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Saddest/Most Bittersweet Beatles Songs
2 July 2014
10.07pm
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JauntyMonty
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What do you guys think the saddest/most bittersweet Beatles songs are? I personally feel like Nowhere Man is a tugger (I mean, we’ve all felt like a Nowehere Man once, right?). Here, There, and Everywhere is also a great bittersweet song.

"Something in the way she moves . . . attracts me like a pomegranate" - George Harrison

2 July 2014
10.14pm
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Bulldog
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Yes It Is for a bit more of an obscure one, but then there’s the obvious Yesterday . Oh, and This Boy . For No One is a great sad one from the same album as Here, There, and Everywhere. She’s Leaving Home as well… There are many, many more that I haven’t mentioned, of course.

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Oudis

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2 July 2014
10.18pm
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Funny Paper
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I’d have to think about it in terms of the superlative in the title (“Saddest/Most”); but off the top of my head I can think of a couple that are in the general ballpark:

The Night Before

Things We Said Today

— and a little subtler, perhaps (leaning toward the glass half full of the “sweet” in “bittersweet”):

You Never Give Me Your Money

Two Of Us .

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2 July 2014
10.22pm
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Funny Paper
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P.S.:

George’s “I Need You “.

And even subtlest of all (in terms of stretching the sweet out like taffy in tension with the bitter):

George’s “Here Comes The Sun “.

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2 July 2014
11.26pm
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HeyTrud
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The End ” – very moving…maybe more moving than sad?

She’s Leaving Home

Baby’s In Black

I’m A Loser

Nowhere Man

"....take a sad song & make it Meilleur"....

3 July 2014
12.10am
Bungalow Bob
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Julia ” puts me in a melancholy mood. The lyrics aren’t particularly sad, but John’s plaintive, unadorned voice accompanied only by his hypnotic, finger-picked guitar makes this a somber beauty. And of course, knowing the tragic back story of John’s relationship with his mother Julia helps set the mood, too. The opening line “Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it just to reach you”… Wow… What an effective brushstroke to begin a wistful painting.

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3 July 2014
12.47pm
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meanmistermustard
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What Goes On . Ringo sounds so mournful and sad singing that. “Did you mean to break my heart and watch me die? Tell me why.”

"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)

3 July 2014
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MrMoonlight
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meanmistermustard said
What Goes On . Ringo sounds so mournful and sad singing that. “Did you mean to break my heart and watch me die? Tell me why.”

And to ruin that… “I’ve already told you why!”

3 July 2014
4.34pm
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StrawberryFieldsForever
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In My Life and Free As A Bird , the latter more so owing to its timing and context.

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3 July 2014
4.58pm
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MrMoonlight said

meanmistermustard said
What Goes On . Ringo sounds so mournful and sad singing that. “Did you mean to break my heart and watch me die? Tell me why.”

And to ruin that… “I’ve already told you why!”

“I’ve already told you why!” comes before the guitar break. And you can’t ruin ‘What Goes On ‘, not for me anyway.

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18 August 2017
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crazyyorkshireman
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Personally, I’d say a couple of ones:

 

In my life is very melancholic, but reflects deadly on memories, giving it a bittersweet feeling

 

The Long And Winding Road is a sad yet beautiful song, Let it be as its their last big hit as a group and Across The Universe too.

 

Blackbird is quite sad in some ways, The simplicity of it sometimes makes it sad

 

And She’s Leaving Home , do I need to say any more?

18 August 2017
1.36pm
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Martha
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When I hear the word bittersweet the first association I generally have, even if it is not in the context of music, is I’ll Follow The Sun . This is the bittersweet song for me because the parting described in the song is so permanent, there’s no intention from the singer’s side to ever come back again. But at the same time, there’s the prospect of both parties becoming happy again in the end: she’ll understand and he’ll follow the sun. 

Additionally, Paul’s and John’s vocals both sound melancholic but not sad. It’s as if they had accepted the fact that there is pain to come but with the thought of happier times in their minds they embrace the pain with a bittersweet smile. 

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Not once does the diversity seem forced -- the genius of the record is how the vaudevillian "When I'm 64" seems like a logical extension of "Within You Without You" and how it provides a gateway to the chiming guitars of "Lovely Rita. - Stephen T. Erlewine on Sgt Pepper's

18 August 2017
2.54pm
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SgtPeppersBulldog
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This Boy and The Fool On The Hill both feel very melancholy to me. The former being of a boy just wanting his true love back from the hands of greed, while the latter deals with the isolation, mockery and misunderstandings of a simple man.

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18 August 2017
2.57pm
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sir walter raleigh
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Real Love , Mother , and Little Willow are the only three songs, Beatles or non Beatles that really weigh heavy on me emotionally. 

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18 August 2017
7.32pm
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QuarryMan
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I’m extremely drunk right now so if my answer isn’t coherent I apologise. Sad songs for me are In My Life , asleep by the smiths, disarm by the pumpkins, wish you were here.

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18 August 2017
7.49pm
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WeepingAtlasCedars
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a-hard-days-night-ringo-8 Oh well, there’s one Beatles song in there, so that’s good, I suppose.

Don’t drink and post, kids. paul-mccartney-thumb_gif A message from FADP (Forumpudlians Against Drunk Posting). Now, back to some regularly scheduled programming:

I find Long, Long, Long to be quite a sad and moving tune, myself.

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19 August 2017
3.09am
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sir walter raleigh
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As for bittersweet moments, John’s work Double Fantasy is as glorious as it is tragic. If only he had lived to continue making music of that quality!

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"The pump don't work cause the vandals took the handles!"

-Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues

"We could ride and surf together while our love would grow"

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19 August 2017
2.01pm
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Desmond
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Good point, Beautiful Boy stands out to me as a bittersweet song because of when it was written. The song is John’s profession of love for Sean and I find myself thinking about John from Sean’s perspective when I listen to the song. The line “I can hardly wait, to see you come of age” kills me every time.

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19 August 2017
3.15pm
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Martha
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If we’re already talking about bittersweet John solo songs, I’d like to add Jealous Guy . Lost love is a sad topic generally but pared with the honesty and the regret about the pain his jealousy has brought to his beloved one, this is twice as sad. I find the song even sadder when I think about it in combination with You Can’t Do That and Run For Your Life and John’s actual struggle with jealousy. Because , if one looks at it that way, it becomes apparent that John/the singer has changed and has understood his flaws and feels sorry for them but it might already be all too late.

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Not once does the diversity seem forced -- the genius of the record is how the vaudevillian "When I'm 64" seems like a logical extension of "Within You Without You" and how it provides a gateway to the chiming guitars of "Lovely Rita. - Stephen T. Erlewine on Sgt Pepper's

19 August 2017
4.07pm
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sir walter raleigh
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@Desmond said
Good point, Beautiful Boy stands out to me as a bittersweet song because of when it was written. The song is John’s profession of love for Sean and I find myself thinking about John from Sean’s perspective when I listen to the song. The line “I can hardly wait, to see you come of age” kills me every time.  

Just Like Starting Over kills me as well because of how I imagine the excitement at the time of its release. I would have been so pumped after hearing that song. He is assuring that his greatness will continue. 

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"The pump don't work cause the vandals took the handles!"

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"We could ride and surf together while our love would grow"

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