Flying – The Fool (Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Starr) Magical Mystery Tour, 1967 “Flying” is unique in the Beatles’ canon. It is the only instrumental the group ever released, and it’s one of just two Beatles compositions that gave all four members equal writing credit. The song is off the soundtrack to their psychedelic third film,…
Eight Days A Week – 2 of Cups (Lennon/McCartney) Beatles For Sale, 1964 …“Eight Days a Week” has the distinction as the first-ever pop song that begins with a fade-in. The song opens side 2 of their fourth album, Beatles For Sale, released in late 1964. The catchy tune was released as a single in…
11:11 and Joker’s Awakening: How a Controversial Movie About a Comic Book Villain Portrays the Journey of Individuation [WARNING: this post contains spoilers about the movie Joker.] I’ll be the first to admit that I have comic book movie fatigue. But Joker transcended the genre. On the surface it was about how a disturbed man…
Rocky Raccoon – 5 of Swords (Lennon/McCartney) The Beatles (The White Album), 1968 Like most songs off the White Album, “Rocky Raccoon” was written in India, while the Beatles were learning Transcendental Meditation from the Maharishi. Paul claimed the song came to him quite quickly and easily while he got some lyrical ideas from John…
Matchbox – 5 of Pentacles (Perkins) Long Tall Sally EP, 1964 Available on Past Masters “Matchbox” is a swinging rockabilly tune, sung by Ringo. The Beatles had been performing the song since their early days; their original drummer Pete Best sang it when they still played small clubs. It’s a cover of a Carl Perkins…
The Night Before – 3 of Swords (Lennon/McCartney) Help!, 1965 On the surface, there’s not much special about “The Night Before”. It’s a serviceable little song about a breakup, written and sung by Paul, from the movie Help! The melody, lyrics, and arrangement are all pretty unexceptional, at least by the lofty standards of the…
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! – The Magician (Lennon/McCartney) Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967 Side 1 of Sgt. Pepper concludes with this two-and-a-half-minute kaleidoscopic dreamscape. Those hearing it for the first time probably weren’t sure what to expect looking at its odd title, but as the only Beatles song with an…
Only a Northern Song – Knight of Pentacles (Harrison) Yellow Submarine, 1969 This George composition is one of the strangest, ugliest, and most hilarious songs the Beatles ever made. It was originally intended to be George’s contribution to Sgt. Pepper, but wasn’t included because producer George Martin didn’t feel it was a good fit. Nearly…
Dizzy Miss Lizzy– Knight of Wands (Williams) Help!, 1965 The album Help! was unofficially the last of the Beatles’ early period. (Things would change quite dramatically with the release of the follow up, Rubber Soul.) And as they had done with their very first album, the Beatles chose to close Help! with an energetic cover…
Birthday – 4 of Wands (Lennon/McCartney) The Beatles (The White Album), 1968 The second record of the White Album opens with one of the most recognizable and catchy riffs in rock music. This song is fun to sing along or dance to, perfectly befitting a birthday celebration. “Birthday” was primarily composed by Paul, whose girlfriend…