beatles - michelle

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itsvery good.

― ethan, Friday, 1 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

its boring. and the lyrix are dumm i think. it sounds like "someday monkey bones play piano ensemble."

― di, Saturday, 2 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

It reminds me how long it's been since I've listened to "Honey Pie". I need to remedy this.

― Keiko, Saturday, 2 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

It's rubbish, or at least it's not as good as "Listen To What The Man Said".

― Robin Carmody, Saturday, 2 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Heard the beatles but noit this but it's a safe bet that it's a load of shit.

― Julio Desouza, Saturday, 2 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

One of the few Beatles songs I never, ever liked.

― Arthur, Saturday, 2 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

A companion piece to Lennon's "Girl"? Weepy, mellow, very Euro...

― Joe, Saturday, 2 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

seven months pass...

"Michelle" is a very sweet, mellow song. It expresses emotions not easily expressed. The tune is rhythmically simple, yet touching. The French adds a nice, whimsical flavor.

― meesha, Wednesday, 23 October 2002 02:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Which one was The French? John, Paul, George or Ringo?

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 02:29 (twenty-three years ago)

"someday monkey bones play piano ensemble."

This made me laugh so damn hard! Cheers Di, for cheering up my day.

I thought it was pretty much that for literally years...then I realised it was just the French for "These are words that go together well" or thereabouts - "Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble".

― Charlie (Charlie), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 03:47 (twenty-three years ago)

it's great, the free design do a nice cover.

― keith (keithmcl), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 05:23 (twenty-three years ago)

It's alright. The version on Enoch Light's Permissive Polyphonics is quite beautiful tho'. Makes me shiver.

― Jeff W (Jeff W), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 09:38 (twenty-three years ago)

One of the weakest songs they wrote. Wishy-washy floppy fringed head-tilting whitewash. That and Girl are slaves to If I Needed Someone.

― Roger Fascist (Roger Fascist), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 10:17 (twenty-three years ago)

That and Girl are slaves to If I Needed Someone.

Most of the early catalogue is slave to "If I Needed Someone"

Don't disrespect "Girl" though...

And Michelle - I never thought was great, but explain why "Yesterday" is the most covered song of all time..? "Yesterday" is one of the worst songs ever written.

― dave225 (Dave225), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 10:36 (twenty-three years ago)

It's merely a simple love song -- nothing worth getting all hot under the collar (or elsewhere) about. Simple as that.

It's way better than "Girl", though.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 13:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Wasn't it meant to be a pisstake? - "I need you, I need you, I need you; I think you know by now..."

Certainly the raised eyebrow which Matt Monro applies throughout his (George Martin-produced) cover of the song would seem to indicate this.

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 23 October 2002 13:34 (twenty-three years ago)

How many people out there know someone who was named after this song? I do ...

keith

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 16:00 (twenty-three years ago)

For me, this song has dropped in stock over the years. I still sing along to it if I hear it on the radio, but it is no longer a situation where I'm anxious for it to come on while I listen to Rubber Soul. No, that thrill is reserved for..."In My Life"! (Which is a song that meant almost nothing to me when I was 17.)

― dleone (dleone), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 16:05 (twenty-three years ago)

My mom was not (being about twenty-one when the song came out), but unsurprisingly it's her fave Beatles song (and she knows French as well, so that helped).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 16:08 (twenty-three years ago)

"I'm A Loser" is great, too... and ABBA nicked the riff for "S.O.S."! (Ned - you interloper!)

classic = talking about Lennon songs on a Macca thread. I still love "Michelle", anyway - even though heard it too much.

― Paul (scifisoul), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 16:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Ned - you interloper!

Astounding!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 16:22 (twenty-three years ago)

(Veteran Beatles booster sighs...) "Yesterday" and "Michelle" both too sentimental. "Yesterday" sweeter => better; "Michelle" pretentious => worse. "Girl" three or four times sharper than either - listen for John's not-particularly-buried bile in the last verse (or just read the lyrics).

― B:Rad (Brad), Wednesday, 23 October 2002 20:00 (twenty-three years ago)

When I was about nine, I had a huge crush on a girl in my class who was called Michelle.

When I was about nine, this was my favourite song.

― jamesmichaelward, Wednesday, 23 October 2002 20:22 (twenty-three years ago)

"someday monkey bones play piano ensemble."

Any Powerpuff Girls fan (and this damn well better apply to all of us) should know it's actually "someday monkey won't play piano songs, play piano songs"

"In My Life" means plenty of me, and I'm 17. Meant a hell of a lot to me when I was 9, too...

― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 23 October 2002 23:21 (twenty-three years ago)

David and Jonathan covered it! Not as good as "Lovers Of The World Unite", though.

