Listening to HELP! for the first time...Music is magical

[@williamhild1793]

"The Night Before" is such a hidden gem of The Beatles. A fantastic song.

[@richardscanlan3419]

Is it hidden though? cracking number.Only "You're Going To Lose That Girl" is better .

[@PaulQuintanaJr]

Caroline: "I wonder if they'll add more orchestral instruments? I'm a big fan of that." Every Beatles Fan: (Jack Nicholson grinning meme)

[@polytheneprentiss1534]

😁 IKR?! I put a comment “hell yes! You just wait” as an answer to that

[@peterking9943]

Stay Tuned

[@darshin95]

LMFAO

[@trishakluge1926]

The opening song was instrumental in the movie and other parts (like the tiger scene) too bad they took all that out of the newer CD’s WTF anyway Amazon

[@JohnReynoldsisT_2]

Why "Yesterday" is so good: It's just one of those songs that McCartney writes occasionally that feels like it's just always existed and he was able to access it and bring it to us all. It's like discovering a beautiful mathematical proof, uncovering some truth about the universe, and Paul shared it with the rest of us.

[@jerbib9598]

You sound like you're open-ended about so much. You might be interested in music theory.

[@Fool3SufferingFools]

This seems true in a way, because Paul actually dreamed the chords and melody and woke up with the song in his head. After playing it for many people to see if they knew what it was, he concluded that his subconscious must have written it.

[@taflo1981]

As a mathematician, I absolutely love that comparison.😍

[@markwestervelt9708]

Saw a recent interview with McCartney about the song and how he could of written a song like yesterday so young. He came to realize he subconsciously wrote the song about his mother dying when he was 15.

[@JohnReynoldsisT_2]

@@Fool3SufferingFools Scrambled eggs ...

[@johndavids4780]

Ringo is a great and creative drummer. He rarely plays what most drummers would play. He just puts his own spin on everything. I love his drumming.

[@fractuss]

One of the best. The most popular band in the world might not be a thing without him. Doubt me.

[@gerrycoogan6544]

Most drummers play the drums. Ringo always played the song.

[@tazloon]

One of the things that still amazes me about 'Yesterday' is that McCartney recorded it four days before turning 23 years old! He had a maturity beyond his years.

[@bobg6638]

Me too and so true

[@ewest14]

And he also recorded I’m Down and I’ve Just Seen a Face on the same day

[@margaretboyd4747]

Yes Paul is an amazing treasure- he and John wrote many of their songs in less than an hour( one of them being a hard days night) all four guys were awesome geniuses and so funny and charming to us 17 year olds when they came over in February 1964- ringo was on mtv(storytellers) explaining his songs he wrote and sang it was adorable- have you seen the movie yesterday- it’s great

[@hillardschlachman6610]

Original title was Scrambled Eggs .

[@johnriley4320]

“Ticket to Ride” - The power of Lennon and McCartney’s voices together is unique in all of music. It’s electrifying, all these years later.

[@markcrombie8875]

Two of the greatest voices in rock n roll history combining for one of their greatest songs.

[@dennislasley6516]

Wait until you hear the next one! Rubber Soul may be their best and a real turning point in their development. Wildly inventive and I’m anxious to hear your opinion on it!

[@williamkanegateshead]

@@dennislasley6516 Preach on brother!

[@recordrob3887]

She seemed a little put off by the unusual rhythm. I hope she listens again to discover what an amazing song it is. The choices they made with the vocal harmony, where Paul's voice comes in and where it drops away, fantastic.

[@ronb5949]

You mentioned bass lines. There are a couple of guys on you tube who offer the lines striped from the rest of the music. I have listened for 55 years and there were songs that I knew cold and couldn't Identify the bass line without the rest of the music. McCartney oftened played harmony and/or melody withthe bass. Really cool stuff on its own.

[@SomervilleBob]

1965. Paul was 23, John was 25, George was 22, Ringo was 25. Amazing.

[@PaulMcCaffreyfmac]

It takes over 50 years off me, watching you hearing The Beatles for the first time. I love it. You have some major treats coming your way from those clever, clever boys.

[@2204happy]

Me: Reads your name Also Me: Had us in the first half not gonna lie

[@patrickgalvin1403]

@ Paul Mcaffrey is right. You are in for a treat. I can’t wait until you get to Sgt. Pepper. This is when they stopped touring and you will definitely hear a change. I love watching you enjoy this music.

[@loosilu]

@@patrickgalvin1403 Sgt Pepper is my FAVORITE.

[@patrickgalvin1403]

@@loosilu you have good taste. It is really good. This was the first album when I got into the Beatles. I love their early stuff also. Great harmonies.

[@alanmusicman3385]

@@loosilu I liked Pepper best at one time - these days I lean toward Revolver as my pick.

[@elizadennison7433]

"You're Going To Lose That Girl" and "The Night Before" are the secret weapons on this album.

[@jefffinkbonner9551]

Both are quietly really, really good songs. “You’ve got to hide your love away” as well.

[@georgeorr1042]

Yes! And “Another Girl”, “ I Need You” and “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.” All crazy catchy. These less famous songs are in my early Beatles mix. Carolyn is great too.

[@TAJMofficial]

@@georgeorr1042 You've Got To Hide Your Love Away is VERY famous

[@georgeorr1042]

@@TAJMofficial Perhaps your right. Its reputation has increased in recent years. I prefer it over the more famous 3/4 song “Norwegian Wood.”

[@haraldversteegden2562]

Thought that was I've just seen a face

[@wayneburgess5336]

Yesterday is like the Mona Lisa.. Human beings can explain why it's GREAT forever and ever.. But in the end you still don't know why it's so sublime.. It just is...

[@jprg1966]

I'm really enjoying this series, Caroline. As a Beatles superfan I've heard these songs hundreds of times, but I'm noticing things for the first time in the arrangement because you have such a keen ear. It's so unusual for someone who hasn't heard their songs before to be able to teach so much about them!

[@RayRay-zt7bj]

Same here. Caroline is AMAZING with picking certain elements out of the songs.

[@CallMeCaroline]

That's really kind of you to say, thank you for taking the time to watch and comment!

[@himalayanvoices2158]

I feel the same ..fresh ears bring out details that I have taken for granted

[@andyschnell58]

@@CallMeCaroline Love your reaction to the Beatles. I highly suggest you react to Angelina Jordan, a music prodigy but the only one I know who specializes in vocals. She won Norway's Got Talent at age 8 singing Billie Holiday and Angelina was seemingly born a jazz vocalist. Now at age 15 and signed with Republic Records, her family requested Republic to allow her as normal a childhood as possible (thank goodness). Angelina's latest video is her cover of the Beatles Yesterday and that would be an awesome introduction to the greatest vocalist most people have yet to learn about.

[@Archipelington]

Same for me. I know all The Beatles songs so well, but not quite as well as I thought.

[@cae2525]

Can't wait for the Rubber Soul and Revolver reaction. That's when their music gets on another level.

[@IsaacWale2004]

I can't wait for Revolver specifically, her reaction will be priceless!

[@shadecluster8840]

Cant wait for the rubber soul!

[@abandonedchannel1159]

And with sgt pepper's and the white album we will see her reaction to The Beatles at their full potencial. Well, I think every album after Rubber soul is a masterpiece

[@Edward1312]

Yesterday, You've got to hide your love away and Ticket to ride are another level!

[@Jovolution]

Yeah, can't wait for Revolver.

[@Glyn75]

"I wonder if they add more orchestral instruments?" - awaits A Day In The Life head explosion. Great fun as always.

[@samsowden]

or eleanor rigby

[@mikecavaretta2621]

No spoilers! :)

[@SalRodmen]

I listen you, bro!!

