Film Fest Stars Pick Beatles Favorites

From the AP via the Huffington Post courtesy of AlterNet:

What's the best Beatles song?

The revolutionary tunes of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr are back on the big-screen with "Across the Universe," a boy-meets-girl musical romance set amid the social turbulence of Vietnam and the 1960s.

In advance of its theatrical debut Friday, "Across the Universe" played at the Toronto International Film Festival, where The Associated Press asked stars what Beatles song was their favorite.

Most hemmed and hawed, some said it was impossible to pick one and a couple chose a certain post-Beatles Lennon composition.

A sampling of they had to say:

_ Evan Rachel Wood, star of "Across the Universe":

"It's hard, because it depends on where you are in your life and what day it is, because they really covered everything. So right now, hmm, recently, I would sing `Happiness Is a Warm Gun.' I got into that because of `Across the Universe.' It's my favorite number in the movie, how it's this strange, dark song. I like their weird stuff, too, even when they did `Blue Jay Way' and `Fool on the Hill.' You listen to it and it was so ahead of its time. You hear Radiohead nowadays and you're like, wow, I can see these strange similarities."

Click here for the rest.

Although I'm about 80% sure this Across the Universe film is going to suck, with a 10% chance of nearing greatness, this is actually a good question. Wood really nails it with her opening analysis: if you're a Beatle fan, it all has to do with where you are at any given moment in your life. She also makes a really good choice with "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," one of John's more disturbing but silly songs. It is interesting to note that most of those polled chose stuff from the late 60s. For me, that's too easy, and it would also be overlooking some of the important gems from their transitional period, the couple of years between the Beatlemania phase and the release of Sgt. Pepper.

For my money, at this moment in my life, it's a tie between "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" and "I'm a Loser." Both are primarily Lennon compositions and heavily inspired by Bob Dylan, who had recently met them, got them smoking grass, and challenged them to be more introspective with their lyric writing. The first of these two tunes is ostensibly a spurned love song, but upon closer examination shows some well articulated James Dean angst, and the hook - ah, that wonderful hook! - is a passionate as anything John ever sang. The second tune is just heartbreaking in its sadness. Again, it appears to be another lost-love song, but peel away a layer or two and we see a very literate picture of existential pain: John is "a clown" but underneath it all his "tears fall like rain from the sky." This is about far more than breaking up with a girlfriend. It's also got a fabulous George Harrison rockabilly style guitar solo.

Here is a damned good and very faithful rendition of "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" by a Beatle tribute band called the Fab Four.

Here is another excellent cover, of "I'm a Loser," by the same band.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$