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Rating: Sometimes, during the idle evenings of my university life, I used to find myself in a room with my friend Mauro and the old friends Michele, Gianluca, Marco, and Dario to discuss one of life's great themes: which is the most overrated group or artist in the history of pop/rock music? Or rather, which artist has enjoyed worldwide fame and acclaim entirely disproportionate to the intrinsic value of their works?
The answer was never long in coming, even though it involved endless discussions, and the ranking invariably saw the following in the top three positions: 1) Beatles; 2) Elvis; 3) U2. Mediocre musicians of immense fortune and enormous influence on throngs of young people encouraged to follow their career, sociologically important but musically negligible.
I already know that with these statements I will have drawn the ire of the website's readers, but for some time, this will be my last review, as I will have much to ponder regarding any criticisms that the courteous users, specifically Beatles fans, will want to direct at me, since it is precisely the English quartet I would like to focus on in the following pages.
Even though the choice is, in turn, debatable, I want to proceed with an examination of the now-sainted Liverpool group’s music from the album One, a collection of the group's singles that sufficiently summarizes their career (and is not present on the site), with the caveat that I am not trying to deny the historical importance of the Beatles, nor the beauty of some of their songs, but simply to downsize their (alleged) greatness, especially when compared to contemporaries like the Rolling Stones, Kinks, Who, Yardbirds, Pink Floyd, Shadows, Beach Boys, or the great Jimi Hendrix, just to mention groups qualitatively more significant for the history of pop rock and rock as a whole.
Since everyone knows the tracks included in the album, I will not dwell on their superfluous description, but will limit myself to making some brief observations: technically worthy pieces seem to me to be only I Feel Fine, with its nice riff (later revived by Elio in “Pipppero”), We Can Work It Out (practically two songs in one, well connected), Hello Goodbye (almost psychedelic tones), Hey Jude (great ending with the crossing of choruses), Come Together (nice rock blues, but the covers by other artists, like Aerosmith, are better). The remaining pieces, whilst certainly admirable, thanks to always catchy and now classic melodies (as they're used in countless commercials, TV shows, radio broadcasts, etc.) add nothing and take away nothing from a purely musical perspective in the history of rock, paling in comparison to the works of mentioned contemporaneous groups in terms of composition and performance: anyone willing to do so can compare them with any Stones piece of the time, with Train Kept a Rollin' by the Yardbirds, with You Really Got Me by the Kinks, or with the early Who pieces contained in Odds & Sods, like I’m the Face, not to mention My Generation, etc.
The music of the Beatles, if listened to today, also appears irremediably outdated, while the aforementioned contemporaneous groups remain fresh and stimulating, and its supposed modernity and relevance perhaps depend on the fact that, for most, these pieces have become part of daily life, like the Christmas tree during the holidays, or the beach umbrella in the summer, or the start of school in mid-September. It is, then, music that has had, practically, very little influence on artists active in the following decades, surpassed by the contributions of all those artists who emerged in the 1968/70 triennium, among whom I recall the Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Hendrix himself, Velvet Underground, the Who of Who’s Next, Deep Purple of In Rock: music that has little to do with the Beatles and marks the real break in the evolution of modern styles, at least in the rock field.
