SONG OF THE DAY

“Baby, You’re A Rich Man” – The Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour, Parlophone UK, 1967). Written by Lennon & McCartney.

INTERESTING DETAILS (from wikipedia)

– It was originally intended for the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, but the plan changed when it was used as the B-side of the “All You Need Is Love” single.
– This was the first song by the band recorded and mixed completely outside Abbey Road Studios.
– The unusual oboe-like sound was created with a clavioline, an electronic keyboard instrument and a forerunner to the analog synthesizer. It is played by Lennon on the track.
– Two separate songs were actually combined to make this piece: the verses from “One of the Beautiful People” by John Lennon were combined with Paul McCartney’s previously unaccompanied “Baby, you’re a rich man…” chorus.

MY TAKE

What can I say? This is one of the most fascinating Beatles’ songs. I love songs with multiple layers, melody shifts, key changes, etc. and this song has got ’em in spades. I also love the dissonant harmonies in the later “beautiful people” choruses. I think the Beatles were best in their later years together, and welcome the diverse sound that Yoko Ono, drug experimentation, meetings with gurus and the like brought the the Beatles sound. I grew up with a cassette tape of Magical Mystery Tour, and have a hard time seeing it as a set of separate songs and not one continuous album element, but if I had to pick a part out that resonated with me, it would surely be this weird-happy song.

MY BEATLES TOP 10 SONGS LIST

A NOTE TO MY NON-EXISTENT READERS

…Is a Top 10 list I just can’t bring myself to narrow down. I can barely pick their Top 10 albums without wanting to make it a Top 15 list. I’m trying to be all Nick-Hornby-High-Fidelity here in my first post, but this is just not happening. It was my original intention to pick only 10, I swear it was, but in narrowing it down I happened to pick exactly 20 songs, and since that was a nice even round number, and since I couldn’t bear to part with any of the songs, I present to you my Top 20 (followed by my Other 36—songs that didn’t make the cut but were too good to not mention).

[Insert your comments here, something like: “Wow, what a way to start a blog…” to which I respond: “But for god’s sake, they have hundreds of songs” to which you say “meh”].

Enjoy the painstakingly ordered list, and its carefully curated video playlist companion on youtube. I will stick with youtube for now as a resource for playlists because you don’t have to log in to see youtube stuff, plus you can choose to just have it on in the background and listen to it, or you could choose to sit and watch the archival video footage, early music videos, Magical Mystery Tour movie clips and old photos of that group of Liverpoolians I love so much. Options. Delicious.

And by the way, what a perfect day to start a mostly music blog: today celebrates the release of the entire Beatles collection remastered, along with releases of Beatles Rock Band and even Beatles remastered box sets (available in stereo or mono). I bought the remastered stereo box set on Amazon today, though it won’t be here for weeks to enjoy because it’s on mad back order.

Alright, alright.

THE LIST (featuring insightful comments by yours truly)

1. The Fool On The Hill (Favorite since childhood. One of my first cassette tapes, and yes it’s in my car right now.)
   
2. You Never Give Me Your Money (I sing this Todd, jokingly, lovingly)
   
3. Baby, You’re A Rich Man (I love the choral line and dissonant harmonies of the line “how does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?”.)
   
4. Martha My Dear (Just when I think this song should be #1 for its incredible piano melodies, I remember the three songs I like better. Still, this song is perfect in every way.)
   
5. Your Mother Should Know (I love the old sound they captured in this song)
   
6. Two Of Us (The rhythm is so catchy and picturesque; it makes me think of walking down a sunny street shaded by large oak trees on the edges)
   
7. Golden Slumber/ Carry That Weight (Counting as one song because I’ve always heard them played together; Man, this song carries raw power in Golden Slumbers chorus.)
8. & 9. Mean Mr. Mustard/ Polythene Pam (Counting as two songs, but often played with Sun King and She Came In Through The Bathroom Window as a set, though neither of these songs even hit my top 60)
9. Polythene Pam
10. Mother Nature’s Son (Lyrical melodies and gentleness, especially the humming parts.)
    
11. Lovely Rita (First, I love the wah-wah of the brass instrument in the background. Second, I love the concept of the lyrics. Third, I love the tempo and lilt of the step I walk with when I hear it!)
    
12. Dig A Pony (This is rock. It truly doesn’t get much better than this. God, I would kill to see this live.)
    
13. A Day In The Life (I love songs that have sound sections and swift changes, and this song is one of the best at it. I also love the slight echo to the vocals; it’s haunting and sad and comforting all at once.)
    
14. Blackbird (Best acoustic guitar song ever written, though I am open for debate.)
    
15. Honey Pie (Just silly. And that’s why I love it. As you can tell, I’m not into a lot of their early or classic stuff. I like it when they get trippy and branch into new instruments and sounds.)
    
16. I’ll Follow The Sun (And I follow that statement with one of the most basic, classic early Beatles songs around. Nice, Joan. Why do I enjoy all of their melancholy songs so much?)
    
17. Flying/ Blue Jay Way (counting as one song because I’ve always heard them played together; god, isn’t this sound incredible? It’s so beyond the time period in history when it was written. It’s transcendent.)
18. Paperback Writer (My original childhood favorite, from even before I owned cassette tapes. This one brings me back to about age 7 or 8. And I was practicing harmonies with the radio.)
    
19. Happiness Is A Warm Gun (One of my newest favorites. I think it’s brilliant and has incredible depth of sound. I got into it after the movie “Across The Universe” showed me the light to the full White Album)
    
20. I’m Looking Through You (You can’t tell me this didn’t set the stage for music that is still happening today. The way they yell in the chorus, I feel Kings of Leon and White Stripes in that so much!)

VIDEOS OF THE DAY

Click here for a youtube.com playlist of my top 20 Beatles songs.

THE OTHER LIST

WHAT DIDN’T MAKE THE TOP 20 CUT, a.k.a. the Other 36, in mostly alphabetical order: