Worst Beatles song on Yellow Submarine

I've eliminated the orchestral soundtrack pieces because, well, they're not Beatles songs.

Crikey. One of the few Beatles albums I still own in its entirety. Because, orchestral gubbings aside, my all-time favourite Beatles song is on it. In fact, maybe 3 of them.

Pretty obvious to me which is the one I would lose, though - All You Need Is Love is just straight-up played out beyond redemption in my ears. All the others make me really happy when the come on. Even the crappy Paul song. Heh.

"Only A Northern Song" sucks. These are coming too fast now in order to have the energy to say something more. Maybe I'll be bothered to explain my vote when System talks in a few days.

Agreed 100% with Kate.

Hey Bulldog (and It's All Too Much to a lesser extent) is one of my absolute favourite Beatles songs, and I feel sad that it's buried away on this album that always gets such short shrift - I only discovered it when I got the songtrack remaster a few years.

Only A Northern Song is great, though! It's the sound of George Harrison's mind melting on 7 hits of acid a day. You can practically hear the synapses snapping as he sings "and if my hair is brown..."

IT'S ALL TOO MUCH is my all time forever and ever favourite Beatles song in the history of forever. It's the Beatles doing dronerock and it's amazing.

And Hey Bulldog is one of those anthems that will get a dancefloor hopping no matter what. Not that I've ever been to any clubs that regularly played Hey Bulldog as an end of night anthem oh no not me not ever ::stares at shoes guiltily::

I wonder how much of my love for this album is fuelled by how many times I saw the movie - mainly before I knew what it was, really - the Beatles were my parents favourite band, and I kinda saw this era stuff as nursery rhymes to grow up to. And this film was on every New Years Eve for the majority of my childhood, it's just so crazily familiar and yet at the same time so strange and off the wall - when I saw it again, as an adult (during my acid years, erm...) realised how deeply ... fucked up it was. But small children don't notice psychedelic stuff on that level, it seems very natural for everything to be so surreal when you're that age. But perhaps the whole acid experience is so enjoyable because it taps into that childlike wonder at everything. The best psychedelic music manages to tap into that, the child-level and the adult-level of the mind.

I used to go to a club that regularly played Hey Bulldog and for a long time it mystified me because it was obviously the Beatles but I had no idea what song it was, cos I'd never listened to the Yellow Submarine album before. It was only years later I finally found out what it was!

TBH can't remember how any of the other songs go (apart from 1 & 6 obv)

I absolutely love Hey Bulldog and All Together Now (my six-week-old son really perks up when that comes on). All You Need Is Love is the only inessential one here I'd say.

I've eliminated the orchestral soundtrack pieces because, well, they're not Beatles songs.

Making this poll much easier because we don't have to distinguish between them. :)

Well, voted "All Together Now", which is obviously the worst of the Beatles tracks here.

Only A Northern Song is great, though! It's the sound of George Harrison's mind melting on 7 hits of acid a day.

Also love the meta humour in the lyrics. No wonder he bacame a bit Monty Python fan later on.

big even

B-b-b-b-b-b-but it's got a melody and It's All Too Much is a drone?! Surely you'd love All Together Now and hate It's All Too Much?!

Not exactly a fan of "It's All Too Much" either.

Will anyone vote "Hey Bulldog"?

I will personally SB anyone who votes Hey Bulldog.

(joking! joking! I would never ever SB anyone for disagreeing with their taste in music, I think that's a gross misuse of the system.)

Voting "Hey Bulldog" here, but reluctantly because these are all such great songs. My rationalization being something like "It kinda reminds me of some Phish song that I can't quite put my finger on."

That's the best I can do. I love the instrumentals too, "Pepperland" in particular.

I really liked the Honeycrack (mid-90s Britorck also rans) cover of "Hey Bulldog" too btw.

(started composing that before y'all started posting about Bulldog, btw. sorry...)

These songs were among my favorite when I was a little kid watching this movie over and over again. The George tracks are definitely the most psychedelic/noise they've ever gotten.

How weird that their most psychedelic/noize offerings are on the soundtrack to a *childrens* film. You'd think that soppy Paul would have been in his element there. But no, it was George.

(dreams of an alternate universe where the John and George of Yellow Submarine ran off with the Brian Jones of Baby You're A Rich Man and John Cale to start a psych-drone supergroup

Not really, psychedelia's quite a childlike thing - everything feels up-for-grabs then. My little cousins were watching some old Disney last time I visited, and certain bits, if looked at objectively, are a bit mindblowing. Naturally, they don't even blink.

Oh yeah suddenly I'm remembering "Revolution in the Head" where he talks about English psych vs. American psych. MacDonald took the position that American psych was more anarchic anti-establishment and English psych was more let's be free like children again. Also see Syd Barrett.

Well, voted "All Together Now", which is obviously the worst of the Beatles tracks here.

― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Friday, September 25, 2009 7:18 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Geir surprisingly OTM here, John's sneering backing vocals notwith.

Hey Bulldog is a fantastic song.

This is the one where I have to go with "All You Need Is Love" because the rest of the tracks are some of my favorite Beatles cuts ever. All ace.

If this were just the four "new" songs I'd have to reluctantly vote for "All Together Now," which is certainly the weakest of those - George gets to share a couple of passed-over gems and "Bulldog" is one of John's best late-period Beatles songs. Definitely one of the hardest, funkiest sounds they ever got on record, too. This is the era where I really wish they would have stuck with one idea for longer - that "Hey Bulldog" piano is just bitchin'! "Lady Madonna" could have used a little of that edge.

Also, still think "Only A Northern Song" would have done fine on Sgt. Pepper's in place of "Within You Without You."

Oh anyway, voting "All You Need Is Love," for same reasons as on MMT. Dull, sludgy, wheezy, weary.

I don't "It's All Too Much" will win this, but in case it does, I wanted to say preemptively that I also kinda dismissed it until this remastering. Now it sounds it really does sound like too much. Well, I could lose the silly "too much"s at the end, but the main part of the song is stuffed with loud confusing sounds, and that's actually a good thing.

It's All Too Much is easily the one track I've played most since getting the mono box. I had always overlooked it before now, so much so that it's like hearing a brand new Beatles track.

Wow, my last post is horribly written. Shorter version: I agree, it now sounds terrific.

It's All Too Much would be better if it didn't go on so long. I love the way he sings those high bits ('you're love is there for meeeeeee').

In my boot collection, I have a seven minute "It's all too much", you'll love that one then!

wow i am shocked hey bulldog haters are in the majority here. never would have expected it to get so much love. just a bunch of sloppy shouting over a weak spy film chug, if ya ask me. obviously the piano/guitar riff is awesome.

Why wasn't Hey Bulldog on White Album? Weird decision.. (this is under the assumption it was recorded during the same sessions)

"Only a Northern Song" would have been a more important improvement (although I am aware that one was a result of the "Sgt. Pepper" sessions already).

Why wasn't Hey Bulldog on White Album? Weird decision.. (this is under the assumption it was recorded during the same sessions)

― billstevejim, Sunday, September 27, 2009 12:24 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

In Recording Sessions it says "Bulldog" was done explicitly for "Yellow Submarine". During 1967-1968 they were recording things continuously, and had so many songs floating around at any one time that tracks from any album post Pepper potentially could have ended up anywhere. For instance less than a week after finishing Sgt. Pepper (and months before its release date) they had already taped and mixed several Yellow Submarine soundtrack songs.

all together now is yellow submarine's evil twin

YES!

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

In which George contributes twice as many originals as either John or Paul.

"All Together Now" is the one to axe, although it works fine in the film, if I recall

All Together Now. Love all the others. All You Need Is Love was forever redefined for me by the last episode of The Prisoner so I can't hate it despite its transparent flaws.

I discovered this album when I was going to the Heavenly Social a lot and couldn't believe how DJ-perfect It's All Too Much and Hey Bulldog were.

All Together Now def.

Hey Bulldog is the greatest - unfairly buried here, as Kate notes

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

justice has been deserved

5 votes for Hey Bulldog?? Really??