Today I listening to my iPod on shuffle and The Beatles' "I Want You (She's so Heavy) came up. Immediately after was Bob Dylan's "I Want You." It was a weird coincidence, and it got me wondering. They're both great, but which is better? I say Dylan's, that's my 2 cents.
That’s a good one; I think Dylan’s is clearly superior as a song…but there are certainly times when I’d rather hear Lennon’s exercise in extended ferocity.
I once had the notion of putting together a playlist of all the songs I could think of named “Revolution.” You’ve got the Beatles, Bob Marley, Judas Priest, Public Enemy, Arrested Development, R.E.M., and no doubt many others.
(iirc, Chuck Klosterman, a sometimes exasperating person but still the best writer I know on the subject of metal, opined that Judas Priest’s “Revolution” really should be a gay anthem…I think that’s the only reason I’ve heard of it.)
I would say the Beatles "I Want You" and for many reasons. The sound, the vocals, the construction, and the basic musical ideas. Dylan IMO was not in the same league musically than the Beatles. There is a reason why Dylan respected Harrison
Not as much as they respected Dylan,in fact Harrison was quoted as saying one time that in 500 years time,Bob Dylan will be remembered as the key figure of the rock era,not the Beatles.
You know what? To save ourselves another completely exasperating debate about whether anyone in the history of the universe is better than the Beatles, how about we agree to adopt a new list of acclaimed songs? The top five would be:
1. “Strawberry Fields Forever,” The Beatles
2. “A Day in the Life,” The Beatles
3. “Here Comes the Sun,” The Beatles
4. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” The Beatles
5. “Let It Be,” The Beatles
And so forth. Eventually, we would get to
207. “PS I Love You,” The Beatles
208. “Matchbox,” The Beatles
209. “A Taste of Honey,” The Beatles
210. “Devil in Her Heart,” The Beatles
211. “Dig It,” The Beatles
212. “Like a Rolling Stone,” Bob Dylan [but inspired by George Harrison]
213. “Satisfaction,” The Rolling Stones [which they made after listening to “Drive My Car”]
214. “Good Vibrations,” The Beach Boys [which was an attempt to outdo “Tomorrow Never Knows”]
215. “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Nirvana [structurally similar to “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”]
216. “Respect,” Aretha Franklin [who has covered “Eleanor Rigby” and “Let It Be”]
217. “Johnny B. Goode,” Chuck Berry [later improved upon by George Harrison]
Further extending the list is left as an exercise for the reader.
I was waiting for someone to bring up Costello and Gaye, both of whose songs are good but not IMO as good as the Beatles or Dylan.
And fellow Beatles fans on here, why do you get so irritable when someone says something like "I don't like the Beatles" or "This artist is better than the Beatles" etc., etc? Yeah, they're the most acclaimed and popular band ever. But not everyone thinks that, and just because they disagree doesn't make them an idiot. I don't like to sound preachy but whenever they come up on here it seems like anything meaningful turns into bickering.
