Is "A Day In The Life" the greatest rock song of all time?

If forced to come up with just one "best", then yes, I'd indeed choose ADITL, for many reasons.

It's a great pop song - very catchy, it's an epic song, it has both Lennon and MacCartney alternating both composition and sing (both of which are in top form), great lyrics, majestic soundscape. And of course the fantastic orchestral crescendo, with the long fadeout, creaking piano bench. Oh - and it sounds great, and also gets kudos for being so ambitions - it's way ahead of it's time, and I feel helped define a direction for art rock to take, even if The Beatles didn't go much further down that direction.

Unfortunatly, I've played Sgt. Peppers a few too many times in this lifetime, so ADITL is a bit "worn out" for me. I still feel it's

 

"A Day In The Life" is amazing for a song, but since it's been the album I've listened to since I was real young, I've forgotten just how fragmented and accidental that sounded in my 1st few listens. Something one can take for granted when you listen to the album so much.

Definately a buildup of many ideas together. Barely fits in a taco. We're lucky it DID fit on the end of the greatest album the world has known.

 

Yes, indeedy, ADITL is about as good as "pop" music can get, no?

---
But please note that article is not based on original research.
It's just a collection and reworking of other previously published sources.

Which means that a reader should not rely upon its absolute accuracy, no matter how neatly the author has wrapped the pieces together.

For one example, Harry Moss (who cut the original LP lacquers) has said that when he added the 'dog tone' to the record, he used 15kHz, not 20kHz.

Anyway, this was just to remind you not to believe everything that you read, especially when the subject is The Beatles, and the author has not relied on primary sources.

 

As an side note on this wonderful classic song, and without a doubt one of the great ones, I saw Jeff Beck at Concord Pavilion a couple of years ago and he did the most incredible version of this song. Since I've heard the original a million times, it was a real eye-opener to hear Jeff Beck's interpretation. It made me appreciate the song and the talents of Lennon/McCartney as composers just that much more.

His version appeared on George Martin "In My Life" from 1998. Any one else like this?

Regards,
Metralla

 

A Day In The Life is a GREAT song...but...the best of all time ?

Hmmm...I don't know about that, but I like it a lot more than Stairway to Heaven, a song I can't even stand to listen to anymore. To all Zep fans I apologize and hope I won't burn in hell for this blasphemy. I DO love "When The Levee Breaks" though. One of my favorite drum sounds on record next to The Bands "King Harvest".

Best - ED

 

for me I like Baba O'Riley. I just watched the DVD of Classic Album's "Who's Next" and I was impressed with the work that went into it.

 

Greatest Song

Well, for me, nothing has ever matched the thrill of listening to "Youre the One" by The Vogues.

That guitar!! Hal blaines drums!! those aching vocal harmonies!!

soon to be in first time STEREO on Varese!!! (after i nagged them for 5 years about it!!!)

 

"Stairway......"



Um - yeah. That one.



Ben

 

NEVER !!!!

 

For me, no.

 

Now they know how many holes to fill the Albert Hall-yes ADITL
is perhaps the greatest rock song of all time,but of course this is for debate.How about-Stairway to Heaven or My Generation or
Satisfaction.To Me it is very hard to decide-at least in the 60's and 70's there were countless classic songs.

 

"Won't you marry me Bill, I got the wedding bell blues..."

Does that qualify as a rock song??

 

In all seriousness, I do love ADITL. But favorite?? I think the most perfectly crafted pop song ever (IMHO) is George Harrison's "Here Comes The Sun". Granted, the lyrics are simple, but I've never had a song touch me so positively, in my early youth and no less so now. And the track has aged very gracefully (to me) over the years. You could hum it all day long. Just timeless and beautiful.

 

I don't equate "greatest" with "favorite".

Indeed, if you asked me to cite my favorite rock song, it wouldn't be ADITL. There are other songs that just move me to my bones, but that I don't necessarily consider to be "great".

Am I making sense?

 

Sure! That does make perfect sense.

BTW, I got to meet George Martin in February '99, and got to hear some very interesting stories about the making of Sgt Peppers. He had a multimedia show about producing the album, and along with 20 other people I got to meet him (and his son and wife) after the show. We just got to see him very briefly & shake hands and such, but what a thrill!!

One of the neatest aspects of ADITL (to me) is that it's really 2 (or maybe even 3) separate songs, neither of which would be complete without the other. I'd think if you put it to a poll, everyone would say it's a Lennon track. But it just doesn't work without Paul's piece in the middle. And, of course, the orchestral frenzy that apparently was George Martin's idea (the Beatles just wanted random sounding of notes, according to what he told us). I love the story behind making this track as much as I love the track itself.

So yeah, I might pick ADITL as the BEST in that criteria.

Make sense?

 

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"-The Rolling Stones

Sex, youth, anger, rebellion, frustration, cynicism all rolled into a catchy, fast, loud, guitar-driven rock song performed by the "bad boys of rock & roll".

 

A great song, sure, but it does drag a bit in the middle, doesn't it?

 

A Day In The Life might not be my personal favorite, but I wouldn't argue with that choice. I was also marveling at We Can Work It Out last night. What a song! I Am The Walrus has been a lifelong favorite. I think It Won't Be Long may best encompass that Beatlemania '63-'64 feeling.

Although Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone is nowhere near my favorite song of his, I do think it qualifies as one the the all-time great rock songs.

 

Hey now!

Everyone knows that The Kinks - You Really Got Me is "The Greatest Rock 'N Roll Song Of All Time"!

 

Is "A Day In The Life" the greatest rock song of all time?

Absolutely not! It can't even hold a candle to "With a little help..." let alone all other comers.

Look for something that beginning musicians are dying to learn,
something that buskers have to know,
something that lovers claim as their song,
something that fills the dance floor,
anything but "ADITL", a remarkable ending to perhaps the best pop album of all time, a clever musical essay.

I can't say what the greatest would be, but it's hard to imagine one that didn't stand on it's own as a single.

 

Or, maybe, Johnny B. Goode?