Worst Beatles song on Magical Mystery Tour

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"All You Need Is Love" is probably the third best song on the entire CD. Behind that fantastic early 1967 twoofer, but IMO ahead of "I Am The Walrus".

Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Tuesday, 29 September 2009 22:36 (fifteen years ago) link

strings on blue jay way directly quoted on scandinavian skies, off billy joel's beatlesque nylon curtain album. mono version of walrus is HEAVY. i think this could be my favourite beatles album, but your mother should know feels a clunker to these years. i grew up with my mum's old skool cassettes of the beatles albums which her sister sent her while posted with her husband in china (he was a naval sailor), and the tape of revolver had ymsk instead of yellow submarine, so i got to hear it across two albums, not just one.

butchered in the spooky twilight (stevie), Wednesday, 30 September 2009 08:17 (fifteen years ago) link

I think the spookiness of this album comes from the threat of children being kidnapped; this seems to be an album a lot of us here got into as kids / young teens, and the whole "magical mystery tour is coming to take you away" thing is a bit spooky nursery rhyme / child catcher. Couple that with the nostalgia pair (PL and SFF), the lines about hiding money in a bag in the zoo (a ransom?), the weird aura of Blue Jay Way, the outright oddness of a Beatles song without words...

Sickamous (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 30 September 2009 09:23 (fifteen years ago) link

It's also tapping into that sixties psychedelic fear of never being able to come back from whatever trip you're on. It's the aural equivalent of the island in The Prisoner - idyllic yet sinister. A more recent example is the "other world" in Coraline.

dog latin, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 09:40 (fifteen years ago) link

Also the contradiction within the title of "Baby You're A Rich Man" - is this being sung to a man or woman?

dog latin, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 09:41 (fifteen years ago) link

^^^if you're asking this question, you're not really getting the fundamental circus-dizzy socio-clusterfuck absurdity of it all

should probably be practising shorthand (country matters), Wednesday, 30 September 2009 09:44 (fifteen years ago) link

It's being sung at Epstein, allegedly, so calling him both baby and a man from Lennon's POV is totally apt.

Sickamous (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 30 September 2009 09:45 (fifteen years ago) link

and calling him a "rich fag jew" etc...

Mark G, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 09:48 (fifteen years ago) link

i'm surprised at 0 votes for Walrus. I love it, but I thought it was the epitome of "silly Beatles" that a lot of people don't like.

it's also fucking creepy and weird and disturbing as hell

mark cl, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 12:35 (fifteen years ago) link

i've only got the mono versh but i'm really not hearing "rich fag jew".

history mayne, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 12:37 (fifteen years ago) link

xp also can we settle once and for all that they are in fact chanting "everybody smoke pot everybody smoke pot"

mark cl, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 12:39 (fifteen years ago) link

aren't they singing "everybody's got one" ?

AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 12:48 (fifteen years ago) link

i've only got the mono versh but i'm really not hearing "rich fag jew".

You need the stereo one then. (srsly)

Mark G, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 12:59 (fifteen years ago) link

.. it's 'just' the one time...

Mark G, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 13:00 (fifteen years ago) link

I've never "definitely" heard it.

Sickamous (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 30 September 2009 13:04 (fifteen years ago) link

I thought it was a "scrambled eggs" type song genesis that got changed, didn't realise it was actually (allegedly?) in the recording!

this must be what FAIL is really like (ledge), Wednesday, 30 September 2009 13:20 (fifteen years ago) link

this is so wrong

Dr X O'Skeleton, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 13:30 (fifteen years ago) link

I'll have to do yer a 'time'

Mark G, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 14:02 (fifteen years ago) link

The 'rich fag jew' part I remember was from Revolution in the Head and as much as I've listened to that song I never heard it.

The bus does crash in the opening track, tho! Listen closely!
http://wgo.signal11.org.uk/wgo.htm

Adam Bruneau, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 15:57 (fifteen years ago) link

I thought they were singing the old kid's party magicians' phrase "Oompah-oompah-stick-it-up-yer-jum-per" on I Am The Walrus

dog latin, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 16:25 (fifteen years ago) link

can we just say it's "everybody smoke pot" b/c that's what i've believed all these years

mark cl, Wednesday, 30 September 2009 16:26 (fifteen years ago) link

I've come around to thinking this is their best sequenced album. Funny, when you consider that it isn't a proper Beatles album at all, but everything just fits and flows together so perfectly.

Someone, please make a 12 inch, 10 minute re-mix of "Baby Your A Rich Man." I con't stop playing it because of the bass and drums. Baleric Beatles!!!

leavethecapital, Saturday, 3 October 2009 03:41 (fifteen years ago) link

Didn't PM Dawn kind of do that...

dlp9001, Saturday, 3 October 2009 03:47 (fifteen years ago) link

I thought it was "BITCH fag jew." Yeah, Lennon... what a great guy.

