Ultimate Battle of The Beatles

rainbowtrout

Group J
Girl vs Good Night
Ticket To Ride vs Thank You Girl
You're Going to Lose That Girl vs Helter Skelter
Mother Nature's Son vs Your Mother Should Know

Declan A Walsh

El Gato De Negocios wrote: »

It really wasnt a tough choice for me tbh. Its one of those songs that most seem to love but that Ive never really cared for. Technically its superb of course but its always left me a bit flat.

Help! on the other hand is just a really fun, very honest and bouncy song that I consistently find myself singing along with.

That all makes sense and Help! is indeed all of the above. Even so, I still love the slight weirdness and the substantial nature of Strawberry Fields Forever. Two different sides of John Lennon.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Group I

I Want You (She's So Heavy)
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
No Reply
Eleanor Rigby

Collie D

Group I
Hello Goodbye vs I Want You (She's So Heavy)
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away vs Don't Bother Me
Maggie Mae vs No Reply
Eleanor Rigby vs Don't Pass Me By

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Group J

Girl
Ticket To Ride
Helter Skelter
Mother Nature's Son

Collie D

Group J
Girl vs Good Night
Ticket To Ride vs Thank You Girl
You're Going to Lose That Girl vs Helter Skelter
Mother Nature's Son vs Your Mother Should Know

Declan A Walsh

Am I going to be the only one voting for Maggie Mae in Group I and/or Good Night in Group J?? Surely not!

There's always all day tomorrow - one lives in hope!

ShaneU

Hello Goodbye vs I Want You (She's So Heavy)
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away vs Don't Bother Me
Maggie Mae vs No Reply
Eleanor Rigby vs Don't Pass Me By

Girl vs Good Night
Ticket To Ride vs Thank You Girl
You're Going to Lose That Girl vs Helter Skelter
Mother Nature's Son vs Your Mother Should Know

EmmetSpiceland

El Gato De Negocios wrote: »

It really wasnt a tough choice for me tbh. Its one of those songs that most seem to love but that Ive never really cared for. Technically its superb of course but its always left me a bit flat.

Help! on the other hand is just a really fun, very honest and bouncy song that I consistently find myself singing along with.

Apology not accepted and reasoning refused. Please go back and amend that post. ‘Strawberry Fields’ goes through.

If we’re doing this competition, we’re doing it right. Don’t worry, I’ll be around to intervene whenever it goes off course. Not need to thank me.

trashcan

Arghus wrote: »

Group B

Something vs Till there was you - Till there was you is a cool and simple cover. The classical guitars make it and that bossa nova beat is nifty. But, Something is a way more impressive song.

The Word - If I Needed Someone - If I needed someone is a pretty cool song, very George, and its weirdly ambivalent lyrics and deliberate droning qualities help to give it character.

But, I absolutely hate Ob-la di, Ob-la-da. Let it Be was McCartney at his best, this is him at his worst. Annoying saccharine shyte. Even the way the piano sounds plasticky and fake annoys me. I love The Beatles, but I do hate that song.

If I needed someone is a great mid period fabs song, and George’s best to that point. The chiming guitars on it are terrific.

Fun fact about Ob la di Ob la da - the piano intro at the beginning was Johns, although he allegedly hated the song. They had been struggling with the intro when John came in to the studio, said, right, what are we working on, and proceeded to bash out the intro.

trashcan

SineadSpears wrote: »

Group H

She Came Through The Bathroom Window - What a name for a song lol.
I looked up the lyrics and I'm still none the wiser as to what the song is about
'

They had an intense group of fans who called themselves the Apple Scruffs who used to camp outside their houses. Some of them broke into Paul’s house - through the bathroom window - and helped themselves to some personal items.

I think I’m too much of a Beatle fan to read this thread fully, I’ll only annoy myself.

trashcan

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Apology not accepted and reasoning refused. Please go back and amend that post. ‘Strawberry Fields’ goes through.

If we’re doing this competition, we’re doing it right. Don’t worry, I’ll be around to intervene whenever it goes off course. Not need to thank me.

You are absolutely correct. Help Is ok, but it’s no Strawberry Fields.

EmmetSpiceland

trashcan wrote: »

You are absolutely correct. Help Is ok, but it’s no Strawberry Fields.