Apologizing for the assertive tones, justified by the brevity imposed, I await comments. The album deserves a 3, it can be listened to.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
04 I Want to Hold Your Hand (02:26)
Oh yeah, I'll tell you something
I think you'll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
Oh, please say to me
You'll let me be your man
And, please, say to me
You'll let me hold your hand
Now let me hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
And when I touch you I feel happy inside
It's such a feeling that, my love
I can't hide
I can't hide
I can't hide
Yeah, you got that something
I think you'll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
And when I touch you I feel happy inside
It's such a feeling that, my love
I can't hide
I can't hide
I can't hide
Yeah, you got that something
I think you'll understand
When I feel that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
05 Can't Buy Me Love (02:13)
Can't buy me love, love
Can't buy me love
I'll buy you a diamond ring my friend
If it makes you feel all right
I'll get you anything my friend
If it makes you feel all right
'Cause I don't care too much for money
Money can't buy me love
I'll give you all I've got to give
If you say you love me too
I may not have a lot to give
But what I've got I'll give to you
I don't care too much for money
Money can't buy me love
Can't buy me love
Everybody tells me so
Can't buy me love
No no no, no
Say you don't need no diamond rings
And I'll be satisfied
Tell me that you want the kind of things
That money just can't buy
I don't care too much for money
Money can't buy me love
Can't buy me love
Everybody tells me so
Can't buy me love
No no no, no
Say you don't need no diamond rings
And I'll be satisfied
Tell me that you want the kind of things
That money just can't buy
I don't care too much for money
Money can't buy me love
Can't buy me love, love
Can't buy me love, no
06 A Hard Day's Night (02:35)
It's been a hard day's night
And I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard day's night
I should be sleeping like a log
But when I get home to you
I find the things that you do
Will make me feel all right
You know I work all day
To get you money to buy you things
And it's worth it just to hear you say
“You're gonna give me everything?”
So why on earth should I moan?
'Cause when I get you alone
You know I feel okay
When I'm home
Everything seems to be right
When I'm home
Feeling you holding me tight, tight, yeah
It's been a hard day's night
And I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard day's night
I should be sleeping like a log
But when I get home to you
I find the things that you do
Will make me feel all right, oh!
So why on earth should I moan?
'Cause when I get you alone
You know I feel okay
When I'm home
Everything seems to be right
When I'm home
Feeling you holding me tight, tight, yeah
It's been a hard day's night
And I've been working like a dog
It's been a hard day's night
I should be sleeping like a log
But when I get home to you
I find the things that you do
Will make me feel all right
You know I feel all right
You know I feel all right
07 I Feel Fine (02:20)
Baby's good to me you know
She's happy as can be, you know
She said so
I'm in love with her and I feel fine
Baby says she's mine, you know
she tells me all the time, you now
She said so
I'm in love with her and I feel fine
I'm so glad that she's my little girl
She's so glad she's telling all the world
That her baby buys her things you know
He buys her diamond rings, you know
She said so
She's in love with me and I feel fine, mm
Baby says she's mine, you know
she tells me all the time, you now
She said so
I'm in love with her and I feel fine
I'm so glad that she's my little girl
She's so glad she's telling all the world
That her baby buys her things you know
He buys her diamond rings, you know
She said so
She's in love with me and I feel fine
She's in love with me and I feel fine, mm
09 Ticket to Ride (03:12)
I think I'm gonna be sad, I think it's today, Yeah
The girl that's driving me mad is going away
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
But she don't care
She said that living with me is bringing her down, yeah
For she would never be free when I was around
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
But she don't care
I don't know why she's riding so high
She ought to think twice
She ought to do right by me
Before she gets to saying goodbye
She ought to think twice
She ought to do right by me
I think I'm gonna be sad, I think it's today, Yeah
The girl that's driving me mad is going away, yeah, oh
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
But she don't care
I don't know why she's riding so high
She ought to think twice
She ought to do right by me
Before she gets to saying goodbye
She ought to think twice
She ought to do right by me
She said that living with me is bringing her down, yeah
For she would never be free when I was around
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
But she don't care
My baby don't care
My baby don't care
My baby don't care
My baby don't care
My baby don't care
10 Help! (02:20)
(Help!) I need somebody
(Help!) Not just anybody
(Help!) You know I need someone
(Help!)
