Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite Songs on The White Album

This past week (the 22nd in the UK and the 25th in the US) marked the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles' eponymous ninth album, known more widely as "The White Album."  To celebrate, the band recently released a sprawling reissued and remastered box set of the album, produced/remastered by Giles Martin -- son of late Beatles producer Sir George Martin -- and featuring 50 previously unreleased recordings and the infamously elusive Esher demos, reportedly recorded at George Harrison's house when the band was in the beginning stages of songwriting for the album.

Arguably the greatest double album ever made, The White Album is an icon.  It's instantly recognizable.  It's what Fletch asked for when he was in the Records Room.  It's my favorite Beatles album.  I think the reason I like it so much is that the songs are so diverse.  On the four sides, you'll hear 30 songs in various genres -- pop, psychedelic rock, blues, avante garde, hard rock, schmaltz, proto metal, acoustic ballads, and songs that I don't dare categorize (like what the fuck is "Piggies?").  This was probably the album I listened to the most during my junior year of college -- a wonderful, carefree time when I was old enough to drink legally, but just far enough away from graduating to feel any modicum of responsibility.

I haven't yet acquired the new box set, although I am hoping Santa Claus is reading this.  For the time being, all I have is the original.  Of the thirty songs on the album, here are my ten favorite, in the order they appear on the album.

1. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
George's songwriting was really coming into its own by this point, and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is one of the better songs on this album, which says a lot because, you know, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were also in the band.  Eric Clapton famously plays the lead guitar on the track (uncredited).


2. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun"
The song immediately following "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is my favorite Beatles song.  It's like a mini rock opera in and of itself.  The song starts with kind of a brooding, acid-inspired hard rockish section.  Then completely changes in the short middle section, with the phrase "Mother Superior jumped the gun" repeated.  And finally, it breaks into the last part, an ode to doo wop and soul, oozing with sexual innuendo.


3. "I'm So Tired"
"I'm So Tired" is probably the Beatles song I have most often sung/quoted in my own head over the years because, well, I get tired sometimes.  And when I do, I say to myself, "I'm so tired," and then the next thing I know, I'm cursing Sir Walter Raleigh.  Also, if you are really tired and hope to sleep, I will say that John's suggestion that you have another cigarette is not conducive to sleep.


4. "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"
It's short, simple, and direct, much like it's inspiration, when Paul saw two monkeys shamelessly banging on a street in Rishikesh, India, during the Beatles' famous meditation retreat with the Maharishi.


5. "Yer Blues"
Lest you think the Beatles couldn't sing the blues, ladies and gentlemen, I present John Lennon tearing his heart and vocal chords out.


6. "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"
So yes, there are at least two songs on The White Album inspired by monkeys.  I don't even have a monkey, so I can't comment on whether he or she would be forthright.


7. "Sexy Sadie"
John Lennon's diss track aimed at the Maharishi has personal meaning for me.  In college, I had a black '89 Honda Accord that I named Sexy Sadie.  On a late January Sunday afternoon in 1999, I was driving back to Bloomington after a weekend visiting some friends at Eastern Illinois.  It was raining.  I was on SR 46, maybe 20 miles outside of Bloomington, when I was taking slow curve.  To be clear, the curve was slow, but my driving was not.  I started to hydroplane, crossed the center line and the other lane, slid across a wet field of grass sideways, jumped a small creek, before slamming into a tree and totaling my car.  I was listening to The White Album on my Discman, plugged into my tape player, as was the style back then.  The song that was playing when I crashed?  "Sexy Sadie."  Thankfully, I came out unscathed, as did the Discman and the White Album. In fact, in a fit of adrenaline-driven machismo, I yelled, "is that all you got?!" to no one in particular.


8. "Helter Skelter"
Did Paul invent heavy metal with this song?  Maybe.  I discussed this song -- and it's rather unfortunate interpretation by Charles Manson -- in depth last month during Rocktober, so I will direct you to that post for further discussion.


9. "Revolution 1"
This is one of two versions of this song.  The album version ("Revolution 1") is the slower, more acoustic, and more bluesy version, recorded a few weeks before the more famous, more electric, and more uptempo version ("Revolution") that was eventually released as the B-side to "Hey Jude."  Other than the differences in the music, the most noticeable difference is that, in this version, John changes one of the lyrics to add an "in" after talking about destruction ("you can count me out, in"). That's some sneaky ass shit right there.


10. "Cry Baby Cry"
This is a slower song that I've always liked.  Also, I had a friend in college who was a member of Pi Beta Phi, so pretty much whenever I hear Pi Beta Phi, I sing it in my head in the style of "Cry Baby Cry."