Everyone's favorite song to hate is actually just a good song, and an important part of the greater #Beatles lore open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

What You're Doing is one of the rare #Beatles tracks that doesn't really 'work' on the terms that they set out for themselves. But that's part of what makes it so fascinating open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

I'm a Loser is an important step in John Lennon's journey toward the sort of personal (often confessional) songwriting that would soon come to define him open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Blue Jay Way might be the definitive work for the #Beatles psychedelic period. To listen to it is to be transported directly into a woozy dream of 1967 open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

There's no shame in enjoying a delightful singalong, especially not when it rips this hard open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

It was maybe a little overdetermined that George's first solo song would be a misanthropic anthem to being left alone. Good tune, though open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

The #Beatles only released one official Goffin/King cover, but it was a doozy. I think Chains flies a but under the radar but it’s a fantastic song open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

This Boy is a gorgeous song, and a signature moment in the development of the early #Beatles qua Beatles open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

I was initially pretty skeptical that Now and Then had justified its existence. I'm now convinced, though it will never be one of my absolute favorites open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Only a Northern Song is without question the best song about the economics of 60s pop music publishing open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party is a wonderful early example of John Lennon's investigations into embarrassment and self-abnegation open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Their first single, and a (rather surprising) #1 in the US, Love Me Do is a foundational text for the #Beatles story, even if it's not exactly their best song open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

With apologies to @wilmcmillen.bsky.social Mr. Moonlight comes in at #149 on the list beatles208.substack.com/p/149-mr-moo...

My number #150 song is You're Going to Lose That Girl, which means there are still, amazingly, 149 songs that I like even more than this one open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

The #Beatles wrote a lot of songs about love and the burdens of distance. Wait is one of the darkest, and most interesting open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Inspired by @personalbeatles.bsky.social, and in commemoration of my father's recent passing, some reflections on my life with the #Beatles open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

You Like Me Too Much is a decent song being being performed by the #Beatles circa 1965. Which can paper over a lot of cracks open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

The #Beatles probably played Long Tall Sally a thousand times. The recording we ended up with is good, but can never fully capture the experience of actually hearing them play it open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Good Night is the perfect palate cleanser for the chaotic wonder that is the White Album open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

I Call Your Name was a resurrected early Lennon composition, rejected for inclusion in A Hard Days Night, and eventually consigned to an obscure EP. Which just shows that even the #Beatles throwaway material was exceptional open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

The Night Before is the #Beatles getting nostalgic for the old days. And by 'the old days' I mean 'twelve months prior.' As they say on @beatlespod.bsky.social time works differently in the Beatles universe open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

A lovely early George Harrison song, that I wish was either a little more or a little less atmospheric open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

George Harrison put it best when he said "mainly, it’s Paul shouting" open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Incredible harmonies, killer bridge, peculiar subject matter. An interesting illustration of their post-Beatlemania development as composers open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

New Paul song: it’s lovely, and one of the most immediately affecting songs from him in a while. I do still feel (as I have about a lot of Paul’s solo work in recent decades) that it might be even better if it were shorter.

Whether or not you like Honey Pie, it's an extremely *successful* song, both in conception and execution open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Peter Jackson's Get Back dispelled the myth of crisis and catastrophe in the Jan. 1969 sessions. But as a testament to the silliness and joy they still found in recording together, Dig It has always been with us, hiding in plain sight open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Call it pandering if you like, but songs like Thank You Girl show that the early #Beatles genuinely understood what it means to fall in love with and through music open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Is Yer Blues supposed to be an authentic blues song? A parody of an authentic blues song? Something in between? It's all a little unclear open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

I sometimes think that John Lennon revealed more about his inner psyche in the days when he was churning out pop songs than he ever managed in his later confessional era open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

George Harrison cared deeply about many things. One of the things he cared deeply about was paying less in tax open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

A masterful piece of songwriting, Not a Second Time uses odd chord progressions and unnerving key changes to keep the listener in a state of uncanny discomfort open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Listening to Money offers a hint of what it might have been like to hear the #Beatles in the Before times. Sadly, you can’t bottle that feeling. You can only hear it in the echoes open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Pretentious garbage? Avant-garde genius? A waste of everyone's time? Revolution 9 might be the single most controversial #Beatles track. And whether you like it or detest it, there's something incredible about its existence open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Drive My Car has all the bones of a great Motown track and is right up there as one of the funkiest songs the #Beatles ever wrote. It’s a legitimate jam. So why don't I love it more? open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

A relatively mediocre song, rescued by a luminous bridge open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

It's a great vocal performance from Paul, but sadly there's something a little bit lost in the recording of I'm Down open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

The #Beatles tried to recapture the feeling of being the world's best bar band with One After 909. And mostly succeeded open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

A very rare #Beatles song that's built around a riff, Birthday is a fun bit of rock and roll ephemera open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

An extremely faithful cover of a good Buddy Holly song, Words of Love is a nice piece of the #Beatles story, but doesn't do much to advance the argument open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Savoy Truffle isn't one of the great George Harrison songs, but it plants the seeds for songs that ARE among his very best open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Doctor Robert is probably the worst song on Revolver, which is a pretty stunning endorsement for Revolver open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

It's one the most trifling #Beatles songs, but there's a lot to love even when they're still finding their feet open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Critics often like to dismiss George's 'preachy' songs, but they are generally pretty interesting. I Me Mine is a good example open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Roll Over Beethoven is the sound of rock and roll inventing its own mythology. It's good and right that we have a #Beatles cover of it open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Bungalow Bill is a pretty silly song. And it could never have appeared on any other #Beatles album. But it’s the opposite of ‘filler’ open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

It might be their schmaltziest song, but I still have a lot of time for Till There Was You. Especially the guitar solo open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

Do You Want to Know a Secret is an imitation of earnestness, which can be a little hard to take seriously. But the underlying nervousness about being loved rings true open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

The #Beatles’ origin as a skiffle band isn’t something that shows up all that clearly in their more famous work, but it’s nice to have one clear reference to that history on the record open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...

One of the many delightful pieces of early #Beatles lore is the fact that they were far more aware of obscure American R&B records than kids who actually grew up in America open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...