When I was younger, so much younger than today
I never needed anybody's help in any way
But now these days are gone
I'm not so self assured
Now I find I've changed my mind
I've opened up the doors
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being 'round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me
And now my life has changed in oh, so many ways
My independence seems to vanish in the haze
But every now and then I feel so insecure
I know that I just need you like
I've never done before
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being 'round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me
When I was younger, so much younger than today
I never needed anybody's help in any way
But now these days are gone
I'm not so self assured
Now I find I've changed my mind
I've opened up the doors
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being 'round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me, help me, help me, oooo
11 Yesterday (02:07)
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it look as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly
Why she had to go
I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Why she had to go
I don't know, she wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
13 We Can Work It Out (02:17)
Try to see it my way
Do I have to keep on talking till I can't go on
While you see it your way
Run the risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone
We can work it out
We can work it out
Think of what you're saying
You can get it wrong and still you think that it's all right
Think of what I'm saying
We can work it out and get it straight or say good night
We can work it out
We can work it out
Life is very short and there's no time
For fussing and fighting, my friend
I have always thought that it's a crime
So I will ask you once again
Try to see it my way
Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong
While you see it your way
There's a chance that we might fall apart before too long
We can work it out
We can work it out
Life is very short and there's no time
For fussing and fighting, my friend
I have always thought that it's a crime
So I will ask you once again
Try to see it my way
Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong
While you see it your way
There's a chance that we might fall apart before too long
We can work it out
We can work it out
14 Paperback Writer (02:20)
Dear, sir or madam, will you read my book?
It took me years to write, will you take a look?
It's based on a novel by a man named Lear
And I need a job, so I want to be a paperback writer
It's a dirty story of a dirty man
And his clinging wife doesn't understand
His son is working for the Daily Mail
It's a steady job, but he wants to be a paperback writer
It's a thousand pages, give or take a few
I'll be writing more in a week or two
I can make it longer if you like the style
I can change it 'round, but I want to be a paperback writer
If you really like it you can have the rights
It can make a million for you overnight
If you must return it you can send it here
But I need a break and I want to be a paperback writer.
15 Yellow Submarine (02:40)
In the town where I was born
Lived a man who sailed to sea
And he told us of his life
In the land of submarines
So we sailed up to the sun
'Till we found a sea of green
And we lived beneath the waves
In our yellow submarine
We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
And our friends are all aboard
Many more of them live next door
And the band begins to play
We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
(Full speed ahead Mr. Boatswain, full speed ahead
Full speed ahead it is, Sgt.
Cut the cable, drop the cable
Aye, Sir, aye
Captain, captain)
As we live a life of ease
Every one of us has all we need
Sky of blue and sea of green
In our yellow submarine
We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
We all live in a yellow submarine
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
16 Eleanor Rigby (02:08)
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby
Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window
Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong
Father McKenzie,
Writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near
Look at him working
Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby,
Died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie
Wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No one was saved
All the lonely people (Ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all come from
All the lonely people (Ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all belong
17 Penny Lane (03:01)
In Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to have known.
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say hello.
On the corner is a banker with a motorcar,
And little children laugh at him behind his back.
And the banker never wears a mac
In the pouring rain, very strange.
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes.
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back
In penny Lane there is a fireman with an hourglass
And in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen.
He likes to keep his fire engine clean,
It's a clean machine.
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes.
Full of fish and finger pies
In summer, meanwhile back
Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout
The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway.
In Penny Lane the barber shaves another customer,
We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim.
And then the fireman rushes in
From the pouring rain, very strange.
Penny lane is in my ears and in my eyes.
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back.
Penny lane is in my ears and in my eyes.
There beneath the blue suburban skies,
Penny Lane.
20 Lady Madonna (02:18)
Lady Madonna,
Children at your feet
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet.
Who finds the money
When you pay the rent?
Did you think that money was heaven-sent?
Friday night arrives without a suitcase.
Sunday morning creeping like a nun.
Monday's child has learned to tie his bootlace.
See how they run.
Lady Madonna,
Baby at your breast
Wonders how you manage to feed the rest.
See how they run.
Lady Madonna,
Lying on the bed.
Listen to the music playing in your head.
Tuesday afternoon is never ending.
Wednesday morning papers didn't come.
Thursday night your stockings needed mending.
See how they run.
Lady Madonna,
Children at your feet
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet.
