The Beatles: Worst Songs
I feel bad for this post, but in order to answer a burning question, here are the songs I ranked with one star as the worst Beatles songs. Listening to these in heavy doses will give you the wrong idea about the Fab Four.
Mr. Moonlight
I reserve a fair amount of annoyance for this song. There’s so much wrong with it, from the night club vibe to the cheesy organ, or the caveman-like drum before the title lyrics. I think the Beatles had outgrown the lounge act by the time of this recording.
iTunes Store Link: Mr. Moonlight — Beatles For Sale
Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!
Another half-baked cover.
iTunes Store Link: Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! — Beatles For Sale
You Like Me Too Much
This is probably the first Beatles song I might say I hate. It’s cornball, and the middle always drove me up the wall with its strange resolution back to the verse. Plus, there’s that wimpy pseudo-ragtime piano trading licks with the guitar. George hadn’t hit his stride — although it appears on Help!, it’s A Hard Day’s Night material.
iTunes Store Link: You Like Me Too Much — Help!
Dizzy Miss Lizzy
While it’s a rocking tune, with its placement right after Yesterday it fails miserably.
iTunes Store Link: Dizzy Miss Lizzy — Help!
Dig It
This shouldn’t even be counted as a song, but it shows up as a separate track on Let It Be.
iTunes Store Link: Dig It — Let It Be
Maggie Mae
As a kid watching Beatles cartoons, this sort of John goofing around thing was appealing, but feels like a mockery of the whole enterprise.
iTunes Store Link: Maggie Mae — Let It Be
The Fool On The Hill
Some people love this Paul number, but I don’t, not since I turned 21. The melody is daffy, the recorder solo completely stupid, and I don’t enjoy hearing a stoned grown man discussing a fool, whom I have no sympathy for, getting dizzy watching the world go round.
iTunes Store Link: The Fool On the Hill — Magical Mystery Tour
Flying
This song makes me cry. “Flying”? “High”? Get it? Easily one of the worst Beatles song ever.
iTunes Store Link: Flying — Magical Mystery Tour
Blue Jay Way
You’d have to be stoned to listen to “please don’t be long” as many times as the Beatles repeat, here. Why didn’t George Martin put a stop to this? There’s a neat cello part, but that’s all. And only someone really out of it would think a song about someone hashed out, bored to death, waiting for his friends to show up, would make a good subject for a song.
iTunes Store Link: Blue Jay Way — Magical Mystery Tour
Run For Your Life
Am no fan of John the stalker here, threatening to hunt his lover down. Also has that country twang I dislike more and more. In comparison to everything else on Rubber Soul, it sounds like an afterthought.
iTunes Store Link: Run For Your Life — Rubber Soul
Wild Honey Pie
This isn’t a song, nor an idea for a song, or even funny — it’s garbage. Paul could write this kind of thing in the bathroom — and it sounds like it was recorded there, too.
iTunes Store Link: Wild Honey Pie — The Beatles (White Album)
Rocky Raccoon
You know how I keep saying I don’t like it when the Beatles attempt country. This is the worst offender. I hate Paul’s Western accent, ugh. Couldn’t this song have been combined with Bungalow Bill and ended with a shoot-out, killing everyone involved?
iTunes Store Link: The Beatles (White Album) — The Beatles
Don’t Pass Me By
Another Ringo tune. This one, he wrote himself, which shouldn’t surprise anyone.
iTunes Store Link: Don’t Pass Me By — The Beatles (White Album)
Nice to hear something other than fawning. A good follow-up would be worst recordings which are different from worst songs. For this I nominate “Strawberry Fields Forever.” This is a badly realized, lazy man’s master take.
Hmmm, not sure I agree with you there, I do think the haphazard sound of Strawberry Fields is part of its charms — but I will grant you that its “bad realization” might be the reason why there are different versions on the Beatles Anthology as well as the Beatles Love. It’s taken many years to get it more or less “right”. I think George Martin at one point said he thought John Lennon playing the song alone on the guitar was better than the finished product…
But yeah, worst recordings — the George Harrison songs from Yellow Submarine come to mind. So does The Long And Winding Road with the Phil Spector strings.
Thanks for reading!
She’s Leaving Home– Dreary, bad psychedellica
Hey Jude– Too Much McCartney saccharine, and the sing a long chorus
has not aged well.
I do agree that She’s Leaving Home isn’t a favorite anymore. Hey Jude I still like. I prefer it to Let It Be. Thanks for commenting, though. It’s good to get different opinions.
she’s leaving home-beautiful song
hey jude-one of the best songs in history
worst song-really no such thing but if i had to pick one it would be it’s all too much
Hi J Carmona — yes the George contributions on Yellow Submarine (of which It’s All Too Much is one) aren’t so hot. They definitely have an excess of production.
It seems that a lot of the songs deemed not so good by a lot of people are my favourite tracks.
She’s Leaving Home; Ob La Di, Ob La Da; Good Day Sunshine; The Fool On The Hill; Rocky Racoon.
I love all of these. My Dad played Rubber Soul to me as a kid, and Revolver and The Beatles (White Album) I discovered as a teenager, they’re all very special to me.
Thank God for Kimberley
All the so called critism are about songs that belonged to an era. There was no right or wrong, just songs that appeal, or don’t appeal depending on your level of tollerance,
I’ve moved on to country rock but love reminscing listening to the good ol‘ ones. They belong to a special era.
Why hasn’t anyone mentioned “All Together Now” which is clearly one of the stupidest songs the Beatles ever, for some reason put their names on?
Mr. Moonlight gets a bad rap, I’ve never thought it was that horrible. What about “Chains” or “Baby It’s You” or “Revolution 9?” “You Won’t See Me”, I always thought that wasn’t so hot. “Hey Jude” hasn’t aged well? Sorry, it’s still great.
YOU’RE ALL IDIOTS! Hey Jude is still a fantastic Macca tune with it’s great piano part and sentimental but not cheesy lyrics. Let it Be is quite amazing with it’s blistering guitar solo and beautiful organ-piano part but has pretty hokey lyrics. But crap like Wild Honey Pie, Fool on the HIll, Ob La Di and basically the 2nd half of the Help album rank up there as the worst of the Beatles (except the fantastic last 3 songs on Help).
i disagree soooo much with “you like me to much” being a bad beatle song. each to their own opinion but up till this song all similar songs were about falling in love and being in love. i understand that, until “Rain” lennon and mcartney did not write a song without the word love in it. to me this song is about George’s honesty and and a contrary view on early relationships. (sorry don’t want to sound poncy)
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I don’t like nowhere man or rocky racoon