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Thursday, 24 October 2002 02:33 (twenty-three years ago)

I hate it 'cos we had to sing it at school, and we were no Langley schoolkids...

― Andrew L (Andrew L), Thursday, 24 October 2002 05:57 (twenty-three years ago)

one year passes...

this was the best song ive ever heard

― mad, Wednesday, 14 April 2004 22:59 (twenty-one years ago)

What the fuck?! How can people not love this song? Classic baroque melody, cheeky broken french? fantastic! and my mum used to sing it when i was wee! even better!

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 23:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah - all that and Slick Rick sings it on "The Show" too!

― Broheems (diamond), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 23:46 (twenty-one years ago)

My WTF?! is reserved for the mad indifference/hatred for 'Girl' on this thread. One of the coolest, nastiest, DAMNDEST* songs ever written. It's in their top league. Evil and beautiful.
Plus it's like Lennon's German retort to the French Michelle.

*I don't know what this means but it works for me.

― de, Thursday, 15 April 2004 01:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Hated it growing up because my name is Michelle and everyone would always sing it to me and say "blah blah blah blah" when it came to the french part.
Fast forward to adulthood and no one's done that in a while, but then a boy I work with sings it to me and aces the french. not so bad anymore...

― innercitykitty (innercitykitty), Thursday, 15 April 2004 01:56 (twenty-one years ago)

ditto on everything innercitykitty said except the boy singing it to me in french now I'm grownup. :(

― syntaxfree (syntaxfree), Thursday, 15 April 2004 11:31 (twenty-one years ago)

It sounds better with Xaviera Hollander singing it.

― Joseph McCombs, Thursday, 15 April 2004 16:07 (twenty-one years ago)

"Michelle" is what it is: A halfway decent little throw-away to let everyone catch a breath after Side One before diving headfirst into the rest of the record.

"Think for Yourself" is the underrated gold favorite from this record. "You Won't See Me" is Paul's masterpiece on this record. I don't like the way "Girl" sounds on the CD; you'd think John was doing a line after every chorus.

The whole album smells like wood.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Thursday, 15 April 2004 17:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I went to high school with a girl who actually was named after the song, so it was always understood she was no fan of it.

In civics class one day, a guy tried to hit on her by singing a song. Not THAT one, but "My Michelle" by Guns N' Roses instead. I think it's obvious he had no idea how to comphrehend lyrics.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Thursday, 15 April 2004 17:47 (twenty-one years ago)

"Your daddy works in porno, not that mommy's not around....."

Please, someone keep any mash-up DJ's away from this thread.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Thursday, 15 April 2004 18:17 (twenty-one years ago)

'I don't like the way "Girl" sounds on the CD; you'd think John was doing a line after every chorus.'

And this is bad for the reason of why?....

― de, Thursday, 15 April 2004 18:20 (twenty-one years ago)

To each their own, but I just don't like that nasal-inhalation sound, de.

http://www.walgreens.com/dbimagecache/154513.jpg

Blech.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Thursday, 15 April 2004 18:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I do find George's work of this period a bit stiff and humorless.
But because it's like Lennon's little bro in attitude it stops the band being taken over by McCartney's gurning pop.

― de, Thursday, 15 April 2004 18:36 (twenty-one years ago)

they do that on the vinyl version too though, why single out the cd for this?

I actually never got the controversy over "Girl." Apparently there was some big deal about the background vocals stuff which don't sound like "tit tit tit" to me; and I'm not sure what the implication on the air-through-the-teeth thing was that people were picking up, if they thought it was sexual, drug-related, or what. It always sounded mean to me, like he was preparing to beat the hell out of her.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Thursday, 15 April 2004 18:38 (twenty-one years ago)

de - while i sort of see your point about george, you've at least got to give him humor props for "taxman." you've also got to give him props for all those guitar intros and riffs that, if lennon and macca were nicer people, they would have given him songwriting credit for at least once in a while.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Thursday, 15 April 2004 18:42 (twenty-one years ago)

why single out the cd for this?
The "muuuuUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH" sound seems more shrill to me on the CD than it does on the vinyl.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Thursday, 15 April 2004 18:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Appalling.

In Macca's biog, 'Many Days From Now', he recalls bumping into David Bailey in a club, and being slightly offended by DB asking if 'Michelle' was a piss-take.

David Bailey OTM.

― Bob Six (bobbysix), Thursday, 15 April 2004 21:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Ha ha. Even Macca's 'piss-takes' are serious. 'Honey Pie', 'Rocky Racoon'; the man's a born gadfly.

― de, Thursday, 15 April 2004 22:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Er, both of the above done with a lot of spirit, appealing joi de vivre etc.

― de, Thursday, 15 April 2004 22:19 (twenty-one years ago)

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