[@terrygj]

Shhhhhh! Don't spoil it! 😊

[@davecphilly]

This is about to get good

[@singlesideman]

This is the best "Oh, I forgot how great it was" album in The Beatles' discography. I rediscovered it last summer after having not listened to it in at least 38 years. Listening to the less well known songs after having forgotten them after so long feels like discovering great new unreleased material by the band. Just a phenomenal album.

[@fiddleandfart]

Yes, just the way "Help!" CRASHES in from nothing vocally - to launch this album, and this song (and, of course, the film) is quite something! And yes, so many great tracks...

[@carnacthemagnificent2498]

A while back I was talking to someone about the greatest Beatle albums (the usual suspects, Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road, Revolver, etc) and I said "Help!" is a sleeper pick. He looked at me like I was crazy. But it has Ticket to Ride, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, Help, and Yesterday on it for crying out loud. Guy had to admit that while it's not the best Beatles album and gets overshadowed by their other albums if it was almost any other band it would be considered their masterpiece.

[@lancep4164]

@@carnacthemagnificent2498 I totally agree. The lesser known songs are also excellent. The Night Before, You’re Gonna LTG, I’ve Just SaF, I could go on. Love this album.

[@carnacthemagnificent2498]

@@lancep4164 I think in the states the album suffered because they limited it to just the songs from the film plus a lot of instrumental stuff from the movie score. So it's missing 'Yesterday' and 'I've Just Seen a Face' for example to make room for the score. Now that we have the UK release we see it's an album that has an incredible song selection but those who grew up with the US version dismiss it as having a lot of orchestral time filler and haven't listened to it in with the original UK track listing.

[@rodroller6634]

Sometimes I forget how lucky I was to have The Beatles playing in my house as I grew up. One of the few groups my parents agreed on. Thx mom and dad.

[@walrusgumboot]

I almost spat my coffee out thinking you’d actually had the Beatles play live in your house! Then I realised you meant the records… 😅

[@Beragon]

I'm curious if you've noticed the unrelenting strength of the songs after 5 albums. Each album is just one crazy interesting song after another. Melodies that seem discovered rather than crafted. Most artists have a specific sound that they cultivate almost as a brand. Not only does every Beatles album sound different from the others, each song is different from the next. The Beatles were a unique explosion of creativity and exploration that opened up the possibilities for their contemporaries and everyone after them.

[@Lona_Chess]

Great point! I'm hopeful she's impresssed by the sheer volume of creativity that's come from these lads in 5 albums over just 2 short years! That quantity of great music in *such* a short time is unparalleled, IMO.

[@doriskray1430]

Hit the nail on the head…creativity…and realizing that it seemed like a new band with each album.

[@CallMeCaroline]

Melodies seem discovered rather than crafted...ohhh that's so well put! I think that's the best compliment haha

[@notvalidcharacters]

@@CallMeCaroline Actually "melody discovered" is literally what Yesterday is. Paul woke up one morning wtih the melody in his head and thought surely it must be something old that he picked up, but when nobody could identify it he developed it into music, derived from a dream. That happened multiple times but I won't give away the plot spoiler just now...

[@gsparkman]

With Beatles albums it’s easy to say, “That’s not one of my favorites,” but it’s really hard to say, “That song is crap.” Most albums before, during and after The Beatles were/are comprised of two or three good song padded with seven or eight truly forgettable songs. Even at their worst they were better than 90% of the rest.

[@AtomicHobo1]

Caroline hearing Yesterday and then suddenly talking about music being actual magic is the reactions I'm here for!

[@matthewmckibben]

To answer your question as to why "Yesterday" as a song really works, I think the answer is probably multilayered. On the one hand, the Beatles were revolutionizing music and no popstars of that popularity (at that time) were combining folk and rock together into such a neatly wrapped package. On top of that, McCartney's lyrics were loaded with both sentiment and empathy, which make the song highly relatable. But on top of all that, you have George Martin (their producer) pushing them to try new things, which you hear that here with the orchestration. This is one of those songs where you can see the possibilities of pop music as a genre. It's folk, it's classical, and it's timeless. There are a lot of "this is where that moment started" moments with the Beatles and you can trace a lot of other songs both they did and other artists did back to specific moments. "Yesterday" is one such moment.

[@ianbentley7276]

great comment.

[@darkjanggo]

another thing: the teens really loved hearing the cute beatle sing a heartfelt ballad. just swoons all around

[@gavinreid5387]

Ever heard of the American folk singer who influenced The Beatles? He was very popular, .Bob Dylan. In England during the 60s there was also a huge folk music revival.

[@garyr8739]

Actually, John and Paul may disagree with you on George Martin's contributions. Here is some quotes from Lennon's Letters. "In one of the angrier missives included in The John Lennon Letters, the then-bitter ex-Beatle lays into Martin for supposedly taking too much credit for the group's sound. He also smacks the producer down for giving McCartney too much credit for some of the songwriting. "When people ask me questions about 'What did George Martin really do for you?,' I have only one answer, 'What does he do now?' I noticed you had no answer for that! It's not a putdown, it's the truth," wrote Lennon, who had brought in Phil Spector to redo Martin's work on Let It Be and then continued to work with Spector as a solo artist. "I think Paul and I are the best judges of our partners," Lennon wrote, less than politely. "Just look at the world charts and, by the way, I hope Seatrain is a good substitute for the Beatles." Can you say "snap, squared"? Seatrain, as very few people will recall, was the unremarkable California roots-rock band Martin was assigned to produce by Capitol Records immediately after the Beatles' breakup. What angered Lennon so? In the larger sense, armchair psychologists might suppose that a would-be "working class hero" like Lennon possibly harbored some resentment over having his musical revolution seen as reliant on a stiff-upper-lip establishmentarian like Martin. But in the immediate sense, Lennon was reacting to a Melody Maker interview in which Martin made some seemingly innocent remarks that got the rocker's considerable gander up. "Now on to 'Revolution No. 9,' which I recorded with Yoko plus the help of Ringo, George and George Martin. It was my concept, fully," Lennon wrote in a letter co-addressed to the Melody Maker interviewer. "For Martin to state that he was 'painting a sound picture' is pure hallucination. Ask any of the other people involved. The final editing Yoko and I did alone (which took four hours)..." I am not saying he had no influence at all, and since none of them could write music, he had to write everything down for them. They just created it. He could only make suggestions and they made the decisions as to use them or not. Some they used, some they did not. At times, there were even arguments where George Martin told them that you can't use Classical music that way, and John or Paul would tell him, to bad, we are going to anyway because, that is what we want. The group was always in control of the music regardless of what George Martin wanted.

[@darkjanggo]

@@garyr8739 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqO1nWNsaqeFaNk as john says, george still did a great deal in advancing their art

[@chrisdelisle3954]

A little nugget for when you listen to other songs (B-sides) from this period: know that "Yesterday," "I've Just Seen A Face" and the song "I'm Down" were all recorded on the same day. The range of Paul McCartney's voice is astounding.

[@yellyman5483]

Up to this album John was the main writer in the Beatles, but "Help" was when Lennon&McCartney became equals.

[@stefanogiuman]

Are you listening to all this for the very first time? Why did it take you so long? I'm happy you liked it so much. Never heard of Beatles before?

[@ewest14]

@@yellyman5483 not by much. John only had a couple songs more than Paul on each

[@yellyman5483]

@@ewest14 Paul had only three songs on the "A hard day`s night " album. The rest was John`s. John wrote most of the singles too. "A hard days night" "I feel fine" "Ticket to ride" "Help" "Day tripper" etc were all mainly John Lennon songs. Paul had one or two in between there. John dominated the first part of the Beatles. Paul dominated the last part.

