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Favourite and Least Favourite "White Album" Songs
29 September 2013
11.19am
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Funny Paper
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CorporationT — nice breakdown of “Cry Baby Cry “.

I’ve noticed that John had a habit of slighting some of his good songs from the past.

I’d say the piano is John; it sounds like his style.

Also worth noting is the addition of accordion — an underused instrument in pop in general, and certainly in rock/pop, and it fits well with this song.

That “Can you take me back” coda is a typical Paul thing — while less “eery” it nevertheless reminds me a little of the “Coming round the bend” coda he tacked onto the end of “Long Haired Lady” and “Her Majesty ” at the end of “The End “, and his reprise of “Band On The Run ” after “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five”…  (there may be other examples)

Faded flowers, wait in a jar, till the evening is complete... complete... complete... complete...

29 September 2013
11.24am
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Ahhh Girl
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Funny Paper said

cbatcu said
^^Tell your friend I said “thank you” for pointing you here.

I will cbatcu, thanks — and I hope you stick around for a long time and don’t disappear like some seem to do…

At least until I’m 64a-hard-days-night-george-10a-hard-days-night-john-3

29 September 2013
1.58pm
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Hannah
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trcanberra said
I like “Helter Skelter “, mostly because I could use it back then as an argument against anyone who thought the Beatles were going soft.

Least? Hard to pick one as I love the diversity of the album, but I guess it would be “Julia ” – it has not quite grown on me yet.

Oh, and I’m happy to join the “Honey Pie ” club – I kinda like that one too – does that make 5 of us yet?

I believe it does. Wow, at least 5 people in the world like Wild Honey Pie

Helter Skelter is one of my favourite Beatles songs. Anyone who puts down the Beatles should listen to this and I guarantee a change of heart. 

29 September 2013
3.01pm
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Ahhh Girl
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^^ To add to the “Helter Skelter ” mix: A co-worker who isn’t very into the Beatles said she thought it would be cool to hear Paul McCartney do heavy metal. I got her to listen to “Helter Skelter “, and she said that would suffice, it being early heavy metal. I don’t really know heavy metal. Is “Helter Skelter ” even close? Is there something else I should tell her to listen to that comes closer in your opinion?

Switching topic:

Does this count? I never skip “Wild Honey Pie ” when it comes up. I bounce along with it. I think of a cartoon rabbit hyped up on Monkberry Moon Delight looking for his gurl. “Is she here? Is she there? Mr. Moose, did you see which way she went?”

29 September 2013
4.12pm
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Sky999
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Some credit “Born to Be Wild” by SteppenWolf, which came out a few months before “Helter Skelter “, as the first metal song because it uses the words “heavy metal thunder”; however, others would give the credit to “Helter Skelter ” because it is more heavy. There are other songs on the list as well, but with this said I believe it (Helter Skelter ) is ONE of the first heavy metal songs. 

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Von Bontee
29 September 2013
8.55pm
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Somewhere Man
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I love Wild Honey Pie . It’s a wonderful prelude to the similarly quirky Bungalow Bill, which I also fancy.

 

Favourites (In order of appearance):

The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill

Happiness Is A Warm Gun

I’m So Tired

Blackbird

Piggies

Helter Skelter

Yer Blues

Long, Long, Long

 

Least Favourites (In order of appearance)

Glass Onion

Birthday

Revolution 9

 

All in all, aside from the latter three, I love the whole album and it’s undeniably one of my favourites. :)

I didn't know what I was missing.

29 September 2013
9.58pm
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Linde
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Funny Paper said
CorporationT — nice breakdown of “Cry Baby Cry “.

I’ve noticed that John had a habit of slighting some of his good songs from the past.

I’d say the piano is John; it sounds like his style.

Also worth noting is the addition of accordion — an underused instrument in pop in general, and certainly in rock/pop, and it fits well with this song.

