Liam Gallagher, Johnny Marr, Danny Boyle and others open up on their favourite track by the Fab Four
Johnny Marr: Taxman
Why?
This Revolver track was the moment George Harrison is generally acknowledged to have found his song-writing chops.
But it is the anti-establishment message contained within it that prompted the former Smiths’ frontman to pick out Taxman as his ultimate Beatles song in a 2015 NME feature.
“They didn’t hold back. It’s a very anti-establishment song, especially for those times. They name names and point the finger, and it might be the first directly anti-establishment song to get in the charts,” Marr said.
Danny Boyle: Hello, Goodbye
Why?
The last 40 seconds of Hello, Goodbye are “the best last 40 seconds of any song ever”, the film director Danny Boyle said during this interview to promote his 2019 film Yesterday.
“I have this unbelievable affection for the last 40 seconds of Hello, Goodbye, which is in the film. It’s the best last 40 seconds of any song ever, really. Because it’s impossible to pick one otherwise – you could go on forever,” the Trainspotting director explained.
In the same segment, Lilly James plumped for Blackbird as her favourite Fab Four song.
Sir Kenneth Branagh: For No One
Why?
The stars of 2007 film Across the Universe were asked to nominate their favourite Beatles song ahead of its debut.
Branagh plumped for this Revolver effort, branding it “a lovely tune”.
“It’s just that sad thing, ‘The day breaks, your mind aches, you find that all her words of kindness linger on when she no longer needs you.’ It’s a great, great popular tune that has that melancholic canopy over it,” he told the Associated Press, according to this article from the time.
Liam Gallagher: It Won’t Be Long
Why?
It’s no secret that the former Oasis frontman is a fully paid-up Fab Fours fan.
When asked during a Q&A with fans on Twitter in 2020 to nominate his favourite Beatles song, the former Oasis frontman said “there is no such thing” before instantly contradicting himself and plumping for the lead song from With The Beatles.
No such thing but as you asked it won’t be long
— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) April 19, 2020
Dave Grohl: Hey Bulldog
Why?
Although Grohl introduced several of his favourite Beatles songs during a one-hour interview on BBC Radio 2 in 2019, it was the story behind his first pick that really stood out.
Namely, that of the relatively obscure 1968 piano-based rocker Hey Bulldog.
“To be honest, one of the reasons why I picked this song is because it was my daughter’s first favourite Beatles song. When Violet was young, maybe six, seven years old, for some reason, she connected to Hey Bulldog more than any other Beatles song,” the Foo Fighters frontman explained (according to this article).
“Of course, I’d heard it before, but I’d never listened to it as deeply as I did with her. I started to notice George’s guitar; I started to notice the bass line, the drums. It’s one of my favourite Beatle songs of all time now; thank you to my daughter Violet.”
I Want You (She’s So Heavy), Taxman, All My Loving, Eight Days A Week and Blackbird were his other choices.
Alice Cooper: You Won’t See Me
Why?
Interviewed on Radio 2 by Ken Bruce in 2017, the Poison singer said he could have picked any Beatles number from 1965 or earlier as his favourite.
In the end, however, he plumped for Rubber Soul’s You Won’t See Me, on the strength of its background vocals.
“I could have picked any one of them but for some reason that one was my favourite,” he explained.
“I think what people don’t realise about the Beatles is that they were the best singers – nothing was ever out of tune with either John or Paul. George had a great voice – a whole different voice – and Ringo could sing…[but] you put McCartney and Lennon together on a harmony, it didn’t get any better than that…. And George Martin never let anything get in the way of the vocal.”
Kurt Cobain: Norwegian Wood
Why?
In a 1989 interview with Radio Onde Furlane, Cobain acknowledged that The Beatles were his biggest influence (see transcript here).
The late prince of grunge nominated Rubber Soul’s second track, Norwegian Wood, as his favourite, with then Nirvana drummer Chad Channing expressing his partiality for Beatles For Sale numbers Eight Days a Week, I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party and Every Little Thing.
“Right now, even now, I’m starting to go back to listen to The Beatles. My favourite period is the Rubber Soul period, the guitar and the simple melodies are my favourite,” Cobain said after explaining that he had listened intensively to the Fab Four between the age of 5 and 4th grade.
Simon Pegg: Tomorrow Never Knows
Why?
Although Pegg didn’t specify a reason why this Revolver track is his personal favourite, the actor and comedian did reveal that the song was playing during a poignant moment of his life.
Talking to The Big Issue last July, Pegg revealed that he and his wife were listening to the Fab Four as their now teenage daughter was born.
“She was born to Girl by The Beatles. Then the first song that came on after I cut the cord was Tomorrow Never Knows, my favourite Beatles song, so I was bobbing around the operating theatre to that,” he said.
