Beatle’s Top Ten Songs From People Who Know Stuff

A group of my friends decided we’d do the impossible. We’d try to pick the Top 10 Beatles songs of all time. TL;DR: “Helter Skelter” is the top song of all time.

The Beatles are my favorite musical enterprise ever. I wrote about them here: https://deanorolls.com/2020/04/14/deanos-musical-masterworks-the-beatles/

My Beatles playlist is 5 hours and 32 minutes and contains 115 songs.  This includes every song that I could listen to over and over without stopping from today until the day I depart earth. 

Earlier in my life, I had tried to whittle my 115 playlists down further. I came up with these 23 songs. These would be on my desert island disc.  Every one of these is a miracle of modern music.  They are in release order and not force ranked.  I couldn’t do that if I had to.

1. “I Saw Her Standing There” (Please, Please Me) – The first track on their debut album. Where it all began and a perfect representation of their ‘initial period’.  Fucking grooves!
2. “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” (Help!)
3. “Girl” (Rubber Soul)
4. “With A Little Help From My Friends” (Sgt. Peppers)
5. “She’s Leaving Home” (Sgt. Peppers)
6. When I’m Sixty Four (Sgt. Peppers)
7. “A Day In The Life” (Sgt. Peppers)
8. “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” (The White Album)
9. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (The White Album)
10. “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” (The White Album)
11. “Blackbird” (The White Album)
12. “I Will” (The White Album)
13. “Julia” (The White Album)
14. “Mother Nature’s Son” (The White Album)
15. “Sexy Sadie” (The White Album)
16. “Good Night” (The White Album)
17. “Golden Slumbers” (Abbey Road)   
18. “Across The Universe” (Let It Be)
19. “Let It Be” (Let It Be) 
20. “Yes It Is” (Past Masters) 
21. “The Ballad of John and Yoko” (Past Masters) 
22. “Free As A Bird” (Anthology) – These last two were released 15 years after John Lennon’s death and 25 years after the band broke up.  The reunion that was to never occur was pretty spectacular…and produced two great songs.
23. “Real Love” (Anthology) – Ditto.

My Beatles buddies (Brent and Michael) decided we each needed to list our top 10 of all time.  I went through my list of 23 songs and I’ve highlighted my top 10 within it (above).

UPDATE: Brent and Michael then forced me to do the impossible. Force rank my list.  I love a good force ranked list but this was very difficult. It is like picking a favorite child (which I obviously have done). I’ve included my force ranked list here (along with everyone’s list).

UPDATE AGAIN: Brent got two other friends of ours to force rank their lists.  The five people here are obviously the most important musical analyst on the planet so this listing is definitive. 

“Helter Skelter” is the best Beatles song if you listen to this group (since it was on four out of the five lists).  I’m the only one who didn’t have it on my shortlist.  I like different ‘types’ of Beatles songs but I can agree that “Helter Skelter” is a significant and very good song.  So, I’ll allow it!

Brent took great exception to Michael and I having “Real Love” on our lists. He has his reasons. They are not valid…obviously.

Two of us each agreed on the top song on our lists (“A Day In The Life” and “Paperback Writer”).  Keith and Blake are obviously on crack for not having “A Day In The Life” anywhere on their lists.  Brent and Keith must be inbred for allowing “Paperback Writer” to supplant “A Day In The Life” from the number one spot.  Obviously, Michael and I are the smartest of anyone in this group. 

UPDATE AGAIN AGAIN: Brent was so convinced that “Paperback Writer” was a great song he went to the trouble of making up a ‘new friend’ whose list also had this song as number one. He even sent us a picture of this ‘real live person’ and made up some back story. Michael and I saw through this obvious sham immediately.

One night recently Michael, Brent and I got together to commemorate the list by watching a Beatles documentary and listening to the White Album (in surround sound).