That “Can you take me back” coda is a typical Paul thing — while less “eery” it nevertheless reminds me a little of the “Coming round the bend” coda he tacked onto the end of “Long Haired Lady” and “Her Majesty ” at the end of “The End “, and his reprise of “Band On The Run ” after “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five”…  (there may be other examples)

 

I had typed out a long post about Cry Baby Cry , the instrumentation and how those little bits and codas Paul sometimes sticks on the end of songs are genius and give the songs a different feeling but then my internet crashed.a-hard-days-night-john-7

 

Anyway, the chords are great, just because they’re so simple. Love all those little sounds in it too, and the accordion of course. The lyrics are also cool, very different from most of John’s Beatles lyrics indeed. It’s all so simple but effective.

This is a really useless and short comment, but I don’t feel like typing the whole thing out againblue-meanie

 

29 September 2013
10.16pm
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meanmistermustard
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George Martin’s harmonium at the beginning is so under the radar yet brilliant. The guitar fills are fantabulous. Ringo’s crashing drums are just as good. How the song starts out quiet but gets heavier as it plays thru. Johns understated vocal. Paul’s bass. The sound effects.

So easily a highlight on the album and ridiculously overlooked. Sorry John but you were totally wrong when you derided the song.

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

27 December 2013
10.50am
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DearSirOrMadam
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I can still remember the December 1968… I got the brand new double-album called “The Beatles”. During the 1st weeks or even  months “the best song” used to change… but quite soon Happiness Is A Warm Gun became as a favourite. 

 

A man must break his back to earn his day of leisure.

27 December 2013
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DearSirOrMadam said
I can still remember the December 1968… I got the brand new double-album called “The Beatles”. During the 1st weeks or even  months “the best song” used to change… but quite soon Happiness Is A Warm Gun became as a favourite. 

 

And the inspiration for the medley on Abbey Rd it seems

11 January 2014
7.33pm
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Billy Rhythm
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acmac said

CorporationT-shirt said
I also wish they could have included Not Guilty as well, since it would have fit perfectly (IMO).

Definitely. It’s a fantastic song and there’s really just no excuse for it never making a Beatle record.
 

 

I always thought that the reason that it was left off was because of the lyrics, they appear to be directed towards Paul whom George felt had been riding him a bit during these sessions (not letting him play on ‘Hey Jude ‘ etc.), it’s not for musical reasons for they spent considerable time laying down the bed tracks.

 

Not guilty
For getting in your way
While you’re trying to steal the day
Not guilty
And I’m not here for the rest
I’m not trying to steal your vest

 

Does this not sound like he’s talking about Paul?  Paul was seen wearing a “vest” in many photos around this period.

 

I won’t upset the apple cart
I only want what I can get
I’m really sorry that you’ve been misled
But like you heard me said
Not guilty

 

The apple cart?

 

Not guilty
For looking like a freak
Making friends with every Sikh
Not guilty
For leading you astray
On the road to Mandalay

 

I can certainly see why the others, especially Paul, had reservations about including this one on the album at the time.  Remember that John changed the lyrics to ‘Sexy Sadie ‘ from its original ‘Maharishi’ title to avoid hurt feelings, perhaps asking George to do the same here would’ve been met with more bickering…:-)

 

 

11 January 2014
7.48pm
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meanmistermustard
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Supposedly Not Guilty was about the treatment George received from John and Paul, the dealings with Apple, and the fallout from the trip to India and one of the theories goes that it was dropped due to the lyrical content being a little close to home.

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11 January 2014
7.56pm
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meanmistermustard said
Supposedly Not Guilty was about the treatment George received from John and Paul, the dealings with Apple, and the fallout from the trip to India and one of the theories goes that it was dropped due to the lyrical content being a little close to home.

 

I figured that this was why ‘Sour Milk Sea’ was passed over and given to Jackie Lomax as well, it sounded to me like George was writing about John’s new lifestyle, in particular his heroin use.