[@gerrycoogan6544]

@@yellyman5483 Spot on. It wasn't until about 1966 that Paul became the dominant writer of the hit singles (plus the tunes which got the most radio plays and cover versions, even if they weren't A-sides. For example, "Yesterday" wasn't a single in the UK but it was constantly played on the radio, performed by other musicians). Sadly, John stopped competing at around that time instead of raising his game as he had done before. It is reported that he even admitted to Paul that he thought Paul's songs on "Revolver" were better than his own! At least John n was honest enough to recognise that "Here, There And Everywhere" (which John actually loved!), "Eleanor Rigby", "Got To Get You Into My Life" and "Good Day Sunshine"" were extremely substantial pieces of work. Personally, I love John's work at this period. Apart from the Revolver tracks such as "She Said, She Said", "And Your Bird Can Sing" and "Tomorrow Never Knows", I also strongly feel that "Rain" is one of the very finest tracks which Our Heroes ever recorded and - as an aside - I think it is absolutely inexcusable that it has been excluded from the 2023expanded re-issue of the Red Album. Nonetheless. from Yellow Submarine (b/w Eleanor Rigby) onwards only two of the subsequent Beatles A-sides were John songs. ("All You Need Is Love" and "The Ballad Of John And Y*k*). Look at what Paul was doing in that time period! Beatles classics such as "Penny Lane", "Hello Goodbye", Lady Madonna", Hey Jude", "Get Back", "Let It Be", "The Long And Winding Road" as well as giving away massive hits for Badfinger ("Come And Get It"), Mary Hopkin ("Goodbye). the Marmalade (Oh-La-Di") and at the same time John wasn't interested in working on songs such as "Maybe I'm Amazed", "Junk", Teddy Boy", "Every Night" as well as some of George's subsequently immortal recordings such as "All Things Must Pass", "Isn't It A Pity", "Wah Wah" and even "Not Guilty" and "Woman, Don't You Cry For Me". Up until around late 1965 into 1966, John Lennon WAS The Beatles! At least, he was the indisputable leader of the greatest band on the planet and he could sing like no other mortal. Sadly, he lost his way and fell into an ego collapse which left him bereft of self-confidence and extremely vulnerable to any psychopathic predator* into whose path he might fall. * Hi there, Y*k* (just in case your corporate people are monitoring this thread.) Happy Christmas. Enjoy your money while you can. You won't be able to take it with you. On another note, those great artists, Jem Finer and the late Shane MacGowan of The Pogues once intoned, "Merry Christmas, your arse! I pray God it's your last". I think I feel where they were coming from. To everybody else who reads this, Happy Christmas and may you enjoy many more.

[@ronaldhunsucker7331]

The sheer power of Lennon's voice, "Dizzy Miss Lizzie"cover is the finest example of rock music.

[@nickharper3464]

Where he had to really "throw" his voice, Lennon could be outstanding. Twist and Shout, Money, Rock 'n Roll Music and Slow Down in 63-64 were all good examples of this as well as Dizzy Miss Lizzy.

[@Thatmaninrio]

"Leave My Kitten All Alone" is the one from this period he let's it all hang out... And they didn't even release it...

[@JosepMascort-ik4gg]

Prefiero im down

[@rjpg]

The albums you've reviewed so far had incremental improvements. After this, each album had HUGE advancements. I'll love your reactions, and you'll be blown away even more from now on. Can't wait to see your future vids.

[@larrydrozd2740]

Actually, the next two could be a double album, but they were a GIANT leap forward from this. Help was just a hint of things to come.

[@rjpg]

@@larrydrozd2740 yup, George couldn't tell which session was which but I think Revolver is more experimental than Rubber Soul. RS is definitely great but nothing on it is anything like Tomorrow Never Knows.

[@bobbobbins4877]

@@rjpg, yeah, I think people misinterpret what he was trying to say there. George was surely referring to the openness and good atmosphere of how they were produced, it was a good time to be working with the band. Sonically, they were two very different albums. Revolver being far more advanced than Rubber Soul.

[@joe6096]

@@rjpg Rubber Soul does close with Run For Your Life, which, if you actually listen to the words and think about the story John's telling, it could literally scare the bejebus out of some of the girls not used to that kind of topic out of the Beatles mouths. Combine that song with the Yesterday and Today album cover (which was just taken from a photo shoot that the Beatles themselves wanted to make more of an avant garde artistic event than anything nasty) - you know, THAT album cover - and these ain't your beloved Beatles singing about holding hands and closing your eyes to kiss you.

[@stereo999]

I grew up with the American Beatles albums where the songs on the second side of Help were scattered across other albums and the Help album had instrumental music from the movie soundtrack. (Same thing with Hard Days Night)

[@frankofritz53]

I check this channel every day in anticipation of your next Beatles album review. I can’t wait for the next one. You bring a an exuberant joy to all of us listening with you!

[@CallMeCaroline]

Oh I'm glad the videos have brought you joy, thank you so much for watching!

[@johnpress]

@@CallMeCaroline Me too! I binge watch and wait for the next!

[@sueellendockery7358]

Ditto, Caroline. I've been checking the channel every day and finally today was HELP day! Yay. And now I'm reading every comment.

[@rifyrafi]

Ringo invented that unique drumbeat on “Ticket to Ride”. Several great drummers today mark that as one of the many Ringo innovations that was truly original. Also, I’ve heard “Yesterday” maybe 100x before , but your reaction made me tear up like I’m hearing it for the first time through your eyes & ears Caroline. You hear things that I had forgotten. I look forward to your Beatles journey as you take us along with you .

[@tomservojr]

I want to say I read (maybe in Geoff Emerick's book?) that Paul actually came up with that drum part and taught Ringo how he wanted him to play it.

[@oldskoolfool141]

The unique drumbeat on Ticket To Ride was Pauls idea

[@stevewest4994]

I've heard several cover bands get it wrong--they tend to place the last heavy drum hit of the riff right on a semiquaver rather than slightly late.

[@LanceHall]

@@stevewest4994 Ringo is left handed so any delay is built in just because of the location of the drums.

[@LanceHall]

@@tomservojr I would guarantee Ringo played it better even if he's copying Paul.

[@edville4770]

As a young teen growing up in the Philippines, whenever I listened to the Beatles and noticed key changes or tempo changes or very surprising passages in the songs, I'd look around to see if anyone caught them. Invariably, no one did. Thanks Caroline for giving me the reactions that I always expected but never got.

[@jokerswildio]

Nice job 👏. For "I Need You" that delayed guitar effect is, in my opinion, what makes the sound go from good to great. The Beatles were the 1st to experiment with this, they took chances and why we are still fascinated by them going on 60 years after they released these gems.

[@Castironcarnivore]

I never thought I would find it so enjoyable to watch someone else enjoying the Beatles. This is a great journey you’re on, and I’m hooked in with you!

[@TheAerovons]

You should check out the hip hoop artists listening to this stuff. There's one guy that said "Man if these guys were out today there would be no hip hop" LOL. He loves them.

[@jwoods228]

I really love how you start singing along to a song that you have not even heard once all the way through! You series is a delight for us Beatle fans, Caroline! I look forward to each new video!

[@donw804]

Upon first hearing Yesterday, all three other Beatles bowed out, saying there was nothing they could instrumentally add to it. Their producer George Martin (a genius on so many levels) suggested adding a string backing. Paul was not on board with the idea but allowed to him to score a small quartet arrangement. When the song was complete with the strings, Paul knew that GM had nailed it. By the time you finish this Beatles journey, you will understand why I call GM a genius and was the perfect fit for the band as no other producer at the time could have been. Now that you've heard Help!, you will now fully enter the Beatles' middle phase with Rubber Soul and Revolver. The transition from the early phase is notable.

[@josephhebert6356]

When I, my oldest brother and his friend went to see The Beatles in person at Suffolk Downs in Boston on August 18, 1966 we played the car radio all the way during the three hour drive from our hometown. The Revolver album had just come out, so the radio stations were over the moon with that. Some of the songs from the album that were getting heavy rotation were Taxman and Eleanor Rigby, as well as Got To Get You Into My Life. Even though I was a budding musician at that point, I didn't understand that The Beatles weren't going to be playing cellos on Eleanor Rigby in person. At any rate, of the eleven songs that they played they didn't play any songs from the Revolver album, and the newest songs that they played during the US '66 tour were Paperback Writer and Nowhere Man. Their studio accomplishments were now out of sync with what they could do in concert.

