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Today’s list is the second installment in a series that will run every Friday for the next few weeks, in which I’ll highlight my favorite lesser-known Beatles tracks.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr wrote and recorded such consistently amazing songs that, even if you ignore all their #1 hits and everything on their famous Red and Blue best-of compilations (which I’ll be doing for these more obscure Beatles lists), there are still dozens and dozens of amazing songs, some of which you might’ve missed along the way—even if The Beatles are the biggest, most influential band in rock history.
As you get familiar with (or rediscover) these songs, I think some of them might even surpass your old, more-overplayed favorites.
“Bésame Mucho”
The Beatles recorded a cover of this minor-key Mexican standard—written in 1940 by the teenaged Consuelo Velázquez—in 1962, but it wasn’t officially released until the first Beatles Anthology came out in 1994. McCartney sings the lead on this one, and original Beatles drummer Pete Best is on the kit. The title translates as “Kiss Me a Lot.” (Below, the song begins at 0:33, after a short interview clip with Beatles manager Brian Epstein.)
“I’m a Loser”
Listening to this song, you can hear John Lennon growing up as a lyricist. By the time The Beatles were working on their fourth album, Beatles for Sale (released in late 1964), the influence of Bob Dylan had begun inspiring them to be more ambitious, thematically and with their word choice (and Dylan, concurrently, was influenced by The Beatles to be more musically ambitious, especially with his chord structures). Check out Lennon’s lyrics on this song, as they leave the simple sentimentality of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in the dust, dealing instead with more complicated emotions like self-doubt:
Although I laugh and I act like a clown
Beneath this mask I am wearing a frown
My Tears are falling like rain from the sky
Is it for her or myself that I cry?
I’m a loser
And I lost someone who’s near to me
I’m a loser
And I’m not what I appear to be
Perhaps this song is the quiet beginning of the entire self-loathing “hate myself and want to die” ethos of the ‘90s grunge/alternative movement. Kurt Cobain certainly was familiar enough with The Beatles’ work to have heard “I’m a Loser,” and who knows if there’s any correlation between this Lennon tune and Beck’s self-deprecating slacker anthem “Loser?”
“Run For Your Life”
John Lennon later admitted in song that he was a jealous guy, but on “Run For Your LIfe” he’s disturbingly possessive. This song from Rubber Soul is unlike almost any other Beatles song in its threatening—even sinister—tone, sounding like it’d be more at home on a Stones record than an album by the more lighthearted Fab Four. With its dark, dangerous (albeit tongue-in-cheek) neuroticism, it’s probably the most rock ‘n’ roll tune The Beatles ever recorded—well, aside from “Helter Skelter.”
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I don' t know why you think anyone other than yourself would have missed these songs.
In what way is someone who never knew Hey Bulldog until last week qualified to write this drivel?
You clearly don't know The Beatles' oeuvre at all.
I have no idea what your background with Beatles music is, but I'm enjoying the series. When you name songs that I'm very familiar with, I just take it as confirmation that I am a big Beatles fan. (The funny part is that I've known almost all of these songs very well, and I really didn't get into them till last year. When I jump in, it's with both feet...)
I'm enjoying the series-- for me, it's fun to revisit songs that I know and love, and some that I haven't heard in years. (Besame Mucho, for one!)
Ya'll, I think his objective with this list is entirely different than the objective you're giving him.
I don't think he is seeking to make some definitive list of obscure, forgotten Beatles tracks. I think he's simply targeting, perhaps, surface Beatles fans—those who have their "1" album and consider it the be-all end-all best of The Beatles.
Us Beatles fans who have dug deeper than 1 and have actually checked out the rest of their catalog undoubtedly know about, say, I Will, because it's off the White Album (yes, I know it's actually self-titled, before you get your panties in a bunch) and no real Beatles fan would go without listening to the White Album.
Before this list, I had already heard all of these songs. Strangely enough, these are some of my favorite Beatles songs of all time. Your not going to get these by listening to 1, and I think that's the simple point of this list.
You have to realize that to us diehard Beatles fans, these aren't going to be obscure and we're not going to find anything new. Pretend your a scratch-the-surface/listen-to-1-on-rotation Beatles fan. Then you'll get it.
Hmm, I don't know why I your'd when I should have "you're'd in my previous comment, forgive me.
Anyway, adding to that, throw out a few songs that any person on the street will come up with when asked to name a Beatles tune. Any average person.
She Loves You. I Want to Hold Your Hand. Hey Jude. Let It Be. Hell, there's a MOVIE named after A Hard Day's Night and I doubt the song itself would come up. Believe me, you're not going to hear "Baby's in Black" or anything on this list. Forget what you know and imagine the average music listener unfamiliar with the Beatles persuasion.
"Martha My Dear", anyone?
I actually must disagree with you strongly on two of these choices: "Besame Mucho" and "Run For Your Life" are (in my opinion) two of The Beatles worst songs.
Your other three choices are strong. "I Will" is beautiful and an essential Beatles track in my opinion. "I'm a Loser" is a great track on the underrated Beatles For Sale album. "Hey Bulldog" is one of the great reasons to get the 1999 Yellow Submarine "Songtrack." (which is far superior to the original soundtrack.)