Worst Beatles song on the White Album

(the 27-minute version, that is)

we should have "Rolling Beatles Fantasy Songs" and have

"John singing Oh Darling"
"27 minute version of Helter Skelter"

"Carnival of Light"
"Ich Bin Der Walrus"
everything off "Let It Be", but done properly

I don't understand the huge ILM love for "Dear Prudence" either. Sure, it's OK, probably among the better John tracks here, but still a bit to spare to really be among my fave tracks on the album. I actually prefer Siouxie & The Banshees' cover version to the original, because it's fuller and more "produced".

pffft

During the 18 July 1968 sessions, a version of the song lasting 27 minutes and 11 seconds was recorded, although this version is rather slow and hypnotic, differing greatly from the volume and rawness of the album version.[10] Another recording from the same day was edited down to 4:37 for Anthology 3, which was originally twelve minutes long. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helter_Skelter_%28song%29

i want the 27 minute version!

Jeez Geir, you couldn't leave it alone could you?

I have to confess that I don't own this and am basing this on the a tape a mate made for me 15 years ago. For some reason (presumably because he thought they were shit) he left off Piggies, Don't Pass Me By, and Good Night. So I can't say if one of those is the worst song on the album: I know everything else and it's patchy enough to make me not bothered to seek out the tracks that he didn't even consider worth taping for me.

It's not that anything is really shit, but you could easily turn the White Album into a two separate albums, one of which would be great (definitely including Dear Prudence and Helter Skelter), and the other would be pretty boring. Revolution 9 is unlistenable really, but is kind of supposed to be like that, so doesn't count as the worst for me. The ones that bug me the most are I'm So Tired and Sexy Sadie - there's just nothing going on there.

"Sexy Sadie" is definitely among the better John ones here. A lot of great interesting chord changes on that one. Great vocal harmonies too.

Bores me to death.

It's karma police.

listening to the mono remasters really draws attention to how close some of this material still is to the "Magical Mystery Tour" sound. "cry baby cry" in particular could've been on the previous album if the drums had a bit more of that heavy compression on 'em. also the same with "dear prudence". it could easily be on "MMT". i've known that song for so long that it took the remasters to make me really pay attention to what's going on. that song is arranged perfectly. it fades in from nothing, slowly adding more and more parts (backing vox are amazing, it's always seemed to me they were singing with purposeful spookiness), until it climaxes at the end with everything sounding triumphantly, hits that final THUMP before the "won't you come out to play?", and everything drops off and fades away to the guitar which soon fades out into silence. mccartney often gets a lot of flack for his drumming, but i think it's undeserved and on this song his playing is wonderfully inventive (and syncs perfectly with one of his very best basslines), especially when he starts going crazy to trigger the final buildup.

"sexy sadie" is one of the very best beatles songs.

"Honey Pie" is the one I dread. The only one, really.
But on the subject of Beatles fantasy songs, it'll be funny when 'Carnival of Light' is released and it suuuuuucks.

The Beatles always remind me that I live in an alternate musical universe—I don't see how anyone could really enjoy Piggies after age 12, and both My Guitar Gently Weeps and Blackbird sound like schmaltzy crap to me.

Don't get me wrong, I like quite a bit off this album, but out of 30 songs, I'd only keep 17 of 'em. And in trying to choose the worst song, I just can't choose between music hall crap and the songs my high school principal used to ruin on school picnics. The idea of lauding the whole album just seems so fundamentally alien to me that I can't understand the mindset of people who do, except that they've listened to it from childhood on, whereas I really did come to it as an adult.

could be true -- this was really the first Beatles album I got heavily into as a kid, so that might be why it's my fave to this day.

'Blackbird' is terrific and fits no definition of schmaltz that I know. I saw a clip of Paul playing it at the time of the album and it was lovely, but what really sticks in my mind is that he looked like he was wearing ten-pin bowling shoes.

I wonder how much of that explains my Beatle preferences—I think all of their albums are pretty good through Rubber Soul, then they've got moments of undeniable brilliance but also a lot of stuff that just bores the hell out of me, then I really like Let It Be. I can understand a lot of what they're doing, but so much of it is more interesting, for me, from a production sense than it is as songs. And again, because I always get the response that I'm just one of those people who hates the Beatles because I'm a contrarian or some shit, I like a lot of specific songs (Here Comes The Sun is brilliant), but I can't imagine ever listening to most of the mid-period stuff as albums ever. It's like, in '68, the Rolling Stones finally overtook the Beatles, not necessarily in terms of innovation (I think the Beatles were trying a lot harder on that front), but in terms of being consistently great. And I wonder how much that perception is based on not having grown up with these songs, and not having any particular sentimental attachment to them (not to make my subjective opinion sound more objective than it is).

