27. The Ballad Of John And Yoko (1969) / non-album single

7/25 votes

 

First to drop out is 'The Ballad Of John And Yoko' which edged ahead of 'Lady Madonna' at the last minute. This was a standalone single but can be found on later compilation albums, like this very one! It didn't go down so well on BuzzJack but did manage to score three consecutive weeks at #1 in the UK back in 1969. This was unsurprisingly a Lennon-penned song, however Paul did help out with several instrumentation contributions and backing vocals. The other Beatles were not present during the recording of this. I recently learned more about this song from interviews during Radio 2's Beatles pop-up station this week. Apparently John just wanted to record this song ASAP, but did need a little help from Paul. The others didn't mind, I recall hearing a clip of George saying that he wasn't fussed as it's not like it was called 'The Ballad of John, George and Yoko' :lol: This song documents events associated with John and Yoko Ono's marriage, a particularly obvious reference is "talking in our beds for a week" - that being their famous 'Bed-Ins for Peace' non-violent protests against war. He also addresses comments from the hounding press in the song, such as "they look just like two gurus in drag".

 

Same again this time! Please vote for your least favourite single remaining from the 26 above.

So disappointed that 'The Ballad Of John And Yoko' is out first :( it's full of interesting, anecdotal lyrical content and the production is infectious.

 

Gone for 'Lady Madonna' again!

I will stick with 'From Me To You' until it's eliminated.

'The Long and Winding Road' again for me

One of their great tracks for me, and the rhen-controversial line xhrist you know it aint easy is a harkback to johns quip in the usa that they were bigger than jesus which led to death threats and the end of touring.

The Long And Winding Road

Sticking with Lady Madonna and hopefully it's a goner this time.