When it comes to talking about The Beatles, everyone knows how great this British band was. They had a very short recording career which spanned around seven years but they had their own fair of famous songs. Before their break up in 1970, the band released 12 studio albums which changed the face of popular music in the 60s.
The band was also very experimental with their music. They continuously strived to expand the parameters of popular music throughout their careers, including fresh sounds and aesthetics in their creations. They experimented with Indian classical music and electronic music as well as combining other musical genres, including rock, pop, folk, and psychedelic rock. This way their innovative use of studio techniques and sound manipulation made them a great influence back then and even today.
However, those experiments didn’t always lead toward the light. There were also many tracks that failed to impress the audience. From Wild Honey Pie to Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby, these songs failed to capture the critics and are labeled as some of the worst songs by The Beatles.
Lennon and McCartney were the primary songwriters in the band. However, there were instances where even Ringo and George penned the songs. Some songs were very successful while others were not received well. Here are some songs which can be deemed as some of the Beatle’s worst songs.
Rocky Raccoon
This song was a total mess. There was no proper experimentalism in this song which meant no memorable moments or memorable melodies. Included in The White Album, the song was penned by McCartney and it is just not great. This was just supposed to be a filler song in the album.
Even McCartney himself admitted the song was not that great. He said, “I was basically spoofing the folksinger.” Rocky Racoon is a lazy song.
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
This song was also included in The White Album. There is a piano section in the opening and it’s a nagging, cod-reggae monstrosity. The song sounds both mind-blowingly irritating and utterly horrible. On first listen, the song’s melody lodges itself in your skull like a tumor and stays there, only popping out to taunt you when you’re feeling your lowest.
Run For Your Life
To imagine Lennon writing a song that discusses his desire to kill his ‘girlfriend’ is something we cannot do. But well, he did. Lennon is known for people’s deepest desires. ‘Run For Your Life’ is one of their most disturbing and worst songs, lyrically.
The song has a good melody and a catchy guitar riff, but the lyrics are just too much for the song. It is a good song with a good melody and just horrendous lyrics. The song was featured in their 1965 album, ‘Rubber Soul’.
Wild Honey Pie
Wild Honey Pie was featured on their 1968 album, The Beatles. It is just an unpleasant song that only reflected the ‘Wild’ portion from the title. According to various sources, it is revealed, Harrison’s wife Pattie Boyd “liked it very much, so we decided to leave it on the album.”
Sadly, everyone didn’t look at the song in the same way. It was an assault on the ears and it is not even a minute long. A pure agony to listen to.
Within You Without You
This song was George Harrison’s take on Indian music. Compared to Lennon’s ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ this song was a pile of garbage. It was included on the album ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’. This song was not memorable and it didn’t make that much sense either.
The lyrics are sleepy and the song feels like a bad self-help book written by a third-rate life coach. Without any indication of a melody or tune, the song plods around while mumbling words that seem to have been lifted from a cheap self-help book.
Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby
When it comes to this song, the opinions are quite subjective. This song is also very well-received among many Beatles enthusiasts. The song was written by Carl Perkins and was featured on their 1964 album ‘Beatles for Sale’.
The Beatles were also under stress as they had to record three albums during a 12-month period. The CD was concluded by the band’s slack rendition of “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby,” which included George Harrison on lead vocals.
Maggie Mae
The Beatles’ final album ‘Let It Be’, is one of their worst songs. The Quarrymen, a pre-Beatles band, used to perform the ancient traditional folk ballad “Maggie Mae.” The 40-second clip displays strong accents, forced playfulness, and how chaotic the Beatles’ sessions in January 1969 were.
The track is simply repetitive and annoying. This is one of their most pointless songs and the final album would have been a much better album without this song in it.
Revolution 9
Whatever the lyrics may be, everyone wanted to stop this song. It was horrible. It’s “art” at its most obscene, startling, and self-righteously irritating level. It simply has no place on a Beatles album, not even one as crazily unbalanced as the White Album. No one should waste 8 minutes of their life listening to this song because believe us this is totally terrible.
Good Day Sunshine
This song was featured in one of their best albums, Revolver which was released back in 1966. The album was full of memorable songs but there was an exception and it was Good Day Sunshine. McCartney was the writer of the song and wanted to have the same old jazz feel to it, however, it took a turn and became one of the most hated songs of the Beatles.
The track cheapens the ambiance of the otherwise excellent album by using cheap melodies and a barrelhouse style. The song is all about being optimistic and having a good day but after hearing this song, most people will usually have a bad day.
Don’t Pass Me By
Don’t Pass Me By was featured in their self-titled album in 1968. With Ringo on the vocals, it was a sorry song. Starr had things to say about the song and said, “I wrote ‘Don’t Pass Me By’ when I was sitting around at home. I was fiddling with the piano – I just bang away – and then if a melody comes and some words, I just have to keep going.”
The song’s primary flaw is that it is unoriginal and forgettable country rock. “It was great to get my first song down, one that I had written. It was a very exciting time for me and everyone was really helpful, and recording that crazy violinist was a thrilling moment,” said Ringo.
