My favorite Beatles song
63My favourite Beatles track is ‘Oh Darling’ which appeared on the 1969 album ‘Abbey Road’. Often dismissed as an album filler, for me this McCartney rocker embodies both the spirit and feeling of the band at the time and the very essence of what they were about. It’s a simple song, just a blues-rock track about a man’s commitment to his lover and what would become of him were she to leave.
Context
At this time the band were on the cusp of breaking up. The four lads from Liverpool had grown up and it was time to move on. Such creative forces would inevitably blow themselves apart and seeing how so many other contemporaries fell into creative decline during the 70’s I think that, on balance it was a good thing. They were the 60’s and with this last great album they brought the decade to a close with wonderful poignancy. ‘And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make’ sings Paul at the end of the medley on side B. Goodbye Beatles, goodbye 60’s, it was fun but now it’s time to go. John and Paul were not getting on too well, to put it mildly, and the other two band members were itching to emerge from the shadow of their illustrious friends and do their own thing.
Oh Darling!
And so the place where the first album was recorded would give its name to the last. After the ground breaking LSD-fuelled sounds of ‘Revolver’, the psychedelic wonder, sentimentality, complexity and simple genius of Pepper, and finally the mixed bag of ups and downs comprising of the white album and ‘Let it Be’ it fell to Abbey Road to finish the story. The Beatles were first and foremost a rock band. Their roots lay in the 1950’s with Elvis, Buddy Holly, Little Richard and so on. What better testament to these heroes than a rocky blues number without pretention or agenda? And yet, the simplicity of this song belies its production values. As always the band were utter perfectionists. The final vocal took somewhere in the region of three weeks to get right. Each day Paul would sit at the piano and give it a go, only to try again the next day. Boy was it worth it! If anyone has ever tried to replicate this vocal themselves, and I did try with my band a few years ago, you’ll realise how perfect it actually is. The lyrics are simple and effective, nothing clever just a message about love. In the same way that John was seemingly addicted to Yoko, Paul had found the love of his own life and in this song he seems to be telling us how terrible it would be to lose that love. Every time I hear it a shiver runs down my spine. What a song!
Sources:
Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now by Paul McCartney and Barry Miles (Paperback - 24 Sep 1998)
Revolution in the Head: "Beatles" Records and the Sixties by Ian MacDonald (Paperback - 3 Aug 1995)
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I love that song- very well written hub too. You are a true fan. I grew up with the BEatles and one of the first cartoons I watched was The Yellow Submarine. I don't know if I could pick a favorite song- sentimentally, I like "Nowhere Man" because even as a kid I appreciated it's philisophical meaning- well, even before I knew what philisophical meant and I felt so sorry for him. I'm a real bleeding heart
Yep I've always been a beetles fan. When John Lennon died my sisters went out and
Bought all the albums. I was very young but even at that age I
Was under their spell. You sound like a big fan too. Nowhere man is
A wonderful song, he was a lost soul unable to cope with fame and
Family life. Good choice!
'Oh Darling'...the sound of rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and Paul's roaring vocals is simply electrifying. I can't say that it's my favorite tune, but it's definitely worth talking about! Lennon may have thought that his style and vocals were more suitable, but McCartney composed the song and practiced to make a piece of perfection, while expressing his singing and songwriting ability very well. Abbey Road is probably my favorite album because it was my first album. Listening to their music today, has the same effect on me as it did yesterday. Great song choice!
Yeah, Abbey Road is my favorite. My aunt used to have a copy of it, and she also had 'Golden Oldies' one of those seventies compilations of Beatles tracks. But Abbey Road really had a big impression on me, it's such a wonderfully complete piece of work, so varied and in many ways just as quirky as Pepper. It is a wonderful end to the Beatles, apparently they all got on fairly well during the making of it. Once or twice I've found myself stood in the middle of that famous zebra crossing, all on my own at four o'clock in the morning (the worse for a few sherbs) and 'oh that magic feeling' it really is!
moncrieff Level 2 Commenter 21 months ago
Wow, Brits usually are not that keen to recognize the Beatles nowadays... But, yes it's a good song, not my favorite though. I love what the Beatles really became famous for: melodies and harmonies, no matter if it's a ballad or She Loves You... I read somewhere that Lennon wanted to record this song for it suited his voice and style better... I can hear him singing it. I think it would be more... um... authentic. Cheers.