The Top 10 Most Overlooked Beatles Songs

When I had the idea to start a blog, my first thought was that it should mostly be in list form. Lists are the easiest way to write about something, because you don't have to worry about annoying things like segues and original thoughts. You can just slap ten or so things together, put them in an order, then call it a day. But a blog with nothing but lists would be obviously lazy, instead of just partially lazy. So I've decided to update this thing twice a week - with an essay at the beginning of the week, and a list of some kind every Friday. And you'll all just have to sit there and like it.

I wanted to write about The Beatles this week because everyone who writes a music-related blog has to write about them eventually. It's a rule, like ignoring mainstream rock bands, or pretending to understand hip-hop. You have to do it, so I might as well do it now that Beatles Rock Band and the new remasters are creating a mini Beatles revival of sorts. (This has to be the second or third one by now, right?)

But a "top 10 best Beatles songs" list is boring. Millions of people have already written about "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Hey Jude." So I decided to write about songs that merely thousands of people have written about. These are the songs that get overlooked when people talk about the best of the Beatles. Some of them are too weird, some were unfairly packaged as b-sides to popular singles and then forgotten when the market became more album-based. But they're all great, and they deserve some recognition. I'm a hero!

10. Sexy Sadie
The Beatles (White Album)

When the Beatles went to India to visit the Maharishi, they came back with songs about peace, tranquility and the awesome forces of love that dwell within us all (read: LSD). And then there's "Sexy Sadie," one of the most bitter and angry songs the band recorded. John spends the entire time lashing out at "sexy Sadie" with lyrics like "you've made a fool of everyone" and "you'll get yours yet, however big you think you are." Who is Sexy Sadie? No one - John changed the title to placate George. The original title was "Maharishi." Apparently John had some trouble with that whole "inner peace" thing.



9. Flying
Magical Mystery Tour

It's easy to see why this one gets overlooked, but it's still a great song. "Flying" is the only Beatles instrumental, but it makes you wish they had tried more. It conjures up a hazy, laid back psychadelic sound that builds on itself until it finally fades away into a haze just as you start hoping it would go on longer.



8. Hey Bulldog
Yellow Submarine

The "Yellow Submarine" soundtrack is probably the weakest thing the Beatles ever did. It consists of two previously released songs, four originals, and the non-Beatles related score to the movie. But one of those four originals is John's "Hey Bulldog," a great, bluesy song that sounds like "Lady Madonna"'s more aggressive, more dog-themed cousin.



7. Blue Jay Way
Magical Mystery Tour

Okay, this one is right on the line between "overlooked" and "disliked." And I can see why - it's probably the band's least melodic song that doesn't repeat "number nine" over and over. But its droning psychadelics evoke an eerie tension, sounding like the bad trip lurking on the other side of "Lucy In The Sky."



6. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
Help!

Let's get the obvious out of the way first. It's a Bob Dylan song. John could have retitled it "Bob Dylan's 115th Imitation" and it wouldn't seem too far off the mark. But it's a great Bob Dylan song, and a big step forward for a band that, at this point, was still known for screaming teenage fans and "yeah, yeah, yeah."



5. One After 909
Let It Be

There has to be some alternate universe somewhere where this song was a huge hit. I mean, listen to it! Doesn't it sound like it belongs on some greatest hits album, sandwiched between "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "All My Loving?" It was written in the band's early days, but didn't turn up on an album for almost ten years. By that time, The Beatles had moved far beyond this kind of old school rock and roll, but if this song had been released in 1964 it could have been huge. Of course, the Beatles could have released a twenty minute album of Ringo farting in 1964 and it would have sold ten million copies, but you know what I mean.



4. And Your Bird Can Sing
Revolver

I'm not sure if this song is overlooked, exactly. As far as I know, everyone likes it. But it had the bad luck to be a great, straight-forward rock song on an album full of revolutionary new sounds and ideas, so it gets pushed to the side in favor of "Eleanor Rigby" and "Tomorrow Never Knows." But it's a great song with one of John's best melodies. John claimed to hate it at least twice, but what does he know?



3. The Inner Light
"Lady Madonna" b-side

"The Inner Light" was the furthest The Beatles went into Indian music, bringing in a full band of Indian instruments instead of the usual sitar. It's also one of George's best songs, with a beautiful, timeless melody that shines through the Bollywood feel of the music, and some of the trippiest lyrics George ever wrote.



2. Rain
"Paperback Writer" b-side

Okay, forget the whole "overlooked Beatles songs" thing that this entire entry has been about so far. This song and the next one rank up with the best Beatles songs ever. "Rain" is one of those songs like "She Loves You" and "A Hard Day's Night," with a melody so simple and perfect that it seems like it's always been around. It also has one of the first backwards vocals ever on a pop record. But you should really let John Lennon, in an interview from 1980, tell you about that:

"I got home from the studio and I was stoned out of my mind on marijuana... and, as I usually do, I listened to what I'd recorded that day. Somehow it got on backwards and I sat there, transfixed, with the earphones on, with a big hash joint. I ran in the next day and said, 'I know what to do with it, I know... listen to this!' So I made them all play it backwards. The fade is me actually singing backwards with the guitars going backwards. (sings) 'Sharethsmnowthsmeanss!' That one was the gift of God... of Ja actually-- the god of marijuana, right? So Ja gave me that one."

I'm pretty sure Jah is the Christian God, as interpreted by Rastafarians, but whatever. That's still awesome.



1. I'll Follow the Sun
Beatles for Sale

Remember that alternate universe where "One After 909" was a huge hit? In that universe, "I'll Follow The Sun" is as popular as "Yesterday," or at least "Penny Lane." It's one of those great, seemingly effortless songs that Paul was able to pull out of nowhere constantly. It got lost in the chaos of Beatlemania, but it's easily equal to anything else the band recorded around this time.



Now, if you just scrolled to the bottom first to see what number one was, go back up and listen to the songs quickly, before YouTube takes them all down!