They're called the Beatles; fun/goofy is baked in.
― dinnerboat, Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:16 (five years ago) link
Who could forget their dour, glum, downbeat performances on Ed Sullivan, which bummed out a nation.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:21 (five years ago) link
the early beatles stuff is great! they wrote great songs and were a great band
birthday and WDWDITTR are just shitty, dumb songs that no one would ever care about in a million years if they weren't by the beatles
― The Poppy Bush AutoZone (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:23 (five years ago) link
"birthday" is such a good riff, i'll never get the hate
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:24 (five years ago) link
"Why don't we do it in the road" is cool, it's like the Sgt Peppers title track morphed into minimal blues
― brimstead, Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:25 (five years ago) link
Yeah, the arrangement makes it. If they'd done a full-band arrangement for that, it wouldn't work at all.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:25 (five years ago) link
it's not great, it's not awful, it's not long
― brimstead, Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:26 (five years ago) link
I don't hate any songs on this album, but I usually skip Obla Di these days.
"I see what you mean but when you consider the songs, one by one, there are not that many that have a dark aspect. And they're mainly John's (and also George's)."
I think even Paul's songs have that tinge to them. It's just in the way the whole thing was recorded. LIke, Mother Nature's Son could be a happy song, but it doesn't sound happy. It sounds creepy. It makes me want to start a race war and kill a pregnant actress.
― akm, Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:27 (five years ago) link
I’m listening to this album and right now and fuck me I absolutely love every single goddamn song on here. Even the ones everyone hates like “Bungalow Bill” and “Honey Pie”.
― Mr. Snrub, Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:44 (five years ago) link
I can't imagine skipping any songs. "Honey Pie" is a necessary stepping stone to "Revolution 9" -- one doesn't work nearly as well on the album without the other.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:51 (five years ago) link
people hate BUngalow Bill? I love that song!
― akm, Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:55 (five years ago) link
nobody agrees about this album. there are no songs that everyone hates, just as there are no songs everyone loves.
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:56 (five years ago) link
everyone loves Dear Prudence.
― akm, Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:58 (five years ago) link
don't they?
I think so?
― The Poppy Bush AutoZone (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 15 November 2018 20:59 (five years ago) link
Surely Rocky Raccoon is the most insufferable track here
― Rhine Jive Click Bait (Hadrian VIII), Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:02 (five years ago) link
Macca's cod-cowboy and stupid do-do-dos
― Rhine Jive Click Bait (Hadrian VIII), Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:03 (five years ago) link
i think tarfumes is right in using the phrase "necessary stepping stone" — that's what all of these songs feel like to me, links in a weird chain. my favorite beatles songs aren't on the white album, but the white album is my favorite beatles album.
also, "honey pie" is the most insufferable track here.
― tylerw, Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:05 (five years ago) link
obladi is much worse than rocky racoon which at least has a cool opening chord strum
― akm, Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:06 (five years ago) link
i like honey pie but I do not like his scooby-dooby improvised lyrics "i like this kind of hot kind of moooozik...." ugh
honey pie is pretty aggravating
― The Poppy Bush AutoZone (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:14 (five years ago) link
I hope so but..
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:17 (five years ago) link
the one time I saw Phish they did a really nice spacey version of dear prudencethough it was a double edged sword because it was so much better than all of phish's songs
― The Poppy Bush AutoZone (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:20 (five years ago) link
For all of John's bitter rants about Paul's "granny music," he (apparently willingly) puts down a nice solo on "Honey Pie."
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:21 (five years ago) link
that's the best part of the song aside from the intro
― akm, Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:24 (five years ago) link
I was looking for Dana Carvey's McCartney impression (which is what I now generally associate "Honey Pie" with), and found this, where it's juxtaposed with McCartney talking about...Albert Ayler:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz6oJjmAM3g
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:25 (five years ago) link
'Honey Pie' is by far my least favourite song on here, hearing that followed by 'Savoy Truffle' is just... ugh. 'WDWDIITR' is one that's grown on me over the years, it's not great as a standalone song but works fine in sequence. I've always quite liked 'Birthday' - love the piano bit with the phasing going into the guitar break, great vocal too. I guess my only quibble would be that '...Me and My Monkey' does a similar thing better.
― Gavin, Leeds, Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:30 (five years ago) link
This Dana Carvey bit is good too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2KQm6IaXXw
― dinnerboat, Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:50 (five years ago) link
Think "Honey Pie" is brilliant. Had it in my top 20 here.
― timellison, Thursday, 15 November 2018 22:22 (five years ago) link
"Birthday" is one of only two decent birthday songs that isn't "Happy Birthday To You!"
― Plinka Trinka Banga Tink (Eliza D.), Thursday, 15 November 2018 22:44 (five years ago) link
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, November 15, 2018 3:21 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
And seriously. Imagine Paul walking into Studio 3, announcing, "I've got a song about a bloke who goes on a safari. Linda's even volunteered to sing one of the lines!"
― pplains, Friday, 16 November 2018 02:50 (five years ago) link
And I'm convinced that, long about the 1,000th cover of "Yesterday," Paul said to himself "How can I become even more ubiquitous?" and he went gunning for Patty & Mildred Hill.
― Hideous Lump, Friday, 16 November 2018 04:10 (five years ago) link
WDWDITTR is worse than Birthday for me, mainly because for all the clear evidence that being in the Beatles was one long shagathon/weird circle jerk, something stops me thinking of Paul as a sexual being. Which is why I prefer the reading that it's about not being allowed to cross the street unsupervised.
I do like the liquid sound of George's guitar on it though, so nothing is all bad.