[@johnp515]

It wasn’t that simple. George Martin didn’t just go away and score the backing on his own. He sat with McCartney at a piano and they worked it out together, Martin telling McCartney which notes would be cellos and which violins etc. McCartney also insisted that the strings be recorded dry, no vibrato and the high sustained note on violin on the last verse of Yesterday was McCartney’s idea, something George Martin wasn’t sure about but is actually the most moving part of the song.

[@donw804]

@@johnp515 That's all true. I was only trying to give the general thrust of the story without overly elaborating.

[@jeffreykaufmann2867]

@@josephhebert6356 Im pretty sure they could have sung "In My life" live but they never did.

[@kenl2091]

There was only ever one 5th Beatle (sorry Pete Best, Billy Preston, Stu Sutcliffe etc etc) The rest can argue over being 6th. Unlikely they would have been 80% as good/innovative without Sir George Martin.

[@peterjackson4763]

They weren't just creating some of the greatest albums of all time and touring, They were also making films, first A Hard's Day's Night in 1964 and Help! in 1965.

[@pfranktube]

Oh WOW!!! Unfortunately I cannot ever again listen to a Beatles album for the first time... but this is the next best thing!!!!! I absolutely love this. It may sound weird, but I find myself thinking things like 'Wait until the bridge, you will love that bit' and then enjoying your reaction when you get there. Best thing I have seen for a long time, keep it up Caroline, and thank you!

[@TheBeanolad]

YESTERDAY is a special song because Paul (literally) "dreamed up" the music when he was 21 and didn't write words to it for over a year, wanting them to be as good as the music. Quite subconsciously he wrote them about his mother who had died when he was 14, "suddenly" as he sings. (Yesterday mentions love just once, in the third verse. Nowhere else). People still wrongly assume it's a break-up song but it's depth of feeling goes way beyond a break up into genuine mourning. It was several years before Paul realized that he had put his real feelings about his mother's death into the song as he told the story that when told of her death (from cancer kept secret from Paul) he at first blurted out "What will we do without her money?" (she was main breadwinner in the family) ie "I said something wrong"; Cancer was in the 1950s diagnosed by x ray- "a shadow on the lung", viz "there's shadow hanging over me". The 14 year old Paul says "how I long for yesterday" and his loss is palpable. In 1965 the song resonated very deeply with young adults which The Beatles earlier music hadn't. 25-35 year olds had lived through WWII as children and so most had known death and loss and they felt the emotion in Yesterday. A few years later Paul dreamed of his mother reassuring him, and that made it's way into another of his classic songs. Ticket To Ride's vocals are quite the most astounding up to this date: listen to the heavy, tired sadness in John's voice in the first line and then Paul's bluesy harmony on the second and third lines- magical and unique and totally unsuitable- yet perfect.

[@dj71162]

He didnt dream it up, he subconsciously remembered Answer Me, My Love by Nat King Cole. McCartney has made a career about of simplistic and catchy melodies. I think youre giving him far too much credit as a songwriter.

[@TheBeanolad]

@@dj71162 Answer Me My Love was an adaptation by lyricist Carl Sigman of a religious German song called "Mutterlein," by the German composer Gerhard Winkler, not by Nat king Cole. I've heard that theory, originated by Spencer Leigh, but the melody of Yesterday is nothing like Answer Me.

[@BabbleBebble]

@@dj71162 Definitely he said several times that he dreamt the music, he woke up listening the sound in his head, but any other idea that doesn't belong to Paul McCartney is always ok...

[@ewest14]

@@dj71162 There's minor similarities in a couple of the words but the melody and rest of the words are very different.

[@dj71162]

@@ewest14 Yeah, but thats where it got it from originally.

[@johngibson3743]

It's fascinating to watch a bright, musical person like yourself hear the Fab Four for the first time. Lennon did say "Help" really was a call for help and was one his favorite songs.

[@bradwilliams7198]

Lennon in particular didn't like performing live, especially after things got really crazy. Neither did George to a lesser extent, and so in 1966 they stopped touring. Watch the excerpt of the movie "Let it Be" in which Paul is trying to convince John to do a live performance.

[@johnjarvis2346]

The most fun thing about all this isn’t even what you say..it’s the smile and look of surprise every 8 bars or so when the Beatles do something unexpected. Although their songs are catchy and seem simple, they are hands down the most creative and innovative and unafraid rock band ever! Fun to watch thank you!

[@dj71162]

I would say the Beach Boys are. They made the greatest album, greatest single and greatest song, the greatest vocals and the greatest musician - all of which heavily inspired the Beatles. McCartney himself called God Only Knows the greatest song ever written and directly cited Pet Sounds as the number one inspiration for Sgt Pepper. The Beatles didnt even produce their own music and were very average vocalists by comparison. The Beach Boys were much more groundbreaking and made better music.

[@johnjarvis2346]

@@dj71162 Those are all great points and the Beatles themselves agreed with many of them. What a great and inspiring time for pop music eh?

[@doesnotexist305]

@@dj71162 The Beach Boys were great and a competitive influence for the Beatles. But people who say The Beach Boys were better than the Beatles have only one album to talk about and that’s Pet Sounds. And yes Pet Sounds is a great album but nobody is going to convince me that Pet Sounds is greater than Rubber Soul, Revolver, Pepper, White Album, Abbey Road or Let It Be. And when you take all those albums into account as well as singles like Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, Hey Jude and others you realize that the Beatles were far superior in sheer quantity of quality material. The Beach Boys peaked at Pet Sounds. The Beatles were only hitting their stride by Pepper. Literally every album the Beatles put out are classic albums. Not to mention the Beatles movies. By far and away the greatest and most innovative band to ever exist. And most important and influential too.

[@dj71162]

@@doesnotexist305 Right, but Im talking about the actual music. I will admit that the Beatles were bigger and more influential of course, but Im talking about the music. I will admit the BBs only made one truly great album but thats because all the pressure was on one guy, while the Beatles had Lennon-McCartney-Harrison and Martin producing them, plus incredible marketing. PS is easily better than any of the Beatles works. Easy. Its like if Mozart made rock music and had angels sing it. Its otherworldly. The Beatles to me feel like 4 different people pulling in 4 different directions and none of them were as good vocalists, plus they didnt produce their own sound. Its like Im either listening to a Lennon song, a McCartney song, etc. Therefore I am much more impressed by the BB because nobody created a group sound like that. I could name maybe 20 or 30 songs at least Id say are better than the Beatles best song, but instead Ill just name their 3 greatest - Good Vibrations, God Only Knows and Surf's Up. The Beatles never even got close in my mind.

[@johnjarvis2346]

@@dj71162 The Beach Boys definitely had the number one resident genius…that is true! And Brian Wilson heard it all in his head! And he didn’t always have the support of his band unfortunately. Beach Boys also win for most amazing harmony blend and orchestrated parts. They were fantastic. As were the Beatles! The Beatles were an amazing sponge..they grabbed everything around them and turned it into great pop songs…English dance hall music, Bob Dylan, Indian music, even the strings from Psycho (Eleanor Rigby) And yes…the Beach Boys influenced them in a big way. Penny Lane was directly influenced by Pet Sounds. Pretty amazing! Last thought…yes they had a brilliant producer. George Martin and the engineers were able to translate all of the Beatles crazy ideas into reality. He didn’t tell em what to do..he was the perfect support person. So much cross pollination back then…it made for such great music!

[@tkroupa]

Yesterday is nostalgic, it brings us back to a simpler time in life. Paul sings so beautifully, with just the right emotion. I put it in the league of "Michelle" another gorgeous song sung by Paul.