"'Blackbird' is terrific and fits no definition of schmaltz that I know."

schmaltz | sh mälts; sh môlts| (also schmalz)
noun informal
excessive sentimentality, esp. in music or movies.

"Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise"

Long Long Long is the best Beatles song

Ob la Di Ob La Da

This album is so varied and largely self-indulgent that I don't really begrudge votes for any of the songs. Except Long Long Long and Dear Prudence.

My standard answer was Honey Pie but I think I listened to it recently and found it just kind of mediocre as opposed to awful. So I don't know.

The line "Take these broken wings and learn to fly", is just devastating.

"Long Long Long" though - that is the ultimate hidden gem in the entire Beatles career.

The line "Take these broken wings and learn to fly", is just devastating.

Remember that Mr. Mister tune wasn't written until 17 years later though. ;)

Thanks thread for inspiring my new display name.

"Honey Pie" is the one I dread. The only one, really.

Yes.

"I'm in love but I'm lazy..." you gotta be kidding me .. one of the few beatles songs it hurts me to listen to

"Honey Pie". The only song I would have cut from this album.

Mother Nature's Son

^^^^^^^^^^crazy

I love every single one of the Paul songs that's gotten dissed here (and on every other White Album thread ever). No matter how lazy John got, Paul was still spinning out great hooks and catchy twists and so on. You just wish they'd been working as closely as they were early on, or that Paul had been humbler to listen or something - certainly there's some lyrics that might have needed another go-over.

Which isn't to say that John's lazy across the board here; he has probably the three best tracks, but he's definitely not burning the midnight oil on this thing the way Paul was, IMO. And then you have "Revolution 1," which beats out "Piggies" for worst by being not only draggy and pointless, but also redundant. The single version was awesome or at least distinctive - there's no reason at all to have this song here. It's not like this album needed filler for god's sake.

Shit! I forgot all about "Revolution 1." I change my vote.

never mind earlier, mother fuckin nature's son you disgust me snrub

I think there need to be more ladies on this thread so Honey Pie can get a little more love! Voted for EGSTHEFMAMM.

Woah it took 67 (!) takes to get "Long Long Long". I wonder what take one sounds like jeeez....

Doctor Casino pretty much OTM about this album in general.

I really like a lot of the usual suspects that ppl diss on when it comes to this record (DPMB, Rocky, Piggies, Yer Blues). So I'm voting for "Why Don't We Do it in the Road." One Lennon blues mantra is enough for the album & I'll take YB over WDWDIITR.

revolutiuon 1 is awesome.

o wait. Why don't we do it in the road is Macca. Well, whatever..

I have never been able to get behind "Happiness Is A Warm Gun"

This is tough... face off between Honey Pie and Ob-la-di. Unlike n/a the latter has no redeeming factors. I just cannot hear the song anymore.

(Voting for 'Dear Prudence' will automatically get you a life long site ban right? Because it should)

― young depardieu looming out of void in hour of profound triumph (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 25 September 2009 13:58 (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I don't agree with SB but that is kind of OTM (ditto Happiness Is A Warm Gun)

― should probably be practising shorthand (country matters), Friday, 25 September 2009 13:58 (2 days ago) Bookmark

crutis you just broke my heart

and i just broke my promise, consider yourself either immune or loved yet

ob la di, or don't pass me by, which is the only one i don't remember

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

"Long Long Long" has always kinda bored the piss out of me, but "Revo 1" is pretty pointless compared to the single, so it gets the axe. And "Ob La Di" is great, 'specially on headphones (the percussions!), so fuck all y'all.

And for those of you predicting a "Revolution 9" win, get thee to this thread: when i get to the bottom i go back to the top of the WHITE ALBUM POLL

(Wow, PERFECT thread title, in that context!)

I love Rocky Raccoon. The intro almost ruins the song but it's lovable when the real song starts. It's one of the few Beatles songs I love singing along to in public. I used to sing it on the streets with my guitar when I ran out of bus money in highschool.

"Rocky"'s one of the few I learned to play passably, too.

xpost - PERFECT title on that link, considering my context

The more I think about Revolution 1 the more smug, clueless and obnoxious it becomes - idiotic lyrics without the saving grace of the single's rebel energy. Yet Piggies is more obnoxious still.

As the years progress, I'm far more aggravated by smugness and petulance than by Paul's sappiness and gimmicks.