Yes, we can all play the 'these are the bad songs to leave off' game because it's quite a fun game. And it's fun that the Beatles album with a largest number of 'get this trash off here' tracks (for me it's WDWDITTR, Birthday, Rocky Raccoon and Piggies) is also probably now my favourite Beatles album. I guess I'm not in a polished perfection mood these days.
― Alba, Friday, 16 November 2018 05:43 (five years ago) link
ahah ! "Birthday" is filler, I find the riff super cheap but there's some fun and energy in the group performance so it's ok."WDWDIITR" is just nothing. A jam that shouldn't have made the cut and appeared on bootlegs then on the Anthology or something.I hate the melody and the performance is so weak/lazy... anyway, yeah, the fun thing about this album is that nobody agrees about the worst songs (and indeed, "Dear Prudence" might be the only one everybody loves).
my favorite beatles songs aren't on the white album, but the white album is my favorite beatles album.
Yeah, I kinda agree although I'm not sure it's my favourite album.
― AlXTC from Paris, Friday, 16 November 2018 08:33 (five years ago) link
As for the creepy aspect of the album, without going back to THAT debate it might have to do more with the sound/production than with the songs themselves.And actually I have always thought this album sounded bad compared to their previous and following stuff : I mean, compared to Revolver/Pepper/Abbey Road, the bass often sounds awful. The drums too. What happened in the studio for that one ??
― AlXTC from Paris, Friday, 16 November 2018 08:36 (five years ago) link
nik cohn's 1968 review in the other thread is too generous
― single bed mentality (||||||||), Friday, 16 November 2018 09:05 (five years ago) link
and he went gunning for Patty & Mildred Hill.
those miserable spinsters
― Bing The Mighty Seat (sic), Friday, 16 November 2018 09:18 (five years ago) link
Surely Rocky Raccoon is the most insufferable track here― Rhine Jive Click Bait (Hadrian VIII), Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:02 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Rhine Jive Click Bait (Hadrian VIII), Thursday, 15 November 2018 21:02 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Actually, I just got why I don't much like this one.
It's because nothing much happens. Rocky goes to shoot his rival, but get shot first. He gets patched up by the doctor, and that's it. A bit of reflection, a look at a bible, the end.
Story songs need a story, y'all.
― Mark G, Friday, 16 November 2018 11:11 (five years ago) link
THERE'S MORE PLOT IN "PODGY THE BEAR (AND JASPER)" !!
― Mark G, Friday, 16 November 2018 11:13 (five years ago) link
Well, I don't think anyone should expect anything really interesting from Macca songs'lyrics...Sometimes it's good (or even great) but most of the times it's obviously not the point (even for him !).I like "Rocky Raccoon" it's a fun little song. The saloon piano is cool. And it's easy to play on the guitar !
― AlXTC from Paris, Friday, 16 November 2018 11:19 (five years ago) link
Well, who was it who said "they can't all be Eleanor Rigby" ? Oh wait...
― Mark G, Friday, 16 November 2018 11:22 (five years ago) link
Would definitely be prepared to give Rocky Raccoon another chance if an outtake turned up in which no one turns up to Rocky's funeral and Father McKenzie buries him along with his name.
― Alba, Friday, 16 November 2018 11:32 (five years ago) link
― The Poppy Bush AutoZone (upper mississippi sh@kedown)
sure but most songs are much better than all of phish's songs, seriously there's nothing on the white album even half as bad as "tweezer", and like most people here there are songs on the white album i absolutely despise
(i hate "birthday" due to its association with wacky morning radio djs, and i hate "piggies" but not due to its association with charles manson, because i like "helter skelter" just fine)
maybe the best version of "dear prudence" is the five stairsteps version, which is just as good as the b-side of that single. and the b-side was "ooh child".
― dub pilates (rushomancy), Friday, 16 November 2018 11:46 (five years ago) link
its role as an aesthetic keystone for nearly all the rock-and-roll recordings that have followed
this is Abbey Road, not the White Album
― flappy bird, Friday, 16 November 2018 18:55 (five years ago) link
from this: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-accidental-perfection-of-the-beatles-white-album?fbclid=IwAR2bhkfT7rMSV4CEVkCSq3NW4LRLQ3ySyLx8f5DTOL4-KcmWe94xHkrGEB8
― flappy bird, Friday, 16 November 2018 18:56 (five years ago) link
For sure; Abbey Road is arguably the first ’70s rock record.
I like Paul’s singing and tunecraft enough to enjoy even his trifles on this album. The ones I reliably skip are Bungalow Bill and the plodding & precious While My Guitar etc.
― dinnerboat, Friday, 16 November 2018 21:14 (five years ago) link
Birthday... it sounds like the Beatles are all headbanging.
― brimstead, Friday, 16 November 2018 23:15 (five years ago) link
I haven't heard the new remix of The Beatles yet, but I'm curious about it if only to see how it stacks up against the original stereo (and the original mono, although this is the first Beatles album where the stereo is considered to be the primary mix) ... It's never been my favourite Beatles album but it's interesting to see press about the remix debunking long running myths that this was a "tense"/"scary" album.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Saturday, 17 November 2018 11:48 (five years ago) link
It's because nothing much happens. Rocky goes to shoot his rival, but get shot first. He gets patched up by the doctor, and that's it. A bit of reflection, a look at a bible, the end.Story songs need a story, y'all.― Mark G, Friday, November 16, 2018 6:11 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Mark G, Friday, November 16, 2018 6:11 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Surely this is the joke, though? Not only is Rocky not heroic enough to win back his woman, he's not even tragic enough to die in the effort.
― Locked in silent monologue, in silent scream (Sund4r), Saturday, 17 November 2018 13:56 (five years ago) link
Rocky Raccoon is a major shithead
― The Poppy Bush AutoZone (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 17 November 2018 13:57 (five years ago) link