[@billyarnell8173]

Nostalgic? lmao i would say more like from another dimension, thats a way too simple description for a complex groundbreaking song like that

[@jp3813]

@@billyarnell8173 Yet Lennon disliked it for some reason.

[@farfelllee]

@@jp3813jealousy

[@alejandromonestier7710]

Try counting 1-2-3-4 and check out when the instrumens are played... It is amazing that they can play so off beat (and get away with it, I argue...) Caroline you are spectacular! Your gestures and grace are spectacular. You are beautiful to watch!

[@michaelwalsh1035]

"You've got to hide you're love away" is an acknowledgment of the writing and vocal style of Bob Dylan who they met in 1965. "I Need You" is one of my favorite Harrison songs. I love that echoing Rickenbacker guitar. "I've just seen a face" is another hat tip to the folk music movement of the 50s and early 60s. Paul was head over heels for the smashing Jane Asher at this point. "Yesterday" is great because Paul took such a pure and direct melodic inspiration and didn't over complicate it and muck it up with complicated arranging or production. Producer George Martin's classical background was such an amazing factor in their music.

[@IsaacWale2004]

It's also about their homosexual manager.

[@hondomckee.8232]

I've Just Seen a Face .... a top-5 Beatles song for me. Spritely, fun, energetic .... great strumming by Paul.

[@josephhebert6356]

Ringo has always been a fan of American country music, as were the other Beatles. Act Naturally is an old Buck Owens song. The Beatles were big fans of Buck and the Bakersfield Sound. They even requested that Buck's management send them a copy of any new albums that Buck Owens put out to see if there were any of his songs that they could cover.

[@buddyneher9359]

@@kenttheaker7904 and would remain so for the remainder of Brian's life. Think on that.

[@samsowden]

oooh, yeah, that "ay way" is very dylan

[@SK-bo8sb]

The Beatles Help album would be a greatest hits album for most other bands. After you listen to their next two albums, you will know why that there will never be another musical act greater than the Beatles. Love your watching your series.

[@tomfryer1528]

Just a quick heads up. When you get around to listening to later albums like Sgt. Peppers and Abbey Road, it may be worth listening to the music on a different platform than KZbin. Some of the songs blend into one another and make for a better listening experience, rather than them being interrupted by ads on KZbin! However, you do you! Love the content!

[@Beragon]

Amazon music is a good streaming service to listen to the Beatles seamlessly

[@tatjbere]

@@Beragon yup, that's where I listen to whole albums

[@ewest14]

That's why you use an adblocker

[@Beragon]

@@ewest14 Its not the ads. I have YT premium and dont see ads. Digital reproduction cannot duplicate the seamless transition of songs, like vinyl has, because albums are broken up into tracks. There's always a little blip or discontinuity between songs. For example, the segue from polythene pam to bathroom window is always broken, which is super annoying. Unless the album streams without track breaks, which Amazon does.

[@gillchatfield3231]

@@Beragon Vinyl is broken into tracks. How do you think we could endlessly replay a favourite track, or miss one we didn't like?

[@bobbybrettel5422]

Why yesterday is so good: Paul sings the hell out of it, the strings, complex lyrics yet only a guitar. It's so perfect, like you said, it's magical. The best song EVER WRITTEN

[@martinstubs6203]

Each time I hear Beatle songs, which I've been doing most of my life, it's clear to me that there hasn't been anything better coming along since.

[@jimdev81]

Another insightful reaction…yes, Lennon said Help was a literal cry for help. It’s delightful to literally see you react to these songs, and it only gets better and better with each album…well done again!

[@CallMeCaroline]

Thanks Jim!

[@darrinstinson2890]

Lennon also said it was one of his favorite songs hw wrote, possibly because it was so personal. Interesting he wanted it to be slower, more of a ballad. The other 3 wanted it faster

[@dcaccavo1]

@@darrinstinson2890 And they were right, just like they were right on "Please Please Me" and "Revolution," both of which John wanted slow

[@waynej2608]

@@dcaccavo1 I happen to like the slower version of Revolution, on the White Album. I like both versions. If John had lived, we may have heard slower versions of his other rockers too. And, an alternative take on his Strawberry Fields. All great songs, as is, but John wanted to re-record some of them. I would've loved to have heard what he came up with. Oh well...

[@John_Locke_108]

I consider this one of the most important records in the Beatle's history. Without this leap in songwriting you wouldn't have Rubber Soul and without Rubber Soul there's no Revolver and without Revolver, music as we know it wouldn't exist. This is an opinion that I've believed in for 30 years and counting.

[@ikhsansube82]

I couldn't agree more with you. I always thought so too.

[@John_Locke_108]

@@ikhsansube82 Cool. I always thought it was just me.

[@stevecrescini2081]

I always thought the first seven songs are the greatest opening seven on any album

[@ricardo_miguel13]

Yeah, its kinda underrated

[@alanmusicman3385]

@@ricardo_miguel13 I did used to like Pepper best, but now it's Revolver - and actually Revolver came top in a few more recent polls of best Beatles albums so I'm obviously not the only one whose opinion has shifted.

[@recordrob3887]

One thing I'm finding interesting in this is that I, and I'm sure most people under 60, didn't get to discover them chronologically. I knew the 4 random albums my dad had when I was a kid, and then got the rest randomly through the years. I can appreciate the development over time but I didn't get to experience it that way. You're lucky you get to do that.

[@ArniePorter]

Interesting and insightful take Rob. It was an incredible experience to hear the Beatles progression from Rock and Roll to Pop ballads to Folk to experimental music with Indian influences to psychedelic to Progressive influences to hard rock to multi layered orchestral compositions all in seven years time. Many younger listeners are introduced to mainly their numbers one or hit records with no context or real understanding of the sheer volume of brilliant music and songs they wrote. Listening to them in chronological order really helps you understand how they developed and how ground breaking and influential their music was and still is.

[@aureliande2659]

@@ArniePorter I don't think that listening in chronological order will give you the same experience as a Beatles listener would have had who followed their career, with a new single and a new album months apart and all the contemporary music in between. In 1963 and 1964, their music was head and shoulders above their contemporaries, an absulutely exciting new idiom. In late '64 and the better part of 1965 the Beatles lost momentum and their contemporaries caught up when (first British, but American music soon to follow) recovered from the shock and surprise at the Beatles' appearance. I don't think, for example, that Caroline noticed the dip their music took with Beatles for Sale, something that all fans noticed way back then. The compact Mersey Beat sound suddenly gave way to a thinner, less forceful sound. That certainly obscured any progress they may have made as composers, if any. Teenagers like me were not musicologists. Songs like I Want to Hold Your Hand, It Won't Be Long, A Hard Day's Night, Tell Me Why and even quieter ones such as If I Fell swept you away, I Don't Want to Spoil the Party or Every Little Thing just didn't. And Help is their most uneven album. Giant steps into uncharted territory like Yesterday and stopgap ideas like Dizzy Miss Lizzy (the incongruousness of those two side by side!) or Act Naturally made for a very bumpy ride. The Beatles were a bit tired then and uncertain of where they were headed. I understood that in retrospect, but at the time I just found those two albums less than satisfactory. (In the US, that may have been less noticeable because albums were both different in contents and more frequent (in 1964, 65 and 66). It certainly applies for the UK canon which was what fans listened to in most countries.)

[@recordrob3887]

@@aureliande2659 You've just changed my mind a bit. I actually think the way you experienced it was worse. The fact that you think that Beatles for Sale and Help! were worse than the first two albums shows me that you were seeing them from inside the mania. They first came out and they were new and thrilling and as the mania died down a bit you were going to the new albums for that same rush that you got from the earlier ones, and they couldn't possibly, because it was no longer new and thrilling. But listening objectively, the first two albums clearly had some pretty weak songs and poorly chosen covers, along with some great ones. BfS and H! had weak and strong as well, but come on, Help!, Ticket to Ride, Yesterday, I've Just Seen a Face, You're Going to Lose That Girl, these are not the work of a band in a slump, at all. Those are the work of a band that is firing on all cylinders and only getting better. I left out Hard Day's Night because yeah, that album is great, start to finish. Probably their best up to Rubber Soul.