Alex in NYC, Saturday, 3 October 2009 12:25 (fifteen years ago) link

Yeah, he said that one thing once, therefore he was terrible.

a wicked 60s beat poop combo (Pancakes Hackman), Saturday, 3 October 2009 13:02 (fifteen years ago) link

x-post. Yeah, I guess PM Dawn did. I was thinking more along the lines of Apple allowing someone like Weatherall or the dudes from The Studio to run wild on the Beatles' back catalog.

leavethecapital, Saturday, 3 October 2009 13:21 (fifteen years ago) link

Yeah, he said that one thing once, therefore he was terrible.

Yeah, and in front of a recording device, thus preserving it for all time.

Alex in NYC, Saturday, 3 October 2009 13:43 (fifteen years ago) link

Pretty sure you've said worse here on ILX, preserving it for all time.

a wicked 60s beat poop combo (Pancakes Hackman), Saturday, 3 October 2009 14:12 (fifteen years ago) link

Probably, but I'm not deified as the veritable personification of peace n' love that Lennon is. I'm a fan, I just bristle at the revisionism.

Alex in NYC, Saturday, 3 October 2009 15:08 (fifteen years ago) link

"Alex in NYC" is love.

Mark G, Monday, 5 October 2009 07:10 (fifteen years ago) link

Alex is The Word.

EZ Snappin, Monday, 5 October 2009 13:09 (fifteen years ago) link

All you need is Alex.

staggerlee, Monday, 5 October 2009 21:57 (fifteen years ago) link

Alex is all you need.

Lennon being a sarcastic asshole, what a shocker.

leavethecapital, Monday, 5 October 2009 22:21 (fifteen years ago) link

deified as the veritable personification of peace n' love

Isn't this mainly a posthumous marketing meme? I mean even on Imagine you have "How Do You Sleep?" which is pretty bitter and hateful. Seems like Lennon-is-Love came about mainly as a good way to sell t-shirts in the early 80s.

Adam Bruneau, Tuesday, 6 October 2009 00:47 (fifteen years ago) link

Hearing a horrendous remake of "All You Need is Love" playing on a commercial this evening really makes me understand the hate. The commercial is either for a bank or credit card or both.

Adam Bruneau, Saturday, 10 October 2009 00:31 (fifteen years ago) link

one year passes...

i've come to the conclusion that blue jay way is my favorite beatles song

buzza, Thursday, 4 November 2010 09:01 (thirteen years ago) link

Wow, this is off the mark even by ILMs standards. How the hell is the track Flying not easily the worst? It's a forgettable instrumental with neither melody or invention to save it. Fool On The Hill is far superior and Blue Jay Way should be more highly esteemed. End of rant.

Tim. E "LazRus" Lucas (Prose b4 Hoes...and Big Hoos), Thursday, 4 November 2010 09:35 (thirteen years ago) link

I'd have thought "Hello Goodbye" should have walked this. The other higher ones are there purely through overfamiliarity. "I say a positive thing, you say a negative thing" for 3 mins.

Mark G, Thursday, 4 November 2010 09:45 (thirteen years ago) link

I think Flying is pretty cool

Randy Moss' dog's personal chef (Bill Magill), Thursday, 4 November 2010 13:37 (thirteen years ago) link

8. Strawberry Fields Forever 3
6. I Am The Walrus 0

;_;

nakhchivan, Thursday, 4 November 2010 13:38 (thirteen years ago) link

Why so? No-one thinks Walrus is the worst song on this?

Mark G, Thursday, 4 November 2010 14:40 (thirteen years ago) link

Buzza OTM. Especially Ringo's performance, the drumming is KILLER

Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 4 November 2010 19:41 (thirteen years ago) link

I love flying. Sounds like being stoned.

Trip Maker, Thursday, 4 November 2010 19:42 (thirteen years ago) link

Flying, also, is a great performance, particularly from Ringo. And how can you hate on that ambient mellotron ending? The tremolo guitar, that silly four-part harmony, and the gentle acoustic guitar solo in the lead-in. It's all so wonderful. Really a beautiful couple of minutes on a rather intense and schizophrenic album.

"Hello Goodbye" is the one song on this album I can't stand.

Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 4 November 2010 19:43 (thirteen years ago) link

re: "hello goodbye," i think the appeal of that song is not particularly about the lyrics (which, yes, are nursery-rhyme-ish). the round-like vocal harmonies are very nice. one of the beatles' better straight sunshine-psych tunes IMO.

swvl, Thursday, 4 November 2010 19:49 (thirteen years ago) link

The CODA for heaven's sake.

Captain Ostensible (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 4 November 2010 20:33 (thirteen years ago) link

^this. Redeems the song.

Trip Maker, Thursday, 4 November 2010 20:33 (thirteen years ago) link

Flying is an amazing bedroom rocker btw.

Moka, Thursday, 4 November 2010 20:38 (thirteen years ago) link

Flying is chillwave LOL

Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 4 November 2010 20:59 (thirteen years ago) link

wouldve voted Penny Lane and not thought twice...

only! assholes! write on doors! (Drugs A. Money), Friday, 5 November 2010 02:07 (thirteen years ago) link


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