Latest Site News

[Jade]

02. Yesterday (1965) / Help!
13/22 votes

Finishing as runner-up in these polls, with the most votes to eliminate a song so far, is 'Yesterday'! This very famous Beatles song was essentially the first solo performance from the band, as it's just Paul McCartney singing and playing the guitar, plus he's backed by a string quartet. Paul composed the entire melody of 'Yesterday' during a dream one night and was very confused when he woke up, thinking he must have plagiarised it from somewhere. He asked many different figures in the music industry if they'd heard this tune before but to no avail. So it was his. He made sure to remember the melody and initially wrote the silly lyrics "Scrambled eggs, oh my baby how I love your legs, not as much as I love scrambled eggs". These would eventually develop into the actual lyrics of 'Yesterday'. The ballad is about the break-up of a relationship, where he nostalgically looks back on when things were different. The final recording of 'Yesterday' was so different to anything that The Beatles had recorded up to then, to the point where the band members vetoed the release of it as a single in the United Kingdom. It wouldn't chart here until the 1970s. But it was released in the U.S. and of course got to #1 there! Despite the lack of release here, we did get it through the album 'Help!' and it has become a staple. In fact, it is one of the most covered songs of all time. A movie of the same name was released as recently as last year, where it depicts a world where The Beatles' music was erased from history. Congrats to 'Yesterday' for the silver medal!



01. Hey Jude (1968) / non-album single
9/22 votes

So that's it, we've reached the end 'Hey Jude' may have failed to win any of the Grammy Awards it was nominated for, but does get to be the champion of this survivor! It was a single back in 1968, with 'Revolution' as its B-side, as the first release on the Beatles' Apple Records label. It was a monster hit for the group - becoming the best selling single of 1968 in both the UK and the US. It peaked at #1 here for 2 weeks but spent a whopping 9 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, the joint most for any song at the time. In the U.K. it also held a temporary record, as it was the longest chart topper to date ('Hey Jude' is 7:11 in length) until Meat Loaf came along with 41 more seconds of 'I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)' in the 1990s. 'Hey Jude' was written by Paul McCartney as a song to comfort John Lennon's son Julian about the break-up of his parents' marriage. The original title was 'Hey Jules' but Paul tweaked it as he felt that 'Hey Jude' sounded better. It's an interesting song structurally as the coda is longer than the rest of the song! The famous "na na na na na na na" fade-out lasts for a whopping 4 minutes. The long outro of 'All You Need Is Love' clearly wasn't long enough - they really took the biscuit with this one! 'Hey Jude' was recorded during sessions for 'The White Album' while tensions were high in the band. But, the promotional clip for the song gives off the opposite impression. There's a real feeling of togetherness as The Beatles play this piano heavy stadium anthem and invite members of the audience to join them. 'Hey Jude' is loved all around the world and that extends to BuzzJack. Congratulations to 'Hey Jude' for beating off all competition as the best song on the '1' compilation!

Thank you to everyone for taking part in these survivor rounds! It's been a blast for the past 3 months or so what do you make of the result?

FULL RESULTS:

01. Hey Jude | 9/22 votes
02. Yesterday | 13/22 votes
03. Eleanor Rigby | 7/18 votes
04. Let It Be | 7/19 votes
05. Ticket To Ride | 7/20 votes
06. Penny Lane | 5/17 votes
07. Hello, Goodbye | 8/17 votes
08. All You Need Is Love | 6/19 votes
09. Day Tripper | 5/16 votes
10. Help! | 5/18 votes

11. I Want To Hold Your Hand | 3/20 votes (original vote) / 6/15 votes (tie-break round)
12. Paperback Writer | 9/22 votes
13. We Can Work It Out | 5/17 votes
14. I Feel Fine | 8/18 votes
15. A Hard Day's Night | 5/20 votes
16. Can't Buy Me Love | 5/22 votes
17. Come Together | 4/19 votes
18. Something | 4/19 votes
19. Love Me Do | 4/18 votes
20. Yellow Submarine | 5/20 votes

21. Eight Days A Week | 5/17 votes
22. From Me To You | 4/21 votes (original vote) / 10/16 votes (tie-break round)
23. Get Back | 5/17 votes
24. The Long And Winding Road | 4/20 votes
25. She Loves You | 6/21 votes
26. Lady Madonna | 6/21 votes
27. The Ballad Of John And Yoko | 7/25 votes