Overrated Beatles songs.

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
L

Layton

War Child
Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Messages
750
Location
Ohio
Ok, I don't mean this thread to be disparaging to the Beatles, but I thought it'll be interesting to sift out some of the overrated songs from their catalog. There's this tendency to hold everything they did on an extremely high pedestal. Most of that is well-deserved, but some of their notable songs are less than perfect. I realize this is subjective, but who knows maybe a consensus will be drawn about a song or two.

"Hey Jude" is my top choice. I'm not sure if this song is supposed to bring hope to a sad situation, but it's a real drip anyway. The sadness in this song is like one big goopy tear. Overdone, if you aske me. The na, na, na's at the end also fall into the overdone category. I'm guessing this is supposed to be the moment when hope reigns supreme, but I'll be damned if they forgot to bring any poignance to the moment. "Yesterday" is a close second for me. I won't wax on any longer, though. Your turn!!!!
 
Hey Jude maybe a bit over-rated, I think I prefer the Elvis version to be honest, plus some of the early stuff like 'Love me Do'.

However I think there are more UNDER rated Beatles songs than over rated ones.
 
Can't By Me Love.

Wouldn't say overrated since I don't think many folks hold it in particularly high-esteem anyway, but I blame Patrick Dempsey and his namesake shit-ass 80's high school movie for the song's overratedness.

Ok, maybe this post was just an opportunity to bash Patrick Dempsey.
 
Layton said:

"Hey Jude" is my top choice. I'm not sure if this song is supposed to bring hope to a sad situation, but it's a real drip anyway. The sadness in this song is like one big goopy tear. Overdone, if you aske me. The na, na, na's at the end also fall into the overdone category. I'm guessing this is supposed to be the moment when hope reigns supreme, but I'll be damned if they forgot to bring any poignance to the moment. "Yesterday" is a close second for me. I won't wax on any longer, though. Your turn!!!!
Click to expand...

hey jude is wonderful. it is supposed to bring hope to a sad situation. i thought everyone on the planet knew that paul wrote the song for julian in the midst of lennon's divorce from his first wife. what a great song. and the length was, like most things the beatles did, revolutionary for that era of music.

as far as yesterday goes - we could all only wish to be so lucky to dream up such a melody, literally.

i honestly don't think the beatles can be overrated and my respect for them as artists and musicians far outweighs any sort of obsessed loyalty or affection.
 
The Beatles are Rock/Pop icons... I mean they ARE THE Rock/Pop icons. Sure they made their share of questionable songs, but they also helped to shape a generation in the mid-60's with their music and they were one of the first acts to mostly survive on their own material.

If you were born after 1985 your musical perception is years removed from the Beatles experience and that might disjoint your opinion of it. What was groundbreaking and revolutionary in 1967/68 is blasse in 2005, because "every" artist has taken the Beatles' blueprint and turned it on its head.

Trust me in 2045 people will ask how many overrated Eminem and Tupac songs there are and what made U2 so great.

But yes a few of their songs are overrated no doubt.
 
Come Together.

But that's probably more me just hating the song, rather than it be overrating.
 
I would have called "Come Together" one of the underrated songs.
 
Last edited:
The only song(s) I have a really problem with someone calling overrated is the Abbey Road Medley. That is pure genius. Basically they took half finished songs with brilliant melodies and made them into one continuous fantastic song. Definitely not overrated maybe misunderstood.
 
Reggie Thee Dog said:
The Beatles are Rock/Pop icons... I mean they ARE THE Rock/Pop icons. Sure they made their share of questionable songs, but they also helped to shape a generation in the mid-60's with their music and they were one of the first acts to mostly survive on their own material.

If you were born after 1985 your musical perception is years removed from the Beatles experience and that might disjoint your opinion of it. What was groundbreaking and revolutionary in 1967/68 is blasse in 2005, because "every" artist has taken the Beatles' blueprint and turned it on its head.

