Best Song on The Beatles’ ‘Help!’ Album? Poll

What’s your favourite song on Help!? I pick the title track. I’m sure Help! and Yesterday will be landslides but I’m sure there’ll be a decent amount of votes for the rest too. Besides Dizzy Miss Lizzy and Act Naturally both of which rank as not only the worst covers they ever did but worst songs ever put on official releases in my opinion. You’re Going To Lose That Girl would be my second pick.

Continued on from the prevous Beatles polls, found here:
The Best Song on The Beatles ‘With the Beatles’ Poll
Best Song on The Beatles’ ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ Poll
Best Song on The Beatles' 'Beatles For Sale' Poll?

 

I know a lot of people say they're burnt out on Yesterday but I don't see that ever happening to me. The tittle track,You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, and Ticket to Ride are very close behind for me.
Also , apparently Lennon hates it but I'm a big fan of It's Only Love as well as I've Just Seen a Face. Actually most of this lp is great.
I am a second generation Beatles fan who, as I stated in the is Help! underrated thread, never really got into their early albums but I've really fallen in love with this album (as well as AHDN) recently.

 

I’m one of the people who doesn’t quite get Yesterday. It is a beautifully written, beautifully performed song, but it doesn’t have the depth of feeling that Paul’s other classic ballads do (Here, There..., Hey Jude, Let it Be, and ESPECIALLY Maybe I’m Amazed), or John’s songs like Girl or Hide Your Love Away from the same era. I guess the string quartet and the fact that it sounded more sophisticated made it a big deal at the time, but if I didn’t know the history, I would think it was more like a great Beatles deep cut, a la I’ve Just Seen a Face, than one of their biggest songs ever. I suspect part of the appeal in 1965 was that it was a Beatles song adults could enjoy and older singers could cover that wasn’t a sell out or the beginning of the Beatles going MOR. Anyway, that’s just me. I do appreciate the song, but Paul’s so restrained on this, and I prefer when he’s wearing his heart on his sleeve.

I think the best song is Ticket to Ride. Sonically, it’s the most innovative and forward looking thing they made to date, and it would be another year before they used Ringo’s drums, the tonalities of their guitars, the possibilities of contrasting rhythms, and drones to evoke an emotional state. And what an emotional state. The sound of the record perfectly captures the lyric, teetering somewhere between resignation, depression, and desperation. The clanging guitars and shifting drums have a textured, intense, claustrophobic feeling that reflects the fact that this is the first Beatles song whose drama really stems from what’s going on within the singer’s head, not between him and the girl in question. It’s also one of John’s most sophisticated vocal performances to date: he goes from trying to be cool, to being angry, back and forth and back and forth. Until the coda. Then they end it with Paul’s brilliant tag that recontextualizes everything that came before. The almost hysterical, disbelieving falsetto in which they repeat the incongruously upbeat melody to which “my baby don’t care” is set gives everything else away. The verses might have sounded indifferent, the bridge might have sounded angry, but the coda reveals the truth—the singer is really going to miss this girl and feels abandoned.

 

Help.

 

I picked Ticket To Ride. Great song, great musicianship, just all round a terrific tune. But I've Just Seen A Face is a pretty close second.

 

I prefer Help. I quite like Act Naturally as well.

 

Definitely Yesterday.

 

I chose "you're gonna lose that girl." The Beatles had a great sense of humor. That's something very few bands have.

 

The Night Before was the first song I heard from this album, after that, I went to Spotify and listened to the whole album.

 

You’re going to lose that girl

 

Struggled between "You've got to hide your love away" and "Help"....Then I realized I overlooked "Ticket to ride".......Voted "Help" but I want to change it to "Ticket to ride"...

 

The album cover:


I've always found Help! an interesting album. Lots of songs showing The Beatles at their finest. Great songwriting, great performances and arrangements. Then there are some very ordinary songs.

The standout for me (a close call) is "Ticket to Ride" - a fantastic riff, and Lennon pouring out his heart with all his might.

Although "Yesterday" is a good song, it's never really appealed to me.

 

"Help!", "Ticket To Ride" and "Yesterday" being a bit obvious (and very worthy), I voted "You're Going To Lose That Girl". Fantastic chord progression with subtle key changes, great melody (of which the Fabs had an endless supply.)

 

Voted for The Night Before.

A few more votes and those would have been Another Girl, It's Only Love and, yes, You Like Me Too Much.

 

Yesterday, of course

 

Yes, Yesterday has never quite clicked with me either in comparison to other Beatles songs. Still love it though, but nowadays I listen to it more for the production than the music.
For me Help! as an album is another fantastic album. It's folky like AHDN, but it's a different take and a take I much prefer. It doesn't hold a candle to what came next however, but that doesn't matter.

That was one hell of a response! Awesome read.

 

A very easy one for me. I think it's a rather weak album compared to Beatles for Sale and Rubber Soul, but Ticket to Ride is one of their greatest achievements.

 

Tough call, but I went with "The Night Before" too. Everything is great about it. The opening, the backing vocals, Paul's slightly scratchy voice. Love it all.

 

To compare a pre-Rubber Soul album to a post-Help! album futile. For me at least, the post will always stand head and shoulders above. Unless you're Yellow Submarine.

 

You've Got To Hide Your Love Away.

Next favorites would be Ticket To Rye and Help!

 

My favorites from this album are "Help!", "The Night Before", "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away", "You're Going to Lose That Girl", "Ticket to Ride", "It's Only Love", "I've Just Seen a Face" and, what I voted for, Paul's definitive tune (Beatles or otherwise) "Yesterday".

 

I like them all except for the rather smug "Another Girl", and "Tell Me What You See" is rather substandard compared to a lot of their others, but as for the most brilliantly written song on the album, I would say it's a tossup between "Help!" and "Yesterday."

 

I love Another Girl. Shame it isn't getting many votes. And yeah, You Like Me Too Much is average. Glad to see the album finale ruiner Dizzy Miss Lizzy has none.

 

Way too hard to pick one song. Such a great album when I looked at the tracks trying to pick just one track. Think I'll listen to it today.

 

"I need you"
My fave George song.