Worst Beatles song on Revolver

Previously:
Worst Beatles song on Please Please Me ("A Taste of Honey")
Worst song on With The Beatles ("Roll Over Beethoven")
Worst Beatles song on A Hard Day's Night
Worst song on Beatles For Sale
Worst Beatles song on Help!
Worst Beatles song on Rubber Soul

Anyone want to defend "Doctor Robert"?

Dreading this. No idea how I'm going to choose any of these.

Doctor Robert is great - has the drumless, slowed-down "well well well you're feeling fine" bridge, ringing guitar breaks, beautiful harmonies, hilarious lyrics about acid.

Voting Yellow Submarine, which is fun but really pretty stupid

Here, There and Everywhere bores the tits off me. Everything else has at least a bit of individual charm to it.

Oh, I love Doctor Robert. That wasn't even in the running. I think for me it's between "I'm Only Sleeping" and "Here There Everywhere"

I want to tell you what I voted for, but I can't think of how to explain it.

if any of these "Worst of..." Beatles polls have taught me anything, its that I find other people's opinions about individual songs almost completely unfathomable

of the obvious choices:

Dr. Robert >>>>> GTGYIML > Good Day Sunshine >>>>> Yellow Submarine

Can't believe people rank Dr. Robert lower than Yellow Submarine... that's nuts.

Dr. Robert strikes me as of a piece with the Kinks' David Watts - a quintessentially British character study with a sly, slightly naughty subtext

if any of these "Worst of..." Beatles polls have taught me anything, its that I find other people's opinions about individual songs almost completely unfathomable

OTM. I thought everybody loved "Doctor Robert."

How can anyone not love Yellow Submarine?

"Dr. Robert >>>>> GTGYIML > Good Day Sunshine >>>>> Yellow Submarine"

except for "Doctor Robert" (which I still like a lot), these are the three best songs on here!

But these polls are like "vote for the worst flavor of ice cream" and for the most part, replies are like "uh chocolate b/c once I had it when I was a kid and I vomited later that night". There's just not that much bad to say (except for "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", that one deserves it).

Love You To

I shouldn't read these threads until the polls are over. Too much challops.

i hated this album when i first heard it, and now i love just about every song on it. however "got to get you into my life" is one of my least favourite beatles songs ever so it's a no-brainer here. shakey OTM, and i did try to resist saying this, but HOW CAN ANYONE POSSIBLY VOTE FOR I'M ONLY SLEEPING?!

I like Yellow Submarine fine but sonically its pretty pedestrian (most fun thing is probably the tape collage of sound effects/dialogue in the middle). Its a children's song, and not an exceptionally clever one, but its nice enough.

x-post

There's gonna be so much idiocy on this thread.

Here There And Everywhere wins (loses?) by a tiny whisper, for being an itty bit dull.

Dr Robert is NOT a jaunty English characer study, people; it's about a drug dealer / Leary / LSD / etc, not free prescriptions for pensioners. People are mental.

I'm Only Sleeping just kind of drags on...it's not that I hate it or anything.

If you've every played guitar and sung Yellow Submarine to a toddler, you can't possibly vote against it...

jaunty English drug dealers don't exist? Dude was a dentist who gave them acid!

I know what the song's about!

I don't think an American drug dealer would be portrayed as nearly so convivial or paternalistic

well maybe I take that back - Leary was both

I want to tell you what I voted for, but I can't think of how to explain it.

Is it "I Want To Tell You?"

if any of these "Worst of..." Beatles polls have taught me anything, its that I find other people's opinions about individual songs almost completely unfathomable

ILM in general hasn't taught you that?

But these polls are like "vote for the worst flavor of ice cream" and for the most part, replies are like "uh chocolate b/c once I had it when I was a kid and I vomited later that night".

Strongly disagree with this. There are some Pistachio Pickle-flavored (i.e. flat-out yucky all the time) Beatles songs.