I’m fairly confident that simply shouting over everyone else is the only way to see this thing done right.

trashcan

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Am I going to be the only one voting for Maggie Mae in Group I and/or Good Night in Group J?? Surely not!

There's always all day tomorrow - one lives in hope!

Jaysus, Maggie Mae isn’t even a song, just a snippet, and it’s not even theirs. Why are cover versions being included ? I was right in my comment above, this thread is only annoying me, think I’ll have to depart.

EmmetSpiceland

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Am I going to be the only one voting for Maggie Mae in Group I and/or Good Night in Group J?? Surely not!

There's always all day tomorrow - one lives in hope!

I like ‘Maggie Mae’ but it’s not better than whatever it was up against. It would beat ‘Dig It’ or ‘Wild Honey Pie’ but not much else.

‘Good Night’, now there’s a song I’ve hated since I first heard it. I’ve played the White album forwards and backwards but just never warmed to it. I really don’t know why but it’s probably my least favourite Beatles song.

EmmetSpiceland

trashcan wrote: »

Jaysus, Maggie Mae isn’t even a song, just a snippet, and it’s not even theirs. Why are cover versions being included ? I was right in my comment above, this thread is only annoying me, think I’ll have to depart.

It’s a tradition song, no? All album tracks, and possibly singles, are included.

Arghus

Group I:

Hello-Goodbye vs I Want You(She's So Heavy) - In many ways this is a perfect match up. Both songs are the epitome of lyrical simplicity, but yet could not be more different. Hello Goodbye is, despite its surreal touches, a nice airy McCartney number, with lovely melodies and a light feel.

On the other hand, She's So Heavy Wants to crush you to death.

She's so Heavy is my absolute number one favourite Beatles song. Musically, it's extremely unrepresentative of the band, but I think thematically it's extremely on point for Lennon. He was Mr. Brutally Honest and it doesn't get more honest than being obsessed with someone to the extent that you can't even communicate anything beyond that: extra words are useless, you'll go mad without them. And that outro - Hole-ee Fuck! - pulverising, neverending, down into the vortex of emotional obsession, until, bang... Deeply unhealthy, of course, but, fck, that's pretty real. If you prefer Hello Goodbye to that, then I respect your opinion but I know you don't really see things like I do at some fundamental level.

And the details: the bluesy feel of the opening half, the vocal hook in unison with the guitar bends, that cool as a cucumber understated guitar solo, the organ, McCartney's bass doing all kinds of neat runs and fills, the groove on the drums, the cascading harmonies, Lennon screaming his lungs out: fcking outstanding. And then the outro with the building white noise and increasingly evil sounding guitar - these same guys wrote She Loves You and I Want to Hold Your Hand and this. Think about that. C'mon, it's outrageous. This is it. This is why The Beatles were the best.

You've Got to Hide Your Love Away vs Don't Bother Me - You've got to Hide Your Love Away hits you right in the feels, though I do Like Don't Bother Me.

Maggie Mae vs No Reply - Maggie Mae is endearing, but it isn't a flesh and blood song, so No Reply here. No Reply is actually a banger, I had definitely underrated it previously. Those suddenly intense parts fair explode and that middle thirty seconds with the piano bashing away and Lennon screaming his head off is great.

Eleanor Rigby vs Don't Pass Me By - Don't Pass Me By is perfectly lovely, but it's not Eleanor Rigby. Another completely groundbreaking song at the time it was released and it still kills. That pervasive sense of grey sadness, the beautiful strings, the stupidly good melodies, the oppressive feel of those double tracked vocals during the chorus. Near the very top of their best songs.

Zaph

Group I

Hello Goodbye
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
No Reply - I suspect I might be the only one voting for this, but I've never liked Eleanor Rigby.
Don't Pass Me By


Group J

Girl - can't say I particularly like it, but the other song is awful.
Ticket To Ride
Helter Skelter
Your Mother Should Know - probably the most forgettable pairing of the tournament so far, this is just marginally less meh

Arghus

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

That all makes sense and Help! is indeed all of the above. Even so, I still love the slight weirdness and the substantial nature of Strawberry Fields Forever. Two different sides of John Lennon.

Definitely the most brutal choice so far. I voted Strawberry Fields, but I can't complain about Help getting through - it is a work of genius in its own right too. It's a bit "simpler", but every part of it is pretty much perfect. It isn't a completely inexplicable outcome like the totally forgettable Honey Pie dumping out Tomorrow Never Knows: now that was criminal!

