Worst Beatles song on Magical Mystery Tour

and flying is AWESOME. so is 'blue jay way' the haters are crazy. the way the vocals sound start to feel drowned underwater towards the end of the song, the organ. one of the best psychedelic songs they did imo

xxpost yeah, i find the YMSK dance sequence in the MMT movie kind of ... menacing? At least when I think about it. The weird frozen smiles they all have.

"Your Mother Should Know" isn't any more old-timey than "Fixing a Hole" and "Penny Lane" actually. The "beat" is obviously Music Hall influenced, but there's a lot of more modern elements in it too.

yeah, true - its a song about old-timey music, but the only elements that sound that way are the mock-barbershop harmonies

the main hook is played on clarinet! that sorta equals old timey in my book.

Voted "Blue Jay Way", but yeah, what an album.

My part in the "How can you not like that?" chorus is for "Flying". Just a very simple, joyous tune, with great production to boot. What's not to like?

Nick is absolutely on the money when it comes to "Baby Your A Rich Man." The track has always reminded me of house music though it sounds nothing like it.

I like that on this poll the usual go-to "oh obviously the worst song" tracks are getting a lot more love and defense, ie Blue Jay Way, Rich Man, and Flying, which I rep for as well. If "Mister Moonlight" were on this album maybe it'd have gotten a fair shake too.

Gonna vote for "All You Need Is Love," which I've liked a few times but generally kinda bores me.

Great record. Oh, and I love the title track! Really slight in the sense that Paul just couldn't do a killer film-opener the way John could (Live And Let Die is a different animal altogether), but totally fun and I like the sped-upped-ness of it.

BTW, what was that thread about the trend/tendency of psych bands to go for the whole "old-timey pastiche" thing?

there's about 2 or 3 but here's one

Good Trip or Bummer? U.S. Psych Bands Doing "Old-Timey" Songs on Their Albums

I have a deep, deep dislike of "Fool on the Hill."

PS: YMSK is one of my very favorites.

"Your Mother Should Know" is creepy and weird and excellent and one of my favorite Beatles songs.

I'm voting for "Strawberry Fields Forever". Instead of me justifying it I'll just wait for someone to explain what's so great about it. I'm not immune to Lennon's charm but I've never found the song compelling or catchy.

It's a visceral thing right from the opening chords - an atmosphere of intense nostalgia flavoured with a pinch of characteristic Lennon sadness. But you either feel it or you don't - you can't be convinced by explanation.

I think I would have liked it better as an instrumental track.

TRIVIA: Flying is the only Beatles song which features all 4 Beatles sharing writing credits.

Blue Jay Way is the least memorable. All You Need is Love gets a tad annoying towards the end where they repeat the title ad nauseum (I have a similar problem with the na-na-nas on 'Hey Jude').

Trivia fact is not correct, according to wikipedia. Other songs credited to all 4 include:

"12-Bar Original" (Anthology 2)
"Dig It"
"Christmas Time (Is Here Again)", the B-side to the 1995 single "Free As A Bird".

Of course, it was a true trivia fact at the time of MMT - and I think I remember reading it in the Hunter Davies book ... [I feel bad for making a nerd-ish correction]

Tracks 3-10 are all good/great. I can't really see why anyone would dislike Flying - doesn't it just make you smile? Your Mother Should Know is good, too - for me the really irritating McCartney ones are either sickly sweet (Here, There And Everywhere) or 'comedy' (Honey Pie, Rocky Raccoon) and this doesn't fall into either of those categories.
The title track is dull - it sounds like a half an idea stretched into a song. The Fool On The Hill is also boring. But there's something really annoying about All You Need Is Love, so that gets my vote.

I voted "Flying" but I don't dislike it. I don't dislike any of the songs on this album at all.

title track is dull - it sounds like a half an idea stretched into a song

Agreed on the second half; and while I still like it, it is almost a self-parody of the whole whimsical psychedelic universe.

I'm voting for "Strawberry Fields Forever". Instead of me justifying it I'll just wait for someone to explain what's so great about it.

You've never heard/read ANY explanations of why it's so great?????

You know, the mellotron and the backwards guitar bits and all that.

And the way those shuffly drums kick in with the weird chanting at the end.

Come on, this is like having to explain why, like, rice is good. It just is.

Love "Flying" - wish there was a 12-minute take of it or something

― tylerw, Friday, September 25, 2009 11:30 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

There is an outtake that is 7 or 8 minutes long, with all the extra bits being ambient mellotron noodling at the end. It pops up sometimes as "Aerial Tour Instrumental"

jeez not everything is balearic, guys, except "Flying" and "Baby You're A Rich Man" which are...

this is the only album where choosing the worst is really hard

Their best album cover too imo.

Voted "Hello Goodbye" cos the lyrics are beyond stupid. At least "All You Need is Love" is trying for acid-fried philosophy.

just echoing everyone who said this album is their best, most solid, most creepy. it is my favourite post-rubber soul album, mostly just because it sounds like it was a lot of fun to make. whether it's their "creative apex" or whatever is unimportant, they're having a blast digging out weirdo jams from the folds of their imaginations and it sounds great.

i think a lot of the hate for "flying" is just a knee-jerk reaction to the fact that it is a gentle and breezy jam. it might be the greatest gentle and breezy jam ever written, but since it's on a beatles album people just automatically write it off as filler.

I'm changing my vote. "Flying" shits on "All You Need is Love."

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

... and tomorrow night, all the Beatles' worst will be over.

Apart from the final, presumably.

...and "Worst Beatles" vs. "Worst Beach Boys"

title track is the worst thing here, everything else is exceptional

Their best album cover too imo.

Eh, I like the EP cover more:
http://195.224.149.148/SB/Beatles_magical_mystery_tour.jpg

I like violently clashing colours too, but that American cover looks like it was slapped together by some art director at Capitol. (Looks pretty stupefying while tripping tho)

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

FIVE VOTES FOR PENNY LANE?!

Fool on the Hill 'heavy' Anth 2 version totally rules.

Shame it wasn't on this album.

16 VOTES FOR YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW? Shame on you, ILM.

3 people are morons.

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. Mind you it's a John song, so that probably cancels it out.

Read this, dude:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e6/Revolution_in_the_Head.jpg

"Flying" or "Baby You're a Rich Man" should have won. They are just good while the others are all great.

Hahahahaha "silly" Beatles? doglatin do you actually listen to his voice when he sings it? It's as angry and sad as anything he ever did

xxxxxxpost:

TRIVIA: Flying is the only Beatles song which features all 4 Beatles sharing writing credits.

― Moka, Saturday, 26 September 2009 07:24 (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Trivia fact is not correct, according to wikipedia. Other songs credited to all 4 include:

"12-Bar Original" (Anthology 2)
"Dig It"
"Christmas Time (Is Here Again)", the B-side to the 1995 single "Free As A Bird".

― Bob Six, Saturday, 26 September 2009 07:29 (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Of course, it was a true trivia fact at the time of MMT - and I think I remember reading it in the Hunter Davies book ... [I feel bad for making a nerd-ish correction]

― Bob Six, Saturday, 26 September 2009 09:06 (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Arguably, trivia fact is not correct anyway as Jessie's Dream from MMT film soundtrack was copyrighted to all 4 Beatles, even though it wasn't released on record.

and I don't feel bad for making a nerdish correction!

PRobably will get the fewest votes of any album.

― Mark G, Friday, 25 September 2009 07:02 (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Guess I was wrong.