 

If your life’s not right, doesn’t satisfy you
You don’t get the breaks like some of us do
Better work it out; find where you’ve gone wrong
Better do it soon as you don’t have long

Get out of Sour Milk Sea
You don’t belong there
Get back to where you should be
Find out what’s going on there

 

George giving him advice would likely be rejected by John, it appears that another great George song was “rejected” for the same reasons as ‘Not Guilty ‘…:-) 

 

 

 

 

25 January 2014
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FizzleJayWay
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I had to comment on this thread as over the past few weeks I have been appreciating The White Album more. Songs like Helter Skelter , I’m So Tired , Glass Onion , While My Guitar Gently Weeps , I’m Only Sleeping , Back In the U.S.S.R, Blackbird and even Revolution 1 (When I’m in the mood)  have been the most played songs recently. Though there are songs I really don’t like still like Rocky Raccoon as an example but I think with The White Album you’ll find at least one song you’d like because it’s very broad and filled with different styles of songs. a-hard-days-night-ringo-10

But if you want money for people with minds that hate... All I can tell you is brother you have to wait. Alright.

26 January 2014
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For me it’s a tie between Happiness Is A Warm Gun and Dear Prudence .    Also love WMGGW and Why Don’t We Do It In The Road

11 October 2014
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I think my favorite song on the White Album is either Martha My Dear or Rocky Raccoon . But overall, I love them all!! But Revolution 9 gives me the creeps.. 

"When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment and I told them they didn't understand life."
-John Lennon

12 October 2014
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FizzleJayWay said
I had to comment on this thread as over the past few weeks I have been appreciating The White Album more. Songs like Helter Skelter , I’m So Tired , Glass Onion , While My Guitar Gently Weeps , I’m Only Sleeping , Back In the U.S.S.R, Blackbird and even Revolution 1 (When I’m in the mood)  have been the most played songs recently. Though there are songs I really don’t like still like Rocky Raccoon as an example but I think with The White Album you’ll find at least one song you’d like because it’s very broad and filled with different styles of songs. a-hard-days-night-ringo-10

Psst, I’m Only Sleeping is on Revolver , not The White Album a-hard-days-night-george-10

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13 October 2014
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I don’t really like Bungalow Bill, it’s boring me too much. And I never liked the female voice inside.

I know many people love it, but Julia REALLY strikes me as a boring tune. Color me crazy, but I really can’t endure listening to “Juuuuuuuliaaaaa, Juuuuuuuuliaaaaa, Juuuuuliaaaa” in such a monotonous way.

Good Night is, unfortunately, the worst Ringo song for me.

13 October 2014
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meanmistermustard
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We must have similar tastes @StrawberryWalrus as these are my thoughts on those. Unless i’m playing the White Album thru i don’t listen to ‘Good Night ‘, have never been captivated by ‘Julia ‘ (tho there are some great lyrics in there) and Yoko’s voice on ‘Bungalow Bill’ is horrid, especially the beginning “not when he”, no idea why she sang it like that. I guess John was so enthralled he forgot the bit about getting her to sing in tune. I do like the outro tho and the thumps before each chorus. Personally i think it would have been more humorous if Yoko had sung “his mummy butted in” considering John called her “Mother “.

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13 October 2014
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meanmistermustard said
We must have similar tastes @StrawberryWalrus as these are my thoughts on those. Unless i’m playing the White Album thru i don’t listen to ‘Good Night ‘, have never been captivated by ‘Julia ‘ (tho there are some great lyrics in there) and Yoko’s voice on ‘Bungalow Bill’ is horrid, especially the beginning “not when he”, no idea why she sang it like that. I guess John was so enthralled he forgot the bit about getting her to sing in tune. I do like the outro tho and the thumps before each chorus. Personally i think it would have been more humorous if Yoko had sung “his mummy butted in” considering John called her “Mother “.

Great minds think alike a-hard-days-night-paul-11

I do not “dislike” Bungalow Bill, it’s certainly a silly little song and I like the intro, but it could be made much, much better. 

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