Ficheall

Group I
Hello Goodbye
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
No Reply
Eleanor Rigby


Group J
Girl
Ticket to Ride
You're Going to Lose that Girl
Mother Nature's Son

El Gato De Negocios

Really enjoying your commentary on the picks Arghus, hope you keep it up.

abff

Group I

Hello Goodbye
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
No Reply
Eleanor Rigby

abff

Group J

Girl
Ticket To Ride
You're Going to Lose That Girl
Mother Nature's Son

Group I

Hello Goodbye

You've Got to Hide Your Love Away

No Reply

Eleanor Rigby

abff

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

‘Strawberry Fields’ not getting through is criminal. The work that went into recording that song was phenomenal.

Stitching together different takes that were in different tempos, and keys, requiring an engineer to get under the desk to reduce the power getting into the console. Criminal!

As there will be 4 wild cards going through at the end of this round, I don’t think you need to worry too much about Strawberry Fields Forever being eliminated. I’ll be astonished if it doesn’t get one of the wild cards.

How’s that going to be run by the way? Will be get a list of all 92 first round losers and be asked to choose the 4 we want to go through? Or will everyone just be asked to pick 1 song from the 92?

El Gato De Negocios

Everyone picks 4 from the 92 eliminated, the 4 with most votes will go through to round 2.

I'll post the full list of what's been eliminated for ease of reference once round 1 concludes.

Trigger

Group I
Hello Goodbye vs I Want You (She's So Heavy)
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away vs Don't Bother Me
Maggie Mae vs No Reply
Eleanor Rigby vs Don't Pass Me By

Group J
Girl vs Good Night
Ticket To Ride vs Thank You Girl
You're Going to Lose That Girl vs Helter Skelter
Mother Nature's Son vs Your Mother Should Know

Declan A Walsh

Trigger wrote: »

Group I
Hello Goodbye vs I Want You (She's So Heavy)
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away vs Don't Bother Me
Maggie Mae vs No Reply
Eleanor Rigby vs Don't Pass Me By

Group J
Girl vs Good Night
Ticket To Ride vs Thank You Girl
You're Going to Lose That Girl vs Helter Skelter
Mother Nature's Son vs Your Mother Should Know

At least one person is on the same wavelength as me regarding the two underlined songs!

EmmetSpiceland

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

At least one person is on the same wavelength as me regarding the two underlined songs!

Disgraceful!

ari101

Group I
Hello Goodbye
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
No Reply
Eleanor Rigby

Group J

Girl

Ticket To Ride

Helter Skelter

Your Mother Should Know

ari101

Group J
Good Night
Ticket To Ride
You're Going to Lose That Girl
Your Mother Should Know

Trigger

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Disgraceful!

In your opinion...

the purple tin

Group I
I Want You (She's So Heavy)
Don't Bother Me
Maggie Mae
Eleanor Rigby


Group J
Good Night
Thank You Girl
You're Going to Lose That Girl
Mother Nature's Son

Declan A Walsh

the purple tin wrote: »

Group I
I Want You (She's So Heavy)
Don't Bother Me
Maggie Mae
Eleanor Rigby


Group J
Good Night
Thank You Girl
You're Going to Lose That Girl
Mother Nature's Son

That's three now (including me) that have voted for those two underlined, and I thought I would be on my own!

EmmetSpiceland

Trigger wrote: »

In your opinion...

My votes should count for 5.

Omackeral

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

My votes should count for 5.

Because you have 5 accounts on here is it?!

Reberetta

Group I
Hello Goodbye
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
No Reply
Eleanor Rigby

Group J
Girl
Ticket To Ride
You're Going to Lose That Girl

quickbeam

El Gato De Negocios wrote: »

Technically its superb of course but its always left me a bit flat.

This applies to a lot of Beatles songs for me, unfortunately. Though, of course, there are some great ones too.

quickbeam

Mod: Please remember the spirit of the game here. A little gentle ribbing over song preferences is fine, but let's not take this too seriously. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, as in all Tournament games.

Sawduck

Group I

Hello Goodbye
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
Maggie Mae
Eleanor Rigby

Arghus

Group J:

Girl vs Good Night - I thought this would be an easy one as I've always liked Girl and had previously found Good Night a bit arch or overly cheesy, but in 2021 I'm surprised about I much I don't mind Good Night. Ringo's voice is great and it's just very nice. After all the chaos and occasional grimness of The White Album it's a pleasant send off and I'll allow myself to think it's sincere.

