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Beatles forums => Songs => Topic started by: Ovi on June 01, 2012, 01:33:15 PM

Title: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: Ovi on June 01, 2012, 01:33:15 PM
Ian Macdonald said the following about 'I Am The Walrus' is his book :

"Though its author continued to write exceptional songs for the group, he never rose to this stunning level again."

...and that made me wonder. We all know John kind of lost interest in the group in its last years, but what was the time he really made an effort to come up with something exceptional? A song that can be mentioned among the best the band ever made. What do you think?
Title: Re: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: Klang on June 01, 2012, 06:27:45 PM

'Dear Prudence' springs to mind for me. It's beautiful.

'I'm So Tired' is a goodie too.

'Across The Universe'

Which of those was last?

Others from that point on had great seeds of ideas, but not quite the polish of previous work.

Relax. Just my opinion.

 :P

Title: Re: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: tkitna on June 01, 2012, 08:56:14 PM
Yeah, 'Dear Prudence' would be my choice.
Title: Re: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: Hombre_de_ningun_lugar on June 02, 2012, 02:05:24 AM
I think about "Come Together" and "Because", but his last song that is really among my very favourites is "Dear Prudence".
Title: Re: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: KelMar on June 02, 2012, 02:57:29 AM
I think about "Come Together" and "Because", but his last song that is really among my very favourites is "Dear Prudence".

Not to sound like I'm just going along with the crowd but "Dear Prudence" would be my choice too. I love the way it starts out with a rather simple melody and then keeps adding layers until, by the end, it's like a feast for the ears. Is that overstating it?   :)
Title: Re: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: Ovi on June 02, 2012, 08:52:33 AM
'Dear Prudence' was a good one. Not one of my personal favourites, but I admit it's a worthy track.

But I'll go with 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' since it was recorded a few months later. It is one of my favourite Beatles songs.
Title: Re: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: Toejam on June 02, 2012, 10:50:09 AM
Ian Macdonald said the following about 'I Am The Walrus' is his book :

"Though its author continued to write exceptional songs for the group, he never rose to this stunning level again."

...and that made me wonder. We all know John kind of lost interest in the group in its last years, but what was the time he really made an effort to come up with something exceptional? A song that can be mentioned among the best the band ever made. What do you think?

My problem with that is it seems to presume John rose to the level of IATW on a regular basis before he wrote/recorded IATW. In fact I'd say he'd only written a handful of songs as good as IATW before that.
Title: Re: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: Ovi on June 02, 2012, 10:55:09 AM
My problem with that is it seems to presume John rose to the level of IATW on a regular basis before he wrote/recorded IATW. In fact I'd say he'd only written a handful of songs as good as IATW before that.

Well, he was arguably at his peak before that. They all were, I think. 'Norwegian Wood', 'Nowhere Man', 'In My Life', 'Rain', 'Tomorrow Never Knows', 'She Said She Said', 'A Day In The Life', 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds', 'Strawberry Fields Forever' etc. You may not like some of those songs, but you can't deny their influence. Late '65 - '67 was a very creative period for The Beatles, including John.
Title: Re: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: Hello Goodbye on June 02, 2012, 08:19:36 PM
But I'll go with 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun' since it was recorded a few months later. It is one of my favourite Beatles songs.

Bang Bang Shoot Shoot!


;)
Title: Re: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: Hello Goodbye on June 02, 2012, 08:21:26 PM
Well, he was arguably at his peak before that. They all were, I think. 'Norwegian Wood', 'Nowhere Man', 'In My Life', 'Rain', 'Tomorrow Never Knows', 'She Said She Said', 'A Day In The Life', 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds', 'Strawberry Fields Forever' etc. You may not like some of those songs, but you can't deny their influence. Late '65 - '67 was a very creative period for The Beatles, including John.

I'm glad you added this post, Ovi.  I'm in complete agreement.

Title: Re: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: Yeshelloitsmehereagain on June 02, 2012, 10:36:03 PM
It's probably Across the Universe with it's fabulous verses. It is John's best lyric in a certain sense...

"Limitless undying love with shines around me like a million suns and calls me on and on..."

It flows nicely and wasn't released until '69 or '70, but I guess it was written late '67 early '68 as was recorded in Febuary '68?

Yer Blues, Julia... Child of Nature?

Cold Turkey, Give Peace a Chance. He was still a Beatle then. Just about.
Title: Re: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: Hello Goodbye on June 03, 2012, 12:12:52 AM
Revolution.  It became an anthem.

It's not his greatest song, but it's a great song nonetheless.
Title: Re: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: Toejam on June 03, 2012, 03:33:49 PM
Well, he was arguably at his peak before that. They all were, I think. 'Norwegian Wood', 'Nowhere Man', 'In My Life', 'Rain', 'Tomorrow Never Knows', 'She Said She Said', 'A Day In The Life', 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds', 'Strawberry Fields Forever' etc. You may not like some of those songs, but you can't deny their influence. Late '65 - '67 was a very creative period for The Beatles, including John.

I love those songs. I just don't think there as good as IATW...then again what is? That's my point!
Title: Re: John's last great song as a Beatle
Post by: TomMo on June 04, 2012, 05:03:25 PM
I have to go with "Come Together" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)". Not only were they literally among the last, but in spite of all the Beatle-related stress, he did kick ass on the vocals in both cases.