“If an autocracy does something, that proves they’re strong. If a democracy does something, that proves they’re weak” explains like 95% of Trump foreign policy

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...

I’m getting close to the point where ‘it would cause an arms race that would obliterate the Court as a legitimate institution’ is actually a selling point.

This is a lovely initiative but also Furt lives on forever for those with eyes to see

I think people are still wildly underestimating how much longterm damage has been done to US soft power. In a best-case future, the rest of the world will continue to grudgingly tolerate US hegemony as a backstop against something worse, but *respect* and *admiration* are basically gone for good

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...

Oooooh this will be great

I continue to have no idea who Hasan Piker is (Please do not tell me)

I am going to be a massive humorless asshole about woo-woo shit, no matter how seemingly harmless, for the rest of my life due to this. astrology, homeopathic medicine, etc etc it's all bullshit and it's not fucking harmless. there are people who will die due to this who would have otherwise lived.

Only a Northern Song is without question the best song about the economics of 60s pop music publishing 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...

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...

You could make a decent case for I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party as the most significant Lennon track on Beatles for Sale, if not necessarily the catchiest or most immediately appealing

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

You're Going to Lose that Girl might just be the apotheosis of the British Invasion

"I've been good, as good as I can be" is low-key one of the best lyrics in the entire #Beatles discography

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...

Good Night is the perfect palate cleanser for the chaotic wonder that is the White Album 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...

It’s both sad and wonderful that music is so ephemeral. For almost any song that’s ever been written, the definitive version either doesn’t exist, or existed only for a moment in a room somewhere. And is now gone forever.

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...

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

Beatles for Sale features of a lot of songs about the loss of agency: the way the narrator experiences events which are essentially outside his control. They're all ostensibly 'love' songs, but really they reflect a sort of broader loss of control and order

If Honey Pie didn’t exist, I would never in a million years say ‘the thing that’s really missing from the White Album is a bit of imitation music hall.’ But it would be true!

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...

The most common word in the #Beatles lyric book is 'you.' That's because they fundamentally understood that music is a conversation with the listener

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...

Music is one of the most visceral art forms. It doesn't just ask you to experience things as if they were fresh and new, it *demands* that you try to hear it fresh. We can never perfectly succeed, but it's still beautiful how hard we try.

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...

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...

I'm Down is one of the few #Beatles song where I associate more with a cover than the original. Except that the 'cover' in this case is my brother's high school band

One After 909 opens a window into an alternate history of the Beatles in the 70s where they brought in Billy Preston and just played some good old dirty rock and roll for a few years

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...

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...

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...

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...

In some ways, Revolver is the *most* experimental #Beatles album, which is a major selling point but also sometimes a minor detriment

George Harrison was a complicated man, and it would be pretty unfair to dismiss his genuine spiritual strivings as mere hypocrisy

Soon enough, the Beatles would be reinventing rock and roll on their own terms. But you can already hear the seeds of that transformation in songs like this--which bridge the divide between past and future

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...

Rawlsian political liberals responding to this post:

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...

For another band, Tell Me What You See might have been a mega-hit. For the #Beatles it was a bit of album filler open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...