We Can't Work It Out: The Fab War -- Round 7

"Strawberry Fields Forever" v. "When I'm Sixty-Four" v. "It's All Too Much" v. "Don't Pass me By"


It's really sad that "Strawberry Fields Forever wasn't stuck in a different round, as it is clearly one of John's best pieces, though there is some stiff competition afoot.

"It's All Too Much has a relentless groove that makes it endearing, but that's also part of its flaw. The groove is so jammin', that it stays with it for six and a half minutes without really expanding much on what it starts with. There is some mediocre Harrison soloing, a few horn charts, but it doesn't really go anywhere groundbreaking. "Strawberry Fields," however, goes all over the place, and that is its real strenths. That song has more shifts than an all-night diner.

"When I'm 64" is one of my favorite songs of Paul's, mostly for its undeniable poppiness, but also somewhat for its contemporaneous irony; I mean, the dude's at least 64 now. Thankfully he didn't bring a Vera McCartney into the world. It's a name best suited to an older generation, not the one that followed him. The song, though, is filled with killer hooks and witty lyrics. Its refreshing and fun.

"Strawberry Fields Forever" is like a surreal dream. It is like waking up inside of a pink Monet painting with a wicked drum beat. There are tons of surprising instrumental bits taken from thousands of chance sounds. The story of the mix-down of this song could fill two books. As it is, on the Anthology series it fills three tracks, the third mixing together a multitude of takes, without ever getting close to the grandeur of the finished product. It is a George Martin masterpiece. And then there's the mind-bending end to the song with the bit about either burying Paul or raspberry applesauce, depending on what you believe. Still, part of me feels that without all the slick production, this wouldn't be quite the amazing number that it is. Still, its clearly in the top two.

For number one this round, I have to tip my had to Ringo. "Don't Pass Me By" is an amazing first composition. It is ten times better than all of Keith Moon's failed songwriting attempts put together ("Tommy's Holiday Camp"?). The arrangement is also phenomenal. The clangy piano is nice, but what puts it over the top is that windy, woody violin. This gives this utterly modern pop tune echoes of the old-timey. Ringo's first post-Beatles album, Beaucoups of Blues, was a country album, and I feel this song, much more than the Buck Owens cover "Act Naturally" (Ringo tackles it on Help!), points the way to Ringo's infatuation with that genre.

This Round:

John - 3
Paul - 2
George - 1
Ringo - 4

Totals thus far:

Paul - 22
John - 21
George - 14
Ringo - 13