The Beatles Song Catalog

It's the quintessential band's extraordinary song catalog.  It's incredible how much work they work able to put out in seven short years.  Not just the quantity either, the quality is unreal- obviously.  You could argue the top 50 as "great" songs.  THE TOP 50!  No other band in the history of ever can boast an achievement like that.  

If you've never read one of my posts like this before, the ranking is simply how much I enjoy the song.  There is no examination taking place about the song's structure/influence/difficulty/uniqueness etc.  It's simply, "what Victor likes."

In the past, I had a rule when ranking that was "album tracks only."  Rarities and things not on a proper album wouldn't be considered due to me wanting to calculate the average of each album based on its songs.  Non-album songs would screw up my formula, so I didn't include them.  However, Hey Jude is not on a Beatles album.  How can you have a Beatles "best of" list without Hey Jude?  It's not possible.  This list contains all songs recorded when the Beatles were together.  In other words, nothing from the Anthology collection that was released in 90's.   

When the final tallies for each album was calculated, (each song off the album was awarded points based on their rank, then I took the average) it was Magical Mystery Tour coming in at number one.   Following a bit of a gap came: Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road, and Please Please Me in a relatively small amount of space from each other.  

At one point over the years, I had considered MMT my favorite, but lately it had seemed that Abbey had overtaken it.  (Without doing all these calculations of course.)  Strictly mathematically-speaking MMT still is number one, but this is one instance where the math doesn't translate perfectly.  (Thus probably shooting this whole project in the foot before I even get started.  Oh well.)  And that's not a slight on MMT either.  I feel it's easily the most underrated/least appreciated album there is.  It's sandwiched during that magical (pun intended) last half of Beatlemania (especially being the follow up to Sgt. Pepper's) and gets lost in the shuffle.  

Please Please Me 126.07 (4TH PLACE)

With the Beatles 103.36 (9TH PLACE)

A Hard Day's Night 120.92 (5TH PLACE)

Beatles For Sale 93.79 (11TH PLACE)

Help! 117.86 (6TH PLACE)

Rubber Soul 106.36 (8TH PLACE)

Revolver 107.36 (7TH PLACE)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 128.54 (2ND PLACE)
Magical Mystery Tour 135.82 (1ST PLACE)

White Album 88.4 (12TH PLACE)

Yellow Submarine 59.33 (13TH PLACE)

Abbey Road 126.29 (3RD PLACE)

Let it Be 99.85 (10TH PLACE)

The Singles

When I look at the songs individually, I naturally start to tier them.  Anything from Michelle at 189 and lower, I consider the songs that I hate.  I never want to hear them-EVER!  Then moving upward from She's a Woman at 188 all the way to Girl at 136 are the ones I don't usually listen to, but if they occasionally pop up I won't immediately click "next."  The middle of the pack starts from Got to Get You Into My Life at 135 up to Ask Me Why at 107.  Honey Don't at 106 through I'm So Tired at 73 I consider "good."  Then 72's Carry That Weight through 42's Tomorrow Never Knows would be the "really good."  If I Needed Someone at 41 up until I Want to Hold Your Hand at 14 would be considered my great ones.  And finally from Taxman at 13 to Let it Be at number one, are my elite, grade A, masterpieces.  

Will these fluctuate over the years?  I'm sure they will.  If you keep reading, you'll find one song in particular that is on the cusp of a pretty massive jump should my infatuation with that song with it not subside.  

1.               Let It Be

2.               Here Comes the Sun 

3.               She Loves You 

4.               Yesterday 

5.               Hey Jude 

6.               Come Together

7.               Help!

8.               Glass Onion

9.               A Day in the Life

10.           Dear Prudence

11.           I Am the Walrus

12.           Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!

13.           Taxman 

14.           I Want to Hold Your Hand

15.           I’ve Just Seen a Face

16.           Penny Lane

17.           Something 

18.           The Ballad of John and Yoko

19.           Revolution 

20.           For You Blue

21.           Across the Universe

22.           Day Tripper

23.           Long, Long, Long 

24.           8 Days a Week 

25.           I Saw Her Standing There 

26.           The End 

27.           Baby It’s You

28.           While My Guitar Gently Weeps 

29.           And I Love Her 

30.           In My Life 

31.           Golden Slumbers 

32.           No Reply 

33.           Money (That’s What I Want) 

34.           Please Mr. Postman 

35.           And Your Bird Can Sing 

36.           It Won’t Be Long 

37.           I Should Have Known Better 

38.           Every Little Thing 

39.           Fixing a Hole 

40.           Things We Said Today 

41.           If I Needed Someone 

42.           Tomorrow Never Knows 

43.           Eleanor Rigby 

44.           Cry Baby Cry 

45.           Birthday 

46.           Back in the U.S.S.R.

47.           Hello Goodbye

48.           The Fool on the Hill 

49.           Sgt. Pepper's (reprise) 

50.           Magical Mystery Tour 

51.           You’re Going to Lose That Girl 

52.           If I Fell 

53.           A Hard Day’s Night 

54.           Run For Your Life

55.           Twist and Shout 

56.           Anna (Go to Him) 

57.           I Will 

58.           Baby You’re a Rich Man 

59.           Flying 

60.           Dizzy Miss Lizzy 

61.           Think for Yourself 

62.           What You’re Doing 

63.           Get Back 

64.           When I’m 64 

65.           Getting Better 

66.           Within You Without You 

67.           Julia 

68.           Can’t Buy Me Love 

69.           All My Loving 

70.           You Won’t See Me 

71.           Polythene Pam 

72.           Carry that Weight 

73.           I’m So Tired 

74.           Norwegian Wood (This Bird has Flown) 

75.           Drive My Car 

76.           Love Me Do 

77.           From Me To You 

78.           Please Please Me

79.           We Can Work it Out 

80.           Boys 

81.           Chains 

82.           All I’ve Got to Do 

83.           You Can’t Do That 

84.           Misery 

85.           Do You Want to Know a Secret 

86.           Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 

87.           You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away 

88.           I’ll Follow the Sun 

89.           Ticket to Ride 

90.           You Never Give Me Your Money 

91.           I Feel Fine

92.           Paperback Writer 

93.           Oh! Darling 

94.           Sexy Sadie 

95.           There’s a Place 

96.           Good Day Sunshine

97.           The Long and Winding Road 

98.           Here, There and Everywhere 

99.           Any Time at All 

100.                    Thank You Girl 

101.                    Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

102.                    Strawberry Fields Forever 

103.                    Because 

104.                    Don’t Let Me Down

105.                    Blackbird 

106.                    Honey Don’t 

107.                    Ask Me Why 

108.                    You Really Got a Hold on Me 

109.                    It’s Only Love 

110.                    I’m Only Sleeping 

111.                    Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da 

112.                    Revolution 1 

113.                    Maxwell’s Silver Hammer 

114.                    Cry For a Shadow 

115.                    Hey Bulldog 

116.                    She Came in Through the Bathroom Window

117.                    It’s All Too Much

118.                    Rain 

119.                    I’ll Get You

120.                    Mean Mr. Mustard 

121.                    Octopus’s Garden 

122.                    Your Mother Should Know 

123.                    With a Little Help From My Friends 

124.                    Doctor Robert 

125.                    I Me Mine 

126.                    I Want to Tell You

127.                    Two of Us 

128.                    Good Night 

129.                    Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey

130.                    Dig a Pony 

131.                    Hold Me Tight 

132.                    I’ll Be Back 

133.                    Not a Second Time

134.                    I Need You 

135.                    I Got to Get you into My Life

136.                    Girl 

137.                    Rock and Roll Music 

138.                    I’ll Cry Instead 

139.                    I’m Looking Through You

140.                    Good Morning Good Morning

141.                    Words of Love

142.                    Wait 

143.                    Slow Down 

144.                    Roll Over Beethoven 

145.                    I’m Happy Just to Dance With You 

146.                    I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party 

147.                    The Word 

148.                    Don’t Bother Me 

149.                    Devil in Her Heart 

150.                    Little Child 

151.                    The Night Before 

152.                    Tell Me What You See 

153.                    Nowhere Man 

154.                    She Said She Said

155.                    Kansas City 

156.                    You Like Me Too Much 

157.                    I’m a Loser 

158.                    'Till There Was You 

159.                    When I Get Home 

160.                    For No One 

161.                    Martha My Dear 

162.                    Mother Nature’s Son

163.                    Love You To

164.                    All Together Now 

165.                    Another Girl 

166.                    Act Naturally 

167.                    Only a Northern Song 

168.                    Her Majesty 

169.                    Sun King 

170.                    P.S. I Love You 

171.                    All You Need is Love 

172.                    Happiness is a Warm Gun 

173.                    I Want You (She’s So Heavy) 

174.                    I Wanna Be Your Man 

175.                    Tell Me Why 

176.                    Blue Jay Way 

177.                    Helter Skelter 

178.                    Lovely Rita 

179.                    She’s Leaving Home

180.                    I’m Down 

181.                    Bad Boy 

182.                    Ain’t She Sweet 

183.                    I Call Your Name

184.                    Old Brown Shoe

185.                    Lady Madonna

186.                    Yes It Is 

187.                    Honey Pie 

188.                    She’s a Woman 

189.                    Michelle 

190.                    Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby 

191.                    Piggies 

192.                    This Boy 

193.                    I’ve Got a Feeling

194.                    Yellow Submarine 

195.                    Savoy Truffle

196.                    What Goes On 

197.                    Baby’s in Black 

198.                    Dig It 

199.                    Maggie Mae 

200.                    The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill 

201.                    Rocky Raccoon 

202.                    The Inner Light 

203.                    Matchbox 

204.                    Long Tall Sally

205.                    Revolution 9 

206.                    One After 909 

207.                    Yer Blues 

208.                    Don’t Pass Me By

209.                    Wild Honey Pie

210.                    Mr. Moonlight

211.                    A Taste of Honey

212.                    You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) 

213.                    Why Don’t We Do it in the Road?