, having few places were the drums and guitars get more pumped up. “You just gotta call on me!”. As I always say, the build-up and the pay-off. A great songwriting point in their early career, and it shouldn’t be ignored by people in their considering of the best songs. Unconceivable.

5) Cry Baby Cry

This one is also one of my favourite songs. Not at first, being honest, but with time it grew on me faster and bigger than probably any other Beatles song ever. As I say, we all have one. We all have that one song we absolutely love and everybody else just merely glimpses at. I put it here because nobody hates on it, everybody always admit it’s fairly pretty. But the gap between what other people think of it and what I think of it is wider than others. I absolutely love it with all my heart. What is the secret? Well, it’s the chord progression, it’s the lyrics. I could hear John telling me stories for hours and hours and never get bored. Hearing about the King, the Queen, their kids, and the Duchess of Kirkcaldy, etc. just has a neo-melancholic vibe to it that I can never shake off. The way instruments pile up along with those sweet vocal harmonies is absolutely fantastic. The acoustic guitar with the accordion. I don’t know, I find it completely original and I feel people should give it a chance to become a top contender at least in their White Album rankings.

4) Anna (Go to Him)

I understand this one has its fans, but I don’t know, I’ve always felt it never received the praise it deserved. I believe it is one of John’s best vocal performances in the entire Beatles cannon. He completely kills it, along with those fantastic vocal harmonies by the boys. Not only it is my favourite song on Please Please Me , but probably my favourite cover by them, tied maybe just with Twist And Shout only because Twist And Shout is very different from the original song. In all fairness Anna (Go to Him) was a fantastic song already, but John Lennon fit the bill so tight, I believe.

3) Flying

Flying is no masterpiece. But then again most songs aren’t. I always defend it because it’s different. Around the Pepper era, most of what the Beatles made was extremely original, and I think Magical Mystery Tour is a fantastic example of that. Everybody always shits on Flying and I don’t know why. It is everything the Beatles are good for, diversity. It fulfills a function, it’s like an interlude inside of a psychedelic record, and it completely delivers on that front. I can’t do anything but stand for this song because if people hate it, they hate on variability and experimentation. It’s not only their first instrumental, but also a chill vibe that they never quite recaptured. The acoustic passages at the beginning are extremely satisfying, along with those “la-la-la”s that are housewarming, welcoming and kind of funny in a way (at least they always seemed to me). I don’t consider it to be one of their best songs, but in hindsight, it sounds too particular to be one of their worst, which is what most would have you believed.

2) Ask Me Why

When I first listened to this song the first thing I thought is that most likely everybody loved it. Ask Me Why is classic Beatles. They were imitating their favourite artists as well as developing a style of their own. It is dated, I’ll admit, but it is another example that the Beatles were more than on pair with their contemporaries, and were completely able to write mellow, heart-felt corny ballads instead of only rock and roll dancers, which is the reason the Rolling Stones were never at their level. Ask Me Why sounds like the type of song that in an alternate dimension I would be putting on my “most overrated songs” instead, but given everybody overhates it, I feel that I have to make it justice. Because it doesn’t sound like something I would adore otherwise. This placing is basically me saying to you, “you should love this, why don’t you love this?, this is everything you love”. There are many things to love on it. I love those unashamedly corny backing harmonies. I love the laid-back, tongue-in-cheek vibe of the song. I love the very charismatic touches of Spanish music. I love the guitar lick, which is absolutely intoxicating. It is the perfect “sing in the shower” song. I don’t see what makes it so much worse than the rest of the songs on Please Please Me . If you ask me, it’s actually one of the best.

1) Dig A Pony

I would compare it to a song like I’m Only Sleeping in the sense that I think I could pull apart 3 different melodies off of it and make three different songs one for each melody and they would be three amazing songs still. But instead, they’re all in one song and make it even greater. The recording of the song might be a little rushed, but the compositional aspect of the song I believe is completely on point. “I… I… I… Dig A Pony “. I love the way it goes up and then it goes down, it’s a classic Lennon progression, not unlike I’m So Tired or Happiness Is A Warm Gun . It is not the groundbreaking masterpiece many songs claim to be, but man if it isn’t absolutely good-sounding. People complain about non-sensical lyrics? Coming from John Lennon ? The lyrics are hilarious. “I roll a stoney, ’cause you can imitate anyone you know”, that is genius. Dig A Pony is a miss-treated should’ve-been-classic, that always gets a bad rep from everybody and I don’t have the slightest idea why. Whenever people break it down for me, I always feel like they are talking about a different song. The guitar riffs are great, the chorus is catchy and the progression of the song, including that amazing guitar solo, are ear-grabbing. I listen to it frequently and it is hands down the most underrated Beatles song.