I don’t like the Beatles.
I realise that’s quite a strong statement, considering the height of the pedestal they’ve been placed on, so I’ll qualify it a little: I’m not saying they’re no good, I’m saying I don’t like them. Or the solo work of their various members.
For a long while I wasn’t able to articulate all the reasons I didn’t like them. The lyrics were awful and the values simplistic, and that’s my first reason:
1. The patronising lyrics the Beatles and their various members were never aware quite how shallow they were.
Here’s a reply to the worst song Lennon ever recorded:
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=2zP0xYv0sZk]
2. The harmony. No, I don’t mean the harmonised vocals, I mean the scales and modes used. This isn’t a criticism, it’s just a matter of taste, but I cringe every time I hear a major chord followed by a descending bassline like the opening of the following song. It’s a cliché and had been for a long time before the Beatles used it. Harrison had no excuse for this:
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ajym4thLJ9Q]
It also happens to be a telltale sign of the mixolydian mode, which is another rock cliché that I personally can’t stand. The chord choices in Hard Day’s Night in particular make my skin crawl.
So there, two reasons I don’t like the Beatles. There are others. Please don’t send me hate mail.
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=fNf046Uo2gI]
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We all need to stop deifying this band. It’s gotten ridiculous. I have said this before and I will say it again: there are *many* artists of equal or exceeding vision who have come before and after them who were simply not at the right place at the right time, or were not the right color at the right time for that matter — has it ever occured to any of them that if the Beatles were as dark-skinned as most of their influences, they may not have been selected as musical demigods? Thankfully they took that stagnant darky music and “smartened” it up with that superior European creativity. The final message Beatles deifiers (not Beatles fans, mind you — there are degrees) covertly believe is: the darkies may be naturally musically gifted, but a bunch of white Brits will still beat them all. And they will tell you this is mere coincidence, and sneer when you bring this to light. And they will be the worst kind of wrong; they will be dishonestly so.
What a great irony that the same people who champion a band whose message was “peace & love” will be like a mob on a witch hunt if you dare to disagree with them. If you dare to entertain that there might be bands better than the Beatles, and that this doesn’t mean you don’t believe in peace and love, and that this doesn’t mean you dislike pop music, and that this doesn’t mean you are unfeeling, or inhuman.
I agree with you Gax. It’s not that I think the Beatles were awful, but they are put on a pedestal they just shouldn’t be on.
Why do people like this stupid band? I mean, I know that their lyrics are promoting peace and love, but that doesn’t mean that their music is good! Peace and love has been done to death! I respect the opinions of other people, but I will never, EVER understand why people are obsessed with this group. If someone gives me a valid reason why I should like the Beatles, I might understand, but I am FED UP with people screaming at me, “why DON’T you like them?”. I should be allowed to voice my opinion about music, without being criticized.
And yes, I know that John Lennon is already dead.
Also, I would like to say that I have lost some friends because of the Beatles.
While I’m no huge fan of the Beatles or Lennon’s sanctimonious and naive “Peace & Love” pose, I’m curious as to what is it about the melodic / chordal substance of their music that you find so objectionable, or unlikable.
At the very least they *did* craft a handful of highly original, melodically rich and instructive songs.
Just wondering…
Best Regards.
Hi Larry,
I guess if I have to be honest there’s very little I can say that’s objective. It’s just that in pop songs I find major keys, and in particular the mixolydian mode, to be incredibly twee and dishonest. The Beatles are just too nice for me to enjoy. I think it’s a matter of having been bought up on heavy metal. Harmonically the Beatles are very different to Heavy Metal:- metal makes itself different from other kinds of rock by not using those chords.
But you know, it’s only my opinion.
Beatles are way overrated! They are just a bunch of black music ripoff artists who were good enough to write their own stuff and add a big dash of saccharin melodies on top of a blues back beat. Racism made them popular. America needed a set of well-dressed, well-spoken (any British accent sounds “refined” to the dumbass American, including a cockney one) set of Anglos (even if they were really Scottish and Irish) to make black music acceptable. Heaven forbid their daughters cream their draws for a darkie.
If you read the unofficial history of the Beatles, they were a boy band just like “new shit on the cock” who were pimped by black executives until they were outbid by a whitey with more money. Read about their earliest years with Vee Jay records: http://www.dermon.com/Beatles/Veejay.htm
Alright, they put out a lot of material. Agreed, they were prolific. But who can’t when you have all the time in the world to write songs wearing pajamas and smoking joints instead being subjected to long grueling tours. How many rock bands would have been even more prolific if they had the same privileges the Beatles had?
The excuse that they stopped touring because they couldn’t hear themselves play was a load of hogwash. They were purely a studio band. Even at that, they weren’t a very good one. Tons of other musicians played sessions for them on their albums.
Oh gosh, I can’t stand them either. The people who like them the most out of my friends turned into druggies, dropped out of school and said “if it’s good enough for the Beatles, it’s good enough for me.” I think the band is overrated AND set a bad example for society.
Whether you like them or not they are a fact of life and you can’t underestimate their influence on music world in a wide sense. Even symphonic orchestras perform Beatles’ instrumentals.
I can’t say I’m their fan and probably if I had a collection of 100 records of various bands Beatles would be the last I put in my player but their melodic stuff played instrumentally like ‘Yesterday’ or ‘Michelle’ are unBeatable
Even jazz cats don’t deny them and like to embelish their songs.
Thanks for the comment, Serge.
I suspect orchestras and jazzers play Beatles songs for commercial rather than artistic reasons.
I wouldn’t deny their influence – I just happen not to like them, that’s all
.
If you did, not or do not like the Beatles, for those reasons you stated, I think you should re value your personal musical knowledge.
Most of those lyrics were written in the sixties, do you remember the other bands of that time who were, doing similar lyrics ?
They were praised and are still recognised as simply the best Team of song writers of the last century Jimmy Web, Burt Bach…..and Hal David,
Sammy Cahn , the list goes on and on.
When they came on the scene there were no smart Alecs setting up Web Sites, No Forums, No Internet, No Books telling us how songs were constructed.
Yesterday, Long And Winding Road, Hard Days Night, were all the artists that covered these songs Pratts?
No I think not, what have we had since them apart From Queen
and the songs of Fred Mercury. ?
The Whole four chord Punk Revolution , Eighties Music full of synthesisers, and pre sets for idiot musicians.
And today’s Pop music base on almost Pornographic Videos
and three hundred dancers.
The Beatles were innovative, every song was different,
was the Youth Movement of every country insane to like them.
No it’s people like you full of your own self importance who don’t know what they are talking about.
Get a life and stop printing utter Rubbish Threads like this one.
I doubt if you’ll publish this because it puts a large question mark over your musical mentality.
So the descending Bass line against the major chord irritates you, Bass Inversions, Pedal Point.
have been used on nearly every memorable hit of the last Century, What do you want to hear the Tonic of the Chord only? Something wrong with your ear I would suggest, all hit songs hav a certain ammount of dissonance
ask Gary Ewer .
You have missed the point of this post as well. I said reasons to dislike not reasons that they’re no good. I agree with most of your points and didn’t disagree with them in the post. I just happen not to enjoy some aspects of their music. It’s just a matter of personal taste.
Its a cliche i don’t like. Your comment about dissonance is rather amusing given what I’ve written on the subject. And Gary Ewer is a writer I admire and often agree with.