[@aureliande2659]

@@recordrob3887 I see what you mean but I believe it's not quite as easy as this: 'They first came out and they were new and thrilling and as the mania died down a bit you were going to the new albums for that same rush that you got from the earlier ones, and they couldn't possibly, because it was no longer new and thrilling' -- I don't quite agree. The sound changed. It's not the time and place to discuss this in detail, but think of it as diversification. The early sound was very compact and homogenous because there were basically 4 instruments plus maybe a piano and they all shared a sound and frequency range. Also, the first two albums were virtually recorded live, that is with voices and instruments sharing the same dynamics (adrenalin!). With BFS, they not only fell back on some of the weaker covers, they also used more diverse instrumentation (acoustic guitars together with electric, more different percussion, a process that really started with HDN but became more obvious later) and vocal overdubs. That took some of the energy out of the songs, at least until they mastered that method later on. At the same time their songs deviated more from a common denominator. For the first two and even three LPs you could describe what an 'average' Beatles song was like, with very few outliers (Till There Was You comes to mind). Rock'n'roll songs such as Money or Long Tall Sally were part of the picture. With BFS you get Mr. Moonlight plus rockabilly plus rock'n'roll plus Buddy Holly plus a bit of country and western plus whatnot and the 'average' virtually disappears. Quite different from Rubber Soul which has a new 'average' but a much wider span than the earliest records, but let's keep that for later. I agree that some of the compositions on those two albums are great, but that was not the point. I also agree that there were a couple of fairly weak songs on the first two albums, composition-wise or as choices for covers were concerned. And you're right that in thne middle of Beatlemania, fans even liked those!

[@jerrymoyers7496]

Hey Caroline, did you know that 'Yesterday' began as 'Scrambled Eggs'? From my sources, Paul woke up with the melody in his head but no words. Paul was dating Jane Asher at the time and their cook comes thru and asks if anyone would like some scrambled eggs. Paul starts singing, "Scrambled eggs,...oh baby how I love your legs" and everyone laughed. But, Paul couldn't get scrambled eggs out of his mind, til a later time when Paul and Jane were in Portugal. A 3 hr drive from the airport to Paul's friend's place. Jane was asleep, Paul was thinking about it used to be just fun but now it's a business, schedules, quotas, etc. Paul started thinking that didn't have these troubles yesterday. It clicked and it was written in the car b4 they got to the chelet. All Paul.

[@stevesilsby5288]

On "I've Just Seen a Face" note that Paul is really playing around with rhyming structures in the lyrics. He is putting together and "rhyming" very similar phrases as well as individual words. Very clever and interesting stuff.

[@kevinmac2200]

Help was a big jump. Revolver though was .. a giant leap for mankind.

[@Lona_Chess]

A few comments: 1. Yes, I'd LOVE to see a commentary video on your thoughts about The Beatles so far. Like - what's been your favorite songs/albums, what's surprised you, and what's your opinion of the band overall? 2. You're an absolute joy to watch. You're totally in the elite of music reactors on KZbin. In fact, you're better than 99.9% of them, IMO. I appreciate your exceptional music knowledge, insightful commentary, and joyful, fun approach to it all. 3. Yesterday is extraordinary for its heartbreaking, bittersweet lyrics and its masterful melody. And, I mean, that voice! Expect more genius like this on all future albums :)

[@i_needausername7201]

Ringo isn’t the most technically savvy drummer, but he’s the epitome of creating his parts to fit the song. “Ticket to Ride” is a prime example of this. “Come Together” off Abbey Road is another example of this.

[@jimwit8090]

John said the drum pattern was Paul's contribution.

[@dcaccavo1]

The difference is in "Come Together" Ringo plays it with much more expertise. They all did by then, a mere 4 years after "Help"

[@scottandrewbrass1931]

@Jim Witt. Yes but if Paul had played it it would have been dreadful.

[@freddysquirenaranjo4859]

Ringo is left handed however played right handed on drums, he sound is totally different to other drummers and works well within the band.

[@Mojo_Jojo_001]

I think Ringo is one of the greatest drummers ever because he approached them as a musician. Which added far more than technical skills would to the over all quality of the music.

[@jornspirit]

Oh Caroline, I'm just again in overall Beatles mood, and came across this album review (I watched all of them about a year ago), and I'm just hooked again... its so much fun to go through their stuff with you in the lead - you do a fantastic job with weaving your comments in right away, mixed up with your feelings, ooh's and aah's - just so lively! I love your sense of humour (which 'gets' them), and within all the analysis your acknowledgement of the magic, that can't be pinned down. Done so well! 💖😎

[@dangoss7180]

This was when the Beatles hit home runs on everything. And really, they had an entire tidal wave of tremendous music ahead over the next 5 years. This one is like a greatest hits album on its own. But it’s just a collection of their songs as they spilled out.

[@jeramycarroll2769]

This is my new favorite thing. I have a Beatles tribute band in the US. And Watching someone discover the Beatles for the first time is priceless! I’d love to see your top 10 favorite songs this far. Just whatever you do, make sure you end by listening to let it be and then finishing with Abbey Road. That was the order that they were recorded in, even though let it be was released after Abbey Road. I’m sure if you ask other Beatles nerds they will agree that you should listen to Abbey Road last. Can’t wait!!! ☮️❤️🍏

[@Bassman2353]

100% - Abbey Road after Let It Be.

[@JaneFokster]

YES! I was going to comment the same thing. Abbey Road IS the last album, never mind the release dates.

[@billbohnert8166]

She'd be better off listening to Let It Be Naked (or a bootleg of Get Back), rather than the original Let It Be if she wants to get a true sense of what they were trying to create. Ditch the Spectorization.

[@barryshepherd1533]

Yes yes yes

[@OzTwanger]

Listen to what the man said. Abbey Road has to be last listen

[@loutowers6529]

The Beatles have been my favorite band since 1977 when I turned 13. I've read the books and reviews, watched the interviews and movies and videos. And of course, many, many Beatles reactions on you tube. Your reactions are the ones I enjoy most. Please do more Beatles. Albums, singles, top tens, you make them fun all over again. Get ready for Rubber Soul. It's a whole new world for them.

[@IsaacWale2004]

You were right about 'Help'. John has said that he mostly only sings about himself, and the song 'Help' was mostly about how much stress he had been under in the last year or two.

[@1nelsondj]

Yes he was putting on weight and not feeling good about himself. He originally heard the song played slower. Deep Purple did a cover that was slower, it's brilliant.

[@TheSpikehere]

You might have to take that with a pinch of salt. He only wrote it because he had to for the movie, which is of course the same reason he wrote "A Hard Day's Night"

[@steelers1500]

i think ticket to ride is John's best vocal performance on any beatles song... his voice is so pure in it

[@carlmarley3017]

I think its also that he sings it kind of deadpan

[@ewest14]

I think it works so well because it’s John and Paul

[@davidbuy6579]

i really wish it were possible to take your videos back in time and show them to The Beatles themselves. Just to be able to let them know people are still listening to them 50 years later and really appreciate what they did and how they did it. Keep it up, Caroline, there's still a lot for you to explore. Your reactions are priceless!

[@rome8180]

What makes "Yesterday" work is the melody. There are a lot of amazing elements to the song -- the lyrics, the string arrangement, the vocal performance, etc. But what really makes any of it matter is the perfectly crafted melody.

