By now you’ve read that the top Beatles’ song being streamed worldwide is “Come Together” from Abbey Road but the truth is that the song is probably No. 1 because it is the first track on Abbey Road (confession: my favorite Beatles’ LP).
But Vulture.com went one better and averaged out all the Beatles’ songs streamed from the various services and came up with this list:
1. “Hey Jude”
2. “Let It Be”
3. “Come Together”
4. “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
5. “Love Me Do”
6. “Here Comes the Sun”
7. “She Loves You”
8. “Eleanor Rigby”
9. “Twist and Shout” / “From Me to You” (Tied)
10. “Yesterday”
Picking favorite Beatles’ songs is very much like shooting fish in a barrel — practically any list will have a cross-section of the band’s biggest hits. Unless, that is, your favorite song is “Honey Pie” and No. 2 is something like “Happiness is a Warm Gun.”
The tame list above seems almost as though it were picked at random and is certainly not my Top 10 list. I love “Twist and Shout,” and “Come Together” but where the heck is “A Day in the Life” considered by many the Beatles’ magnum opus? And yes, it’s probably my favorite as well.
At least 4 of these songs were written primarily or only by Paul, “Come Together” is a John song, “Here Comes the Sun” is one of George’s and the rest are true Lennon/McCartney collaborations.
I use Spotify and when the Beatles’ songs became available, here’s what I downloaded almost without thinking. There is not a single song that is in the general public’s Top 10. Go figure. What’s on your list?
- Paperback Writer
- Day Tripper
- Back in the USSR
- And Your Bird Can Sing
- I Am the Walrus
- Hey Bulldog
- Baby, You’re a Rich man
- Lovely Rita
- I Want to Tell You
- Tomorrow Never Knows