Yeah, I voted for "I Want To Tell You" but I can't really say why besides that it seems wrongly placed with respect to pacing. It would open side two nicely.

I don't think there are any pistachio pickle flavored songs on here, or really on any albums. Even "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" is just butter pecan.

I thought it wad definitely NOT about the dentist?

Y'know how Lennon apparently sings "Bob Robert" near the end of the song? I once was listening to it in a chemicalized state and believed he was referring to the (then-recent) Tim Robbins flick.

who will be the joker who vote tommorow never knows?

anyway,for me is neither "eleanor rigby" - which is so overplayed, and so too-much-paul-schtick i can't stand it,or "love you to" which is the only song i don't remember at all.

hmm wikipedia and associated refs say its about Dr. Robert Freymann, a NY physician who wrote scrips for speed. Coulda sworn I've read the dentist story elsewhere though, but entirely possible I'm mixing up my Beatley trivia

It was definitely the dentist who introduced Lennon etc to LSD, Dr Robert's just about another dude. A yank music writer I'm following on Twitter said he didn't get it because he had "no experience of the NHS".

lolz

who will be the joker who vote tommorow never knows?

I'm assuming it's Geir's least fave.

no Geir will vote for Love You To

"I'm Only Sleeping" -> "Love You To" -> "Here, There and Everywhere" is like a triple-whammy of suck. I think the fact that this sequence comes so early in the track listing is one reason I've never been able to get into "Revolver" as much as some other Beatles albums.

anyone who loves sleeping,even just a little,gotta love i'm only sleeping.

HOW CAN ANYONE POSSIBLY VOTE FOR I'M ONLY SLEEPING?!

Really, it's in my Beatles top five.

The ham-fisted Yellow Submarine always jars horribly when I listen to Revolver, but I'm tempted to vote for the well-intentioned but frankly dull Love You To.

Option Votes
Tomorrow Never Knows 10
Eleanor Rigby 5
For No One 4
Here, There and Everywhere 3
And Your Bird Can Sing 2
She Said She Said 2
Yellow Submarine 2
I'm Only Sleeping 2
Doctor Robert 2
Love You To 1
Got to Get You into My Life 0
I Want to Tell You 0
Good Day Sunshine 0
Taxman 0

"For No One" isn't that good, a bit like a crappy cousin of "Eleanor Rigby". Still an ace album, and some of the songs I dismissed before have totally been saved by the remaster (like GTGYIML).

I don't think there are any pistachio pickle flavored songs on here, or really on any albums.

See, for me, this is where McCartney starts to become a menace. Apart from "Eleanor Rigby," every single one of his songs here gives me a tummy ache. Even Harrison bests him, esp. in the funk dept. with "Taxman." I'm voting for "Good Day Sunshine" which makes me thinks he invented Adult Contemporary (although points for mentioning my 2nd fave album of all-time).

By contrast, I adore every single John here (save for maybe "I'm Only Sleeping" which is, duh, a bit sleepy), esp. "And Your Bird Can Sing" (which Adorno would've loved; hell, it might even be about Adorno) and "Tomorrow Never Knows" (which augured a disco-psych/prog fusion that never really come to pass).

if anyone votes for 'she said she said' my head will implode maybe

even though I love it, "Good Day Sunshine" seems the slightest song here.

"I Want To Tell You" is possibly my fave George song of all time and may have overtaken "I'm Only Sleeping" as my Revolver fave, though like another personal Beatles fave "Julia" is a bit lo-fi considering other tracks on the album. sequence-wise the final 3 songs go together perfectly and seem the most Revolver-y part besides the bracing mindfuck of the first 4 songs - what must that have sounded like in '66?!

Revolver's my fave Beatles LP. seems the most unimpeachable (followed by A Hard Day's Night) - practically the template for a perfect experimental pop album.

eleanor rigby makes 2 minutes seem like 5. I don't want to listen to a song about old ladies and priests! "Ooo...she's darning her socks!"