[@tspicks4360]

Yep, that's it in a nutshell. Paul has said a number of times that he actually dreamed that melody, and afterwards went around asking everyone what that song was ... it HAD to be something that was already out there, right? Nope, purely original, and yeah, magical.

[@RDRussell2]

"Yesterday" - I don't think anyone else has noted this very curious detail about the song. Almost any music you can think of has 8 bar phrases - or, more rarely, 16, but it's typically always an even number. Especially in pop music. Quite unusually, the verses of "Yesterday" have phrases that are 7 measures long. For instance, the first verse ("Yesterday" through to "Oh I believe in yesterday") is 7 bars. But our ear sort of "wants to hear" that expected 8 bar phrase, and so the very next measure feels like the landing point of the first phrase. But no! It's actually the start of the second phrase. How apt it is that the word that starts the second phrase is "Suddenly..." because yes, we are suddenly in the second verse now. And one of the things that makes this magic is that none of it sounds strange or "off" in any way. It just works and gets under your skin. (The bridge section is a standard 8-bar phrase, however. The reason for even-numbered phrases essentially comes down to having two feet.)

[@flamencoprof]

@Richard Russell "The reason for even-numbered phrases essentially comes down to having two feet.)" That, sir, is the most blindingly obvious thing I have never thought for myself. I aspire to such observations.

[@allenswanson2423]

@@flamencoprof Next, we will explain why we count in base 10.

[@flamencoprof]

@@allenswanson2423 Touché

[@michaelt6218]

Wow, I've been listening to (and adoring) this song for more than half a century, but until now I'd never recognized the 7 bar phrases. Fantastic insight!

[@roscius6204]

: )

[@lindakelly9552]

I absolutely love “Yesterday” its a complete masterpiece, it makes you feel so much. And at this point the song makes me cry when I hear it because I am older, and I know Paul is older and The Beatles have been in my life since I was 8 years old.

[@angelatheriault8855]

Exactly! Only I was nine when I first discovered them. It only took one song and I was hooked ever since.

[@mgonzales56]

Ed Sullivan show got me hooked, and I was seven. I am 65 now and still love The Beatles.

[@sueellendockery7358]

And I was 12 years old for Ed Sullivan and here I am almost 70 and waiting with bated breath for an adorable twenty-something to discover The Beatles for the first time. Sigh, talk about magic.

[@angelatheriault8855]

@@mgonzales56 My cousin played me She Loves You on her stereo in 1975 but first she made me listen to Donny Osmond’s Puppy Love. Ack! Just think, if I didn’t have the fortitude to make it all the way through Puppy Love I may have missed out on the best music of all time.

[@mgonzales56]

@@angelatheriault8855 Lol! That is funny. My younger sister was in love with Donny Osmond, and she loved that song. But The Beatles were and are her true love.

[@joetamaccio9475]

How can you not be in awe of th might. Before ? It’s very catchy

[@tonylaughlin6663]

John Lennon actually cited Help as being one of the first songs he wrote that meant something to him. At this point in 1965 he was pretty overwhelmed with the whole thing of being a Beatle and the song Help was literally a cry for help. He actually presented the song to the group at a slower tempo, the other Beatles and their producer suggested speeding it up to be more "commercial". He would later complain about "selling out" early in his Beatles career, this could have been one instance he was thinking about.

[@Me-fr7yj]

Yesterday feels like a song that wasn’t actually ever written, it has just always existed. It is Amazing Grace levels of iconic and universally understood. It totally makes sense that Paul was asking everyone if they had heard the melody before when he wrote it. A melody of that quality feels unachievable.

[@RayRay-zt7bj]

Nice analogy of Yesterday!

[@wpollock1]

It’s Only Love is my favorite non “hit”….I think John really delivers vocally on that one.

[@fifebielby4147]

I recommend check the Anthology 2 version if you haven't already. I prefer it.

[@martifingers]

Sadly, as was his wont, John was extremely dismissive of this song. It's actually quite cleverly constructed.

[@TheAerovons]

@@martifingers he didn't like the lyrics, not so much the song. The "very bright" thing bugged him...

[@Wheresthelove7]

Gorgeous vocals. " Haven't I the right to make it up girl "

[@LEFTOVERDISHES]

The song Yesterday is the song where parents back then had to admit The Beatles had some talent

[@jameswallace5967]

In my humble opinion Yesterday is the greatest song ever written.

[@jodysargent9936]

My favorite Beatles song ever..."I've Just seen a face." I got to check this of my Paul bucket list getting to hear him sing this live on the last tour!! #WhyThisGirlLovesHerPaul ♥️

[@sarmedmirza]

Same here

[@veeho14]

It’s difficult to distinguish in one listening, but “Help” is lyrically, musically, and stylistically far ahead of their previous albums. And those leaps only continue.

[@doesnotexist305]

In “Help” you can see them playing around with the sound that comes later. It’s criminally underrated because the following albums are so great. But it starts here.

[@daveman_50]

Vulnerability... looking back... This is mature songwriting. A new level.

[@veeho14]

@@daveman_50 “Vulnerability “, great description!

[@paulprestage6529]

But Help is a transitional album and has so many great songs on it.Probably not a complete album like Rubber Soul and Revolver but has some great moments.

[@casaraku1]

every album was moving forward.... as if bored with what happened before..... a big bonus for the world.

[@hombre8531]

The album Help! is where my Beatles journey started, in 1999 when I was 20. At that time internet was not so easily accessible around here (Argentina), so I was buying each album with little info, almost blind knowledge. My next purchases (in order, periodically during that year) were: Let It Be; Revolver; Please Please Me + Sgt. Pepper; A Hard Day's Night; Rubber Soul; Red Album + Blue Album; White Album; With The Beatles + Beatles For Sale + Yellow Submarine + Abbey Road. Thus, my early Beatles experience was kind of a special fingerprint that belongs to me. Anyway, it's good for you to have the opportunity to listen to the Beatles discography for the first time in order of release, since you'll be able to appreciate their incredible maturation and exploration through different styles chronologically. In my opinion, the next three albums in your pending list represent their best period; so I think you're very lucky!

[@prschuster]

The more I listen to all these songs I had forgotten about, the more I appreciate George Harrison's guitar work. It was underappreciated because it was so understated, but that's why it was pure genius. Who else would have thought of all those tasty licks? Also, with his song writing maturing, the Beatles had three top notch songwriters by this time, compared to most other bands who were lucky to have one good songwriter.

[@john1gun]

George was a very underated guitarist. That is true. Eric Clapton said George was better than him.

[@prschuster]

@@john1gun George could play fast, intricate licks when he wanted to. His genius was in his phrasing to fit all the unconventional chord progressions and key changes of a typical Beatles song.

[@yes2day100]

George was tasteful. He preferred fewer chords to more chords. He allowed the melodies of the voices and the bass to fill in. He had a very definite and individual sound. He was heavily influenced by Carl Perkins, so he had a bit of that country picking style sometimes.

[@michaelbeckwith6177]

"Sweet Caroline" I can't imagine hearing these songs for the first time!! I agree with your feelings about the songs particularly "I've just seen a face" and "Yesterday"!! When I need to smile I click "Call me Caroline"!!!

[@surfdocer103]

You’ve given me a new pleasure listening to th Beatles.

[@dennydowling2169]

"I've Just Seen a Face" is a song in which the music perfectly encapsulates the lyrics. The up-tempo pace of the melody perfectly matches the excitement of 'love at first sight' so eloquently described in the lyrics.

[@doriskray1430]

“I’ve Just Seen A Face” a hidden gem. When you have over 200 Beatle songs to still listen to, some how I missed this one. Gonna go back to the days when I listened to my Beatles’ Albums 3 hours every night after school 😁

[@CallMeCaroline]

I actually think it is my favourite behind yesterday from this album.

[@buddyneher9359]

@@CallMeCaroline It will be very interesting, at the end of this journey, to tot up how many "Paul songs" and how many "John songs" make it into your top favourites. So far I think you have a slight inclination toward Paul songs....

