The Fab Ten

Picking the top ten Beatles songs of all time is like trying to select the ten best Playboy centerfolds of all time-there is an endless collection of good stuff to choose from. While spending days leafing through a collection of over 50 years of Playboy magazines would probably be a damn good time, I just don't have that kind of energy. So instead, I have taken just a couple of hours to come up with my top ten favorite tunes from the greatest band ever assembled.

10. Yesterday

This Paul McCartney masterpiece is one of the most covered Beatles tunes of all time. The words and music, beautiful in their simplicity, made many members of previous generations concede that the Beatles were more than just another noise making rock-and-roll band.

9. Sexy Sadie

Back when crazy Charles Manson thought the Beatles were communicating with him through the White Album, he chose the title of this John Lennon song as his pet name for Manson Family member and murderer Susan Atkins. Charlie may have been a nut job, but he knew good music when he heard it and Sadie represents some of Lennon's best work.

8. Hey Jude

McCartney wrote this one for Lennon's son Julian around the time John and his first wife were splitting up. Had the Beatles stayed together and toured, this great melody with a never-ending sing-along ending would have been the big encore, "flick-your-Bic" anthem.

7. Here Comes the Sun

Being only the third best songwriter in a band usually means you aren't very good at it; not so for George Harrison who penned this timeless tune. It's the perfect song to listen to at the end of a "long, cold, lonely winter."

6. I Should Have Known Better

The best of the early Beatles songs, this Lennon composition features John on lead vocals as well as on harmonica. Nothing mind-bending about this one, it's just a nice little tune.

5. Happiness is a Warm Gun

Another great Lennon piece from the White Album, John came up with this somewhat obscure Beatles song after spotting a similar title on the cover of a magazine geared towards gun enthusiasts. It is also one of the weirdest songs to come from the rather weird mind of Mr. Lennon. Written in three disjointed parts, the opening bars seem to be intended to put the listener into a depression. The middle part is simply a repetition of the unusual line, "Mother Superior jump the gun." Finally, the song closes with Lennon crooning the title followed by the rest of the Beatles singing, "bang-bang, shoot-shoot." It's one very strange song that somehow manages to also be very good-at least to very strange people.

4. I Got a Feeling

A true example of a Lennon & McCartney combined effort; I Got a Feeling is one of the lesser-known Beatles gems. Paul wrote the opening, John the middle (including the words, "Everybody had a wet dream"), and the final portion is a simultaneous repeat of the opening and middle sections. Great song!

3. Come Together

No one truly knows what John was thinking-or smoking-when he came up with this one. A great intro and lyrics such as "toe jam football" make Come Together one of the coolest songs ever written.

2. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

This haunting Harrison beauty manages to stand tall among the Lennon & McCartney compositions that dominate the classic White Album. Despite the song's title, it is a wonderful piano intro that gets this one going before George's vocals and studio guest Eric Clapton's masterfully weeping guitar work does the rest.

1. A Day in the Life

Another great example of Lennon & McCartney teamwork, this song is the last cut on Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, helping make it one of the greatest albums ever recorded. John penned the major portion ("I read the news today, oh boy..."), while Paul came up with the middle section ("Woke up, got out of bed..."). Throw in the cacophonous collection of sound that follows "I'd love to turn you on" along with the longest single note in recording history that closes out the song and you have a true classic.