I'd also like to vote for the album cover.

x-post:

get thee to Popular

Dr Robert is a skipper

"Yellow Submarine". The rest are all brilliant, even though I guess "Got To Get You Into My Life" is my least favourite among the rest.

no Geir will vote for Love You To

I like both of those "Indian" songs. The lack of different harmonies is compensated for in the fact that a lot is going on harmonically above the bass.

Here, There and Everywhere bores the tits off me.

You crazy. That one may be the single greatest composition by the biggest musical genius of the 20th century.

Even Harrison bests him, esp. in the funk dept. with "Taxman."

But who played the bass that brought that very funk, Kevin? Not to mention that guitar solo!

Whatever, though. I'm abstaining from this poll - there's not a track here whose feelings I'd care to hurt.

I heard recently that the band (as in "and the band begin to play") bit was taken from an old 78.
Supposedly a recording of Georges Krier and Charles Helmer's 1906 composition, "Le Rêve Passe," but I don't know by whom.

love the original spoken intro to Yellow Submarine (link)

xxpost

MVB, you're my hero!

Yeah, that was great! I love how there's no entry for Tomorrow Never Knows.

Goddammit, I just know "Love You To" is gonna take this and I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.

defend the indefensible: good day sunshine

the echoed vocals at the end are kinda neat

Couldn't finish reading this thread it was getting me so crazy! This album is McCartney's peak- For No One is incredibly beautiful and moving and Here, There, and Everywhere is just perfect in every way, especially the harmonies and that little anxious guitar part in the bridge. Paul even took the time to write some great lyrics! Both make my Beatles' top ten.

Lennon's songs are all great as well and George's Love You To is his first and best Indian song. I dig I Want to Tell You too but it kinda drags at times.

Overall, this was an easy choice for me, it's the Ringo one again despite the fact that it's supposedly a Lennon-McCartney-Donovan! composition. It just doesn't fit on the album and would have worked much better if it just appeared as the flipside to the Eleanor Rigby single.

if you vote for any of the songs in this poll, expect an sb

That good, because I just can't decide on this one. I have deep love for all these songs. I could rank them, but couldn't ever say the lowest ranked song is "worst".

Wait, Donovan? Really? Never heard that before - any details?

you'd have thought donovan would've mentioned that

Folk singer Donovan, with whom McCartney had just begun a friendship, suggested the "sky of blue and sea of green"
http://oldies.about.com/od/thebeatlessongs/a/yellowsubmarine.htm

Donovan bringing the knowledge.

Daha, that sounds kinda familiar now. Thanks. Yeah, maybe not his best moment as a lyricist...but it does the job. (I can just imagine Paul sitting there, stuck for hours - "what could rhyme with 'submarine'?!" - and then Donovan swoops in with this line about the sky being blue....)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

would expect this and Sgt Pepper's to be the most contentious cos they're the hardest to pick bad or lesser tracks from. on the other hand there seem to be a bunch of loons on here that hate certain Revolver or Pepper's tracks or specific Beatles. kids nowadays!

Got it down to 'Here, There and Everywhere', 'And Your Bird Can Sing' and 'Doctor Robert', but I'm resigned to not being able to cast a vote here.

Folk singer Donovan, with whom McCartney had just begun a friendship, suggested the "sky of blue and sea of green"
http://oldies.about.com/od/thebeatlessongs/a/yellowsubmarine.htm

So far so good. But where, other than on the writing credits (as usual) does John come in?

He came in through the bathroom window.

Didn't anybody tell him?

It was Lennon's idea to hire the cello player and change what Donovan had originally conceived as a waltz to a straight 4/4. Also, he wrote the liner notes for the single...

OK, listened to the album, and decided "Good day sunshine" should get it.

A song about a sunny day, and that's about it.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Oh jesusfuck ILM is just rong.

It's funny, I put "RubSoul" and "rev" on one cD, with the 4 single tracks between.

It's noticeable that the single tracks are mostly "rock", whereas the albums are more "pop".

So, the album they could have made with "Day Tripper", "Rain" and "Paperback Writer" as a basis?

(can you imagine)

Any statistician will tell you, the bigger your sample size, the weirder the outliers. She said she said, wtf?
closer to the median, why do all those strange people not like Dr Robert?

ha, funny 'and your bird can sing' didn't get ANY votes b/c it's a pretty mediocre song and one that i could take or leave. lennon himself thought it sucked & was one of his least favorite songs

but seriously 'yellow submarine' and a whole bunch of other beatles children-oriented songs are probably why so many of you grew up with the fucking band to begin with. y'all are crazy

Can 24 of you please tell me why "Love You To" is bad? It's my favorite Beatles song ever.

Other than using Indian instrumentation, it is plodding and dull from just after the intro, and the melody is unpleasant...and what does the title mean? love you to what? lastly, i think everyone probably compares it unfavorably to within you and inner light. OK?

in honor of this poll's results, here's a cover of "Yellow Submarine" that I contributed the Ringo to. http://www.sendspace.com/file/bkl6fj My friend actually covered the whole of Revolver -- it's pretty good!

The only bad thing about "Love You To" is that it's called "Love You To" even though George sings "I'll make LOVE TO YOU." Like they had a typo when they submitted the tracklisting to EMI.

Another bad thing about it is it reminds me of that awful Boyz II Men song "I'll make love to you if you want me to." But we can't really blame them for that now, can we?

"Yellow Submarine" hate = you always hurt the ones you love.

Well, I Voted "Yellow Submarine" but it isn't bad. The Beatles didn't make any bad songs from late 1965 until mid 1968.

I would have thought Taxman would have picked up more votes, from people not apporving of the lyrics a la Run For Your Life. Both great tracks, but people like to moan.

"Taxman" is classy anyway. And he did organize the Concert for Bangladesh 5 years later anyway, so obviously not that right wing.

?

love the original spoken intro to Yellow Submarine (link)

Loving that! So many more wacky sounds and voices throughout - I wish they'd released that mix instead of the standard one (or at least included it on one of the anthologies).

It's on the cd single for "Real Love"

Never noticed the finger snaps in "Here There and Everywhere" until just now.

ha, funny 'and your bird can sing' didn't get ANY votes b/c it's a pretty mediocre song and one that i could take or leave. lennon himself thought it sucked & was one of his least favorite songs

― mark cl, Saturday, September 26, 2009 11:58 PM (2 years ago)

lol at anyone caring what lennon thought of his own songs -- he also hated 'cry baby cry' which is awesome.

'and yr bird can sing' has been my favorite beatles song for at least five years, but there are no bad songs on this album. it's the 'last exit to springfield' of beatles albums.

and 'good day sunshine' is perfect, saying it sounds like 'adult contemporary' is just batshit crazy.

and why is "adult contemporary" pejorative?

Ask her.

http://www.usafreserveband.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/web/061016-F-9999R-001.jpg

Why, Delilah?

lol at anyone caring what lennon thought of his own songs
yeah, so many of his judgments on beatles tunes in that wenner interview are pretty off -- probably colored by the recent breakup. i imagine if he'd lived we'd have plenty of quotes from him saying how much loved "bird can sing" or whatever.

His judgments much better in the Sheff interview of 1980; he even says quite nice things about "For No One," "Good Day Sunshine," and "Here There Everywhere."

KJB you know you love Delilah.

This poll has maybe the most accurate ever bottom two, those two are absolutely the highest highs of a very high album. "She Said She Said" still blows my mind every time I hear it, what a head trip that must have been in 1966: I know what it's like to be dead?! This guy is clearly going to different kinds of parties than the one he didn't want to spoil a few records back. And the guitars on "And Your Bird Can Sing," my god, talk about joy.

"No one can succeed like Doctor Robert!" guitars of delight

really wish they'd done just one more fuzzed-out mod psych album like this, Pepper's comes close in places but I just fucking love the sound and tone and crisp buzz of everything on this plus Paperback Writer.