[@Kaleidoscopia]

@@CallMeCaroline I love that you love Paul's songs the most every time!

[@kathryncawte9623]

@@buddyneher9359 interesting I thought she was liking John more, HOWEVER I noted earlier she always seems to especially like the vocals when Paul would back John (and she didn't realise it was Paul's voice!)

[@patricktyner1410]

I've Just Seen a Face - I love that each line or pair of lines has a DOUBLE rhyme - eg I've just seen a FACE I can't FORGET - the time and PLACE we've just MET - and that continues throughought the song. Wonderful.

[@vinnygi]

That, and the syncopation makes it a very dynamic track.

[@capstan50g]

It's so interesting to find out what captures your attention. I actually hear the songs in a new way after your commentary. Well done, Caroline! I can't wait for the later albums, when things get very experimental indeed.

[@vernhoke7730]

I remember seeing this movie as a kid when we were stationed in Turkey back in 1966.

[@BigToeify]

Going back to this video and watching your face while you are listening to Ive Just Seen a Face for the first time. I can just see your connection with that song right away. You just pause and are looking off into space taking it in. I know that feeling.

[@themadcow71]

Love Help but every album after this is the greatest album ever.

[@willsimp6550]

Rubber soul is Goat Album.

[@jeroensloof9913]

I think Yesterday is just so great because it was a gift from the universe. Paul didn't have to work it up, it just came to him. If I look at my own creativity, the times it just comes to you and flows through you, these things are often times the best things you come up with.

[@Pwecko]

Ticket To Ride sounds like a huge step up from all the tracks before. The drums and guitar sound take it to another level.

[@TheNeonRabbit]

09:32 He starts with the volume knob on the guitar all the way down, strums, then rapidly turns the knob back up. This lets the chord fade quickly in with very little attack, sort of like it's being bowed. It's a common technique among pedal-steel guitar players though they have a foot pedal controlling the volume rather than just a knob.

[@jerrybonbonifacio6970]

I was having a breakfast on Saturday morning …”you tube” you pops up saw your Help B- review really time on and one ,the positive affected us. Those guys really mean to play music a gift to us to listen 50 years had past and still we listen and like really beautiful 😊 yeah yeah yeah

[@MartinHMyers]

Love this series Caroline. I have all of the Beatles' albums and now going back through listening to each one. Still amazed at their growth in such a short time.

[@ally679]

I'm loving your reactions Caroline, these videos are such a pleasure to watch. But what I also love is seeing and reading all the comments from people who love the Beatles as much as I do. ❤❤❤

[@KenOtwell]

"Yesterday"... Paul came up with the melody in a dream and it took him weeks of asking everyone, "what song is this?" before accepting that it actually came from him. THEN he wrote the lyrics.

[@Bluesphan]

Yeah.... and the first lyrics he came up with was "Scambled Eggs" ..ha, glad he spent a little more time on that!😁

[@j.kevvideoproductions.6463]

His working lyrics were "Scrambled Eggs".

[@John_Locke_108]

Scrambled eggs. How I love my baby's lovely legs.

[@stephenelliott522]

Why is Yesterday so good? It connects to almost universal feelings in us. There are things we love deeply in this life - often a person. We can love so deeply. Then we experience loss of someone or something that feels a part of us - for whatever reason. Sometimes we don't even know. Then we feel a part of us is missing. Even through the loss - we would never trade the experience we had in the depth of its connection for anything. "I believe in Yesterday". It connects with music and words - words themselves can feel so hollow - but music breathes the feelings back into them. And as you have said before - music is magical! It is! And YOU are becoming a master.

[@Fnortner01]

It's fun re-living these songs with you who are brand new to them. Can hardly wait to watch as you get into their next albums.

[@DiegoMontemayor34]

Yes!! I love this series!! The Beatles are the best band that could have ever existed! Btw Caroline, you look so beautiful, love your videos, thanks!

[@blythjc]

Another great review. I‘ve always thought this album is a bit under rated. Take the best five songs on this (Yesterday, Help!, Ticket To Ride, I’ve Just Seen A Face and You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away) and they stand up against just about any album anywhere . Those five songs are that good.

[@monkmchorning]

The guitar riff in "Ticket to Ride" was iconic. I remember hearing versions of it in TV commercials and other songs of the period.

[@denhora]

I have to add You're Gonna Lose that Girl

[@miklosittzes8901]

God, I love this series and I can't wait for the 'late Beatles' stuff, especially Revolver and Abbey Road. Keep up the grat job!

[@cwillmore97]

“Yesterday” : I once attended a Celine Dion concert in Vegas where she sang “Ne Quitter Pas”. Despite her obvious emoting, and despite the foreign lyrics, she had me in tears. She’s that good. I’ve been sitting through this series thinking about what an incredibly vulnerable and emotive singer John was, but it’s Paul that does it here - in spades. He’s that good. I always thought the lyrics and rhymes of Yesterday were a bit hit hokey, but they speak of a universal experience, and thus universally relatable. Who hasn’t longed for when things were new and exciting and uncomplicated in any relationship?

[@francelaferriere6106]

Do you mean Jacques Brel's "Ne Me Quitte Pas"?

[@TimStCroix]

One of my earliest memories: I was about 7 or 8 ('66-'67) sitting in the back of a pick-up (with a cap so the acoustics were great) while the grown-ups were in the store just belting out Help as loud as I could. It was the first pop song that I knew all the words to.

[@kevinmac2200]

Why "Yesterday" is so special. It's a beautiful melody and a wonderful arrangement. But I think it's Paul's voice. It always seems to come from another time, another place. I have never known any other singer have that effect on me. And the opening - the simple understated guitar. It's so damn tasteful.

[@ZackfromNoHo]

Sure, "Yesterday" is a great song, but I have always thought that "I'll Follow the Sun" was a better example of that type of Paul song. Maybe it is because "Yesterday" was everywhere and overplayed while I was growing up, but also because of the arrangement. I could do without the string quartet, and prefer the simpler folk-rock style of the other song. We all have our own taste, right. "You Like Me Too Much" was my favorite song when I was nine years old...

[@michaelsterckx4120]

The introductory guitar is unique.

[@jimideaton]

Love when you shimmy your shoulders. This Beatles journey is so fun to see through your fresh perspective.

[@markydh83]

Help! was the album that saw Paul play a lot more instruments than just the bass. A few of the lead guitar parts are him on this album, including the opening riff to I’ve Just Seen a Face, which you commented on. He also sang both the lead and harmony vocals on that one. He was starting to become the ‘studio musical director’ at this point, far earlier than people commonly suggest.

[@Miml2010]

I subscribed the moment you said "I really do think that sometimes music is the closest thing to magic". Me too Caroline, me too.

[@PhilipCrippen]

Obviously quite late to this terrific Beatles journey, but wanted to mention something that I haven't a clue if it's been commented on for any of these Beatles videos. George Martin, their producer for all the Beatles studio work was almost like having a gigantic toolbox of musical possibilities. Martin came to the Beatles after having an exclusively classical background in the recording studio. Hence the ease of introducing orchestration and many other elements. In my mind, he was a key figure in them evolving. The band could virtually ask anything, and George Martin always delivered. Kudos to him and his engineers!

[@TechnicalHotDog]

I've been looking forward to this, "You've got to hide your love away" is one of my favorites. Rubber Soul is gonna be awesome!

[@fredparker7403]

And wait until she gets to Revolver!

[@vmpineda155]

@@fredparker7403 what is special about Revolver? Is that better than this album?

[@fredparker7403]

@@vmpineda155 Revolver is considered to be the album where there was a lot of studio experimentation. It continues where Rubber Soul left off. So many of the songs were adventurous and daring, with sounds never before imagined. Help! in comparison is "conventional".

[@