But, Girl is class. Some people say Rubber Soul is their best album, being a good halfway point between the pop brilliance of early Beatles and the experimentation of the late period. I don't know, but it's not a completely daft opinion and Girl is one of those songs on it that illustrates that inbetween appeal of that album really well. It's accessible and undemanding at first listen, but it's quite moody and complex - the lyrics are bitter and biting and there's that tension of Lennon audibly breathing in hard throughout the song, like a man in pain. There's this sense of just about contained hysteria in the song, it's a standout from that era. Also it's cool that they are singing "tit, tit, tit" in the background.

Ticket to Ride vs Thank You Girl - Thank You Girl is grand, the little harmonica fills are cute, but it's nothing special really. Ticket to ride is one of their best. The difference in complexity and craft between the two songs, recorded two years apart, is striking: way more light and shade in the lyrics, far more accomplished musicianship, better hooks and a really interesting arrangement. I love how the drums kinda drag you through the song, very rhythmically interesting song.

You're Going to Lose That Girl vs Helter Skelter - You're Going to Lose that Girl is pretty good, that hook is damn catchy and while it is simple enough every component part is exactly right.

But Helter Skelter is way more interesting. Being honest, it's never totally convinced me. I never feel like putting on Helter Skelter when I want to rock out. There's other Beatles tunes that rock my socks off a bit more - Money, Twist and Shout, Yer Blues, Come Together etc, etc - even if Helter Skelter is the most "noisy" song they ever put together. And that myth about it being the invention of Heavy Metal is total crap: The Who had been doing the likes of this since 1965 - but all that aside, I still find it an intriguing enough song. Paul can't really convincingly rock - always a bit mannered, a bit put on - but he does his absolute best here and that main riff is great. I especially like that pure raw guitar part that you get an earful of when the rest of the band fades away for a bit at 3:11, that part does rock, pity it fades out pretty quickly. And of course, Ringo shouting is hilarious.

Mother Nature's Son vs Your Mother Should Know - Your Mother Should Know is grand - very musical hall-y and a bit fundamentally pointless - but still a far from offensive tune.

But it's not on the same level as Mother Nature's Son. A truly beautiful song. There's a lot of hippy dippy idealism in the lyrics, but there's a pain in McCartney's voice as he sings them that saves them. And that gorgeous wordless vocal melody, ah, how it manages to be so gorgeous and yet so sad simultaneously. And every part of the accompanying instruments and arrangement is tastefully and perfectly placed. Stunning song.

ShaneU

Arghus I am looking forward to this deep level of song analysis in your Walrus :pac:

Arghus

ShaneU wrote: »

Arghus I am looking forward to this deep level of song analysis in your Walrus :pac:

That's why it's taking so long Shane!

El Gato De Negocios

Group K

I Will

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-abNGP1BK4

vs

The End

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12R4FzIhdoQ

I'm Looking Through You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH6i9JAdJrQ

vs

I Saw Her Standing There

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxwAB3SECtc

Yes It Is

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acWj7M0-9rY

vs

Penny Lane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-rB0pHI9fU

Flying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1ONJQLdZrk

vs

Money (That's What I Want)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeWjEYhk7Xo

Group K
I Will vs The End
I'm Looking Through You vs I Saw Her Standing There
Yes It Is vs Penny Lane
Flying vs Money (That's What I Want)

rainbowtrout

Group K
I Will vs The End
I'm Looking Through You vs I Saw Her Standing There
Yes It Is vs Penny Lane
Flying vs Money (That's What I Want)

EmmetSpiceland

That’s a toughie.

Purgative

Group K
I Will
I Saw Her Standing There
Penny Lane
Money (That's What I Want)

Declan A Walsh

Group K
I Will vs The End - Great musicianship on this track and feature's the best drum solo (maybe the only drum solo!) by Ringo

I'm Looking Through You vs I Saw Her Standing There

Yes It Is vs Penny Lane

Flying vs Money (That's What I Want) - Flying is a very lightweight instrumental that is credited to all four, more likely Paul!

Reberetta

Group K

I Will
I'm Looking Through You
Penny Lane
Money (That's What I Want)