21 Hey Jude (07:06)
Hey Jude, don't make it bad
take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better
Hey Jude, don't be afraid
You were made to go out and get her
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better
And anytime you feel the pain
Hey Jude refrain
don't carry the world upon your shoulders
For well you know that it's a fool
who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder
Na na na na na
na na na na
Hey Jude don't let me down
You have found her, now go and get her
Remember to let her into your heart
then you can start to make it better
So let it out and let it in
Hey Jude begin
You're waiting for someone to perform with
And don't you know that it's just you
Hey Jude, you'll do
The movement you need is on your shoulder
Na na na na na
na na na na yeah
Hey Jude, don't make it bad
take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better
Better, better, better, better, better, oh
Na, na na na na na na
na na na na, hey Jude
Na, na na na na na na
na na na na, hey Jude
Na, na na na na na na
na na na na, hey Jude
22 Get Back (03:14)
Jo Jo was a man who thought he was a loner
But he knew it couldn't last
Jo Jo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
for some California grass
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back Jo Jo
Go home
Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged
Get back, get back
Back to where you once belonged
Get back Jo
Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman
But she was another man
All the girls around her say she's got it coming
But she gets it while she can
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back Loretta
Ah, get back
Yeah, get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Yeah get back
Get back to where you once belonged
Get back, Ooo
[Past Masters/single version only:
Get back, Loretta,
Your mommy's waiting for you,
Wearin' her high heel shoes and her low neck sweater,
Get back home, Loretta
Get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back, get back...]
23 The Ballad of John and Yoko (03:01)
Standing in the dock at Southampton
trying to get to Holland or France
The man in the mac said
you've got to go back
You know they didn't even give us a chance
Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me
Finally made the plane into Paris
Honeymooning down by the Seine
Peter Brown call to say
you can make it O.K.
You can get married in Gibraltar near Spain
Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me
Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton
Talking in our beds for a week
The newspapers said
say what're you doing in bed
I said we're only trying to get us some peace
Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me
Saving up your money for a rainy day
giving all your clothes to charity
Last night the wife said
Oh boy when you're dead
you don't take nothing with you but your soul, think
Made a lightning trip to Vienna
Eating chocolate cake in a bag
The newspapers said
she's gone to his head
They look just like two Gurus in drag
Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me
Caught the early plane back to London
Fifty acorns tied in a sack
The men from the press
said we wish you success
It's good to have the both of you back
Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me
The way things are going
They're going to crucify me
24 Something (03:03)
Something in the way she moves
Attracts me like no other lover
Something in the way she woos me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how
Somewhere in her smile she knows
That I don't need no other lover
Something in her style that shows me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how
You're asking me will my love grow
I don't know, I don't know
You stick around and it may show
I don't know, I don't know
Something in the way she knows
And all I have to do is think of her
Something in the things she shows me
I don't want to leave her now
You know I believe and how
25 Come Together (04:20)
Here come old flat top
He come groovin' up slowly
He got ju-ju eyeball
He one holy roller
He got hair down to his knees
Got to be a joker
He just do what he please
He wear no shoeshine
He got toe jam football
He got monkey finger
He shoot Coca Cola
He say I know you, you know me
One thing I can tell you is
You got to be free
Come together, right now
Over me
He bag production
He got walrus gumboot
He got Ono sideboard
He one spinal cracker
He got feet down below his knees
Hold you in his arms yeah
You can feel his disease
Come together, right now
Over me
He roller coaster
He got early warning
He got muddy water
He one Mojo filter
He say one and one and one is three
Got to be good looking
'Cause he's so hard to see
Come together right now
Over me
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
Come together, yeah
26 Let It Be (03:52)
When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right it front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be
And when the brokenhearted people
Living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
For though they may be parted
There is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Yeah, there will be an answer let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be
And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me
Shine until tomorrow, let it be
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
Yeah, let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah, let it be
There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah let it be
There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be
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Other reviews
By pier_paolo_farina
"Better consider it for what it is, a Greatest Hits, which has many holes as masterpieces like 'A Day In The Life'... are missing."
"'We Can Work It Out' is an immortal song, never tires, a shining example of McCartney’s melodic genius and Lennon’s rhythmic ease."