Trust me in 2045 people will ask how many overrated Eminem and Tupac songs there are and what made U2 so great.

But yes a few of their songs are overrated no doubt.
Click to expand...

I agree with that commentary as well.

And on that note, why did McCartney choose to go into the never-ending chorus for "Hey Jude" at Live8, when he could have chosen "ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE", and ended with the other part of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (the part... 'And in the end... the love you take is equal to the love you make'). Make some damn comment, join us together, not this Hey Jude crap (and yes I knew it was about Julian). Or perhaps is wasn't mainly a 'McCartney' song, so he shunned it... I just had no need to see Hey Jude go on forever. I saw it in concert last tour, and on the DVD. And I'll probably see it on 11/29 when I take my daughter to see Sir Paul again.

Oops, I digress.
15.gif


:reject:
 
It's a Ringo song. Doesn't count.

Yep, I know it's Lennon/McCartney. But it's still a Ringo song. Automatically to be discounted when discussing overrated/underrated songs.:wink:
 
Last edited:
timothius said:
I agree with your analysis. Their over rated songs for me are the Abbey Road medly, large portions of the White Album & a great deal of Revolver.
Click to expand...

:eyebrow:

The Abbey Road medley? Revolver? Overrated?

I agree that there's maybe a bit too much praise for The White Album, as it isn't very consistent and not all the songs on it are that good.
I also support the mention of Let It Be (and rather most of that album).

But that medley and Revolver overrated? :tsk:
 
Oh bla de, oh bla dah, or whatever the shite is called :madspit: We had to sing this at primary school (from one of those school song books) and I've hated it ever since.

Proof that drugs don't work. :sick:
 
Well, I wouldn't consider Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da overrated, as it's generally considered to be a bad song (wasn't it recently voted one of the worst songs ever?).
That it's not really overrated doesn't make it any better though. :)
 
Re: Re: Overrated Beatles songs.

Se7en said:


hey jude is wonderful. it is supposed to bring hope to a sad situation. i thought everyone on the planet knew that paul wrote the song for julian in the midst of lennon's divorce from his first wife. what a great song. and the length was, like most things the beatles did, revolutionary for that era of music.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I figured that was what it was supposed to do, but I think the creative execution is way overdone like I said in my first post.
 
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER?!!?

Only one of the greatest compositions in pop music history. I downloaded something that has 20 different mp3s charting the evolution of this track. You might not like the song, but it's certainly not overrated. It's revolutionary and personal at the same time.

A little knowledge about its history goes a long way...

And overrated? Most of McCartney's fluff. For No One, already mentioned, is another song that gets a lot of props but bores me to death. And Helter Skelter is a bit of a plodding, tuneless mess aside from that killer guitar riff after the title is sung.

I think the idea that the White Album is overrated is bullshit too. Most of its supporters will agree that it's uneven and disjointed. But it covers so much musical and lyrical territory that I can't see how it's anything less than a tour-de-force. What other band could serve up Helter Skelter, Rocky Raccoon, and Dear Prudence on the same platter? Yeah, it has Honey Pie and Savoy Truffle, but there's more gold on this album than any other, and it contains by far Lennon's best work--which is enough to put it in the pantheon. It blows any other double album in memory out of the water, and that includes The Wall, Tommy, whatever.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

dan_smee
I listened to No Line on the Horizon right through tonight for the first time in about 10 years…
2 3
Replies
83
Views
2K
lazarus
lazarus
Reggie Thee Dog
Are we NOT discussing the Dolby Atmos Mix of Achtung Baby?
Replies
13
Views
1K
count rushmore
count rushmore
Janet H
Forum Downtime - software update 1/23-24
Replies
13
Views
678
Headache in a Suitcase
Headache in a Suitcase
L
Play Do You Feel Loved, Babyface, Some Days Are Better Than Others, Playboy Petition
Replies
8
Views
738
rosephile
R
O
Better late than never “they” say…
Replies
1
Views
285
Headache in a Suitcase
Headache in a Suitcase

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom