Why Do People Hate Mr. Moonlight by the Beatles?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by ShockControl, Apr 30, 2010.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. rednoise

    rednoise Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston
    Let It Be
    Only a Northern Song
    It's All Too Much
     
    Rose River Bear likes this.
  2. thrivingonariff

    thrivingonariff Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Thanks, just took a listen, but am not hearing any sort of keyboard. Now back to the "Moonlight Madness" theme . . .
     
  3. tim185

    tim185 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Cause its a crap song?
    Sometimes simple questions have simple answers.
     
    pickwick33 and sathvyre like this.
  4. Holerbot6000

    Holerbot6000 Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    I'm like Paulie - I love the corny stuff. Mr. Moonlight, A Taste of Honey, Do you Want to Know a Secret, PS I Love You. I grew up listening to Tin Pan Alley, old latin records, etc. in addition to R&R and I always dug that the Beatles were into that stuff too. I always assumed it was was because a lot of European radio stations were and still are very eclectic. I remember when I worked in the UK in the 90's, you could hear Bjork, Petula Clark, Echo & the Bunnymen and Hank Snow all played on the same radio station one after another. Eclecticism is KING!
     
    Scooterpiety, tcbtcb and forthlin like this.
  5. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    I have a theory that John liked it because of the screaming intro he nailed. After that start, the song is pretty blah. I believe this was the album "Leave My Kitten Alone" could have been on. That switch would have been an improvement.
     
    Lostchord likes this.
  6. JamesD1957

    JamesD1957 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cypress, Texas
    For me it's Lennon's opening vocals. After that, it becomes maybe, kind of, almost tolerable. But I generally don't get past the opening screech.
     
  7. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    There's plenty of Beatles songs over the years with Hammond Organ on them, but the organ sound on MML is unique in their catalog just because of the low register it's played in. It's not a part that an experienced Hammond organist would have played.
     
  8. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    Don Ho "Tiny Bubbles" > Beatles "Mr. Moonlight"
     
    Rose River Bear likes this.
  9. thrivingonariff

    thrivingonariff Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Perhaps, but I think it's got a swampy, tropical vibe that suits the song.
     
  10. I think it should have been replaced by "Short and Curlies".

    Wait - I'm confused...;):rolleyes:
     
    vudicus, majorlance and telepicker97 like this.
  11. ShockControl

    ShockControl Bon Vivant and Raconteur! Thread Starter

    Location:
    Lotus Land
    To each his own. It is no worse than any of their other early teen pop material.
     
  12. telepicker97

    telepicker97 Got Any Gum?

    Location:
    Midwest
    It's all over the verses.
    http://www.thebeatlesrarity.com/201...appiness-is-a-warm-gun-overdub-isolation-mix/
    The organ is on the same track as the electric guitar, as in, the organ disappears right before the guitar solo kicks in.
     
    thrivingonariff likes this.
  13. bababooey

    bababooey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX USA
    In a nutshell it has to do with the fact that it sucks.
     
    tim185 likes this.
  14. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    I can see that, there is a certain kitschy "tiki bar" feel to it.
     
    thrivingonariff likes this.
  15. anthontherun

    anthontherun Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    Oh wow, it's the exact opposite for me. The way John sings "mister" in the opening is the peak of the song. It goes downhill from there, and the organ solo is so un-Beatle-y that it's almost disconcerting.

    But why this track gets so much hate when just four songs later you've got the awful "Honey Don't," a recording with no redeeming value whatsoever, has always stumped me.
     
  16. chahooa

    chahooa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indianapolis
    I don't hate it anywhere close to as much as Kansas City, ugh, ruins an otherwise fine album. But, so what.
     
  17. KipB

    KipB Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bethel, CT, USA
    Not knowing I was supposed to hate it, I love Mr. Moonlight.
     
    vmajewsk and AudiophilePhil like this.
  18. rednoise

    rednoise Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston
    Good thing you tuned in before it was too late! The past several posts have shown beyond question just how and why you should hate at least half of "Beatles for Sale".
     
    vmajewsk likes this.
  19. JamesD1957

    JamesD1957 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cypress, Texas
    You know, I feel the same way about "Honey Don't", but having lived through Beatlemania, and witnessed this personally, there's just so many doggone Ringo fans who love EVERYTHING he ever did. Heck, I'm married to one of 'em. A couple of years ago, we saw Paul when he came to Houston. About a year ago, Ringo came to Houston. Problem is, I didn't know it until the concert had passed. I mentioned to my wife that we missed Ringo. She didn't speak to me for a week.
     
    anthontherun likes this.
  20. tim185

    tim185 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Thing is..
    with Beatles for Sale for me , the thing that has always got on my tits, is that the opening is so great, the first 4 tracks or so are just killer. Vibrant and rocking and sonicaly quite spectacular in stereo. Then the rest is fluffy to downright rubbish tracks to fill the album. So disappointing after the stellar intro.
     
  21. DK Pete

    DK Pete Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown. NY
    The very first time I heard Mr. Moonlight was on The Beatles cartoon show in the mid-sixties; I liked it then and like it today. As others have said, great harmonies, nice melody..I do wonder though, how seriously The Beatles took themselves when recording it as they (especially John) almost crack up with it on the John Barret Tapes outtake.

    ...as an aside, I think Kansas City is one of their best covers, overall and certainly one of Paul's greatest vocals.
     
    AudiophilePhil likes this.
  22. RonW

    RonW Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    I don't really like the song but I don't "Hate" it either. When I first heard it, it just didn't seem to fit on Beatles 65. Not like No Reply or I'm a Loser does...
     
  23. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    I first heard it on my older brother's copy of this..

    [​IMG]

    I was very young and didn't know what Beatles For Sale or Beatles '65 were, so I had no idea where it came from, and it just sounded so different and mysterious.

    I loved it then and still love it now.
     
    AudiophilePhil and RonW like this.
  24. GodBlessTinyTim

    GodBlessTinyTim Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    I feel the song is neither well-suited to him nor The Beatles. This is the sort of thing Piano Red spent most of his career doing:

     
    pickwick33 likes this.
  25. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Well, the organ has that cocktail organ feel. But Lennon's empassioned vocal is what redeems the song.
     
    Brian Kelly likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine