The Beatles 10 Best Rock Songs

They arrived during the Cold War and in the U.S., shortly after President Kennedy’s assassination. They were irreverent and fun. Just what the U.S. and the world, needed to pull itself out of the doldrums. It didn’t hurt that they were exceptionally talented.

But what often got lost was their discipline and hard work ethic. John Lennon and Paul McCartney spent years honing their songwriting skills and the two complimented each other, largely canceling the other’s worst tendencies (a practice woefully missing in their solo careers); John’s crippling sarcasm and Paul’s over-sentimentality. Add George Harrison’s guitar work and his emerging skills as a songwriter and Ringo Starr’s exceptional drummer and winning personality – he basically carried the band’s first two films.

The Top 10 songs are listed along with the album they originally appeared on in the U.S. and the year of release.

10. I Want To Hold Your Hand – Meet The Beatles 1964

It was the group’s first American #1 and launched Beatlemania, and by extension the British Invasion. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” became the Beatles’ best-selling single worldwide moving more than 12-million copies

9.  Come Together – Abbey Road 1969

Primarily a John Lennon composition, though he nicked a riff and some lyrics, from Chuck Berry. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100.

“The original song is good, and with John’s voice it’s better,” noted Beatles’ producer George Martin. “Then Paul has this idea for this great little riff. And Ringo hears that and does a drum thing that fits in, and that establishes a pattern that John leapt upon. And then there’s George’s guitar at the end. The four of them became much, much better than the individual components.

8. Can’t Buy Me Love – Hard Day’s Night Soundtrack 1964

“I think you can put any interpretation you want on anything, but when someone suggests that ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ is about a prostitute, I draw the line,” said the song’s composer, Paul McCartney. “The idea behind it was that all these material possessions are all very well, but they won’t buy me what I really want.”

7. Back In The U.S.S.R. – The Beatles (aka “The White Album”) 1968

The song was recorded as a three-piece after Ringo Starr temporarily left the group, in protest at McCartney’s criticism of his drumming and the tensions that typified the sessions for the “White Album.”

It was a parody of Chuck Berry’s “Back In The U.S.A. and the Beach Boys “California Girls.”

6. Ticket To Ride – Help! Soundtrack 1965

“Ticket to Ride” was primarily written by John Lennon who stated it was “three-quarters mine and Paul (McCartney) changed it a bit.” The track topped Billboard’s Hot 100 and was featured in the band’s second film.

5. She Loves You – The Beatles Second Album 1964

John Lennon and Paul McCartney started composing “She Loves You” in June of 1963 after a concert in Newcastle upon Tyne. “I’d planned an ‘answering song’ where a couple of us would sing ‘she loves you’ and the other ones would answer ‘yeah yeah’,” noted McCartney. “We decided that was a crummy idea but at least we then had the idea of a song called ‘She Loves You’. So we sat in the hotel bedroom for a few hours and wrote it – John and I, sitting on twin beds with guitars.”

4. Help! – Help! Soundtrack 1965

According to Lennon’s cousin Stanley Parkes, “Help!” was written after Lennon “came in from the studio one night. ‘God,’ he said, ‘they’ve changed the title of the film: it’s going to be called ‘Help!’ now. So I’ve had to write a new song with the title called ‘Help!’.”

“The whole Beatles thing was just beyond comprehension,” Lennon said later. “I was subconsciously crying out for help.”

The attached video shows The Beatles in a ridiculous set-up lip-syncing the song while on a bucking-board. It shows just how clueless TV producers/directors were in the ’60s at presenting Rock n’ Roll. Note how George and especially Ringo, who has nothing to, shift to get for face-time behind John and Paul.

3. Got To Get You Into My Life – Revolver 1966

 “‘Got to Get You into My Life’ was one I wrote when I had first been introduced to pot … So (it’s) really a song about that, it’s not to a person,” offered McCartney.  “It’s actually an ode to pot, like someone else might write an ode to chocolate or a good claret.”

2. A Hard Day’s Night – A Hard Day’s Night Soundtrack 1964

“The title was Ringo’s,” McCartney remembered. “We’d almost finished making the film, and this fun bit arrived that we’d not known about before, which was naming the film. So we were sitting around at Twickenham studios having a little brain-storming session … and we said, ‘Well, there was something Ringo said the other day.’ Ringo would do these little malapropisms … they were sort of magic even though he was just getting it wrong. And he said after a concert, ‘Phew, it’s been a hard day’s night.’

1. Revolution – Non-Album Single 1968

Inspired by political protests in early 1968, three versions of the song were recorded and released that year. One was a sound collage, another was a slow, largely acoustic take – both appeared on the “White Album.” A faster, Hard Rock version was released as the B-side of “Hey Jude.”

Paul McCartney provided the opening scream.

Revolution

The Beatles:

John Lennon – Rhythm Guitar/Vocals

Paul McCartney – Bass/Piano/Vocals

Ringo Starr – Drums/Vocals

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