The Not-So-Fab 5

Twas a busy week, lingering illness for me and (unrelated) new illness for Abby and Carla, thus no Crucial Music post this week.  Not enough hours in the day.  I did get involved in a Facebook thread that I thought might be interesting for this blog and doesn't require the labor-intensive prep work a Crucial Music post does.

The saying, "Familiarity breeds contempt" is a curious one.  While it certainly has merit, I think familiarity can also breed indifference, for example: The Beatles.  Whether you love or hate the Beatles, it's pretty tough to go through life without a solid knowledge of their history and body of work.  Even haters could probably name all four members and a dozen songs without thinking about it.  And to those of us who enjoy their work, because so much of their catalog is imprinted on our subconscious, we probably give a pass to some of their lesser work.  Like a prayer, pledge or oath we recite frequently, we often go through the motions without much thought to what we're saying. We may be singing along or tapping our toes to "Yellow Submarine"  before it hits us, "I HATE this song!"

With that in mind, a simple request: name your 5 Worst Beatles Songs.  Whether you love or hate those Liverpudlians, they wrote their share of clunkers, post your Bottom 5.  I'll get it started.

5)  'Blue Jay Way' - I enjoy most of George Harrison's Beatles output but this dud isn't one of them.

4) 'Within You Without You'/'Love You To' - Not to pile on Mr. Harrison but these two sitar/tabla pieces are instant skips for me.

3) 'Revolution 9' - You could point to the Stockhausen, Varese and Cage influence on this track and it would still be a boring, over-long experimental 'piece'.  George Martin fought to keep this one off the White Album but was overruled.

2) 'Good Night' - As a kid, I was drawn to the Ringo-sung material because a lot of it was goofy fun but this song is utterly forgettable.

1) 'Run For Your Life' - For a guy who was such a feminist, it's surprising this misogynistic song came from John Lennon.  John himself even admitted in an interview that it was his least favorite Beatles song and the one he most regretted writing. Easily skippable as the last (and only dud) song on Rubber Soul.

Your turn.  State your degree of Beatles love/hate and fire off your Bottom 5.  Have a great weekend!

Comments

[mr. tower]

I hate Blackbird.

[dj]

5. Some of the early, by-numbers covers. - Did we really need to hear their take on play "Please Mr. Postman?
4. The Inner Light
3. Revolution 9
2. Octopus's Garden
1. Old Brown Shoe

[mattbarr]

i disagree on "Good Night." I always liked that one. I don't mind "Run For Your Life" but the others you list are certainly skippable. "Wild Honey Pie" is pretty grating. "Mr Moonlight" is a snore.

Also I'm not really a fan of "Across the Universe" or "Here There and Everywhere." Although they are still better most people's songs.