Solo Beatles - Best Hit?

tomcat · 03-28-2010, 03:28 PM

The following are probably the biggest hit for each member of the Beatles during their solo years. Which is best?

Ringo Star - Photograph

George Harrison - My Sweet Lord

John Lennon - Imagine

Paul McCartney - Band on the Run

tomcat · 03-28-2010, 03:33 PM

They're all good songs, but I'll start it out with a vote for: Paul's Band on the Run.

kath · 03-28-2010, 04:57 PM

wow. i'm gonna hafta think on this one a bit. and thinkin just aint really my strong suit today. ahem.

since we are talking about songs and not albums, i'm taking off paul and george.

this leaves two polar opposites in feel. ringo and john.

which song best represents "hit" as in poppy, catchy, hooky, etc? ringo's.

which song is one of those poetic, resonant, send-off-on-the-satellite-as-earth-explodes kinda songs? john's.

so. what am i in the mood for right this very now?

ringo.

Foxhound · 03-28-2010, 05:17 PM

Myself I'm going with the poetic, resonant, send-off-on-the-satellite-as-earth-explodes kinda thing that Kath was so gallantly trying to put into words.

Groovy Man · 03-28-2010, 06:54 PM

Photograph or Band On The Run?...

hmmmm....

Band On The Run, but not by much over ''Photograph''.

Love both tunes dearly.

**Lynch** · 03-28-2010, 07:31 PM

I am a fan of all 4 of these songs. How to choose one over another? Eesh, I guess it would depend on my mood. In my opinion, all 4 of these songs are very very different from each other. To break them down in simple terms...

Photograph - of the 4 songs, this one is the most poppy and catchy. Interestingly enough, George Harrison plays guitar and sings background vocals on this tune and if I'm not mistaken, Ringo and George wrote the song together.

My Sweet Lord - very melodic, great simple guitar work that just sounds cool as hell from the opening riff all the way to the end. Lyrics dealing with religion, generically touching on both Christian and Hindu beliefs (kinda/sorta).

Imagine - the quinnessential hippie message, everyone hold hands, sing Kumbaya and think about how cool things would be if we could just .... (fill in the blank). A good song, good lyrics, simple yet considered powerful.

Band on the Run - easily the most muscially complex tune of them all, tempo and rhythm changes that few could pull off. Not saying it's a complex tune, but compared to the other 3. Overall, the song can be broken down into 3 parts, each one could almost stand alone in a song of it's own.

So, musically, Band on the Run would be the best song. Imagine perhaps the most socially meaningful. Photograph perhaps the most touching, in remembering a friend.

But my vote goes to George Harrison - My Sweet Lord. This has long been my favorite song of his and probably always will be. I just love the music and the melodies in this one. Of the 4 songs, I could listen to My Sweet Lord multiple times in a row. I couldn't do that with Imagine or Band on the Run. Once at a time is enough. So it came down to Ringo and George. Had the poll included Ringo's first hit single after the Beatles broke up, being It Don't Come Easy, rather than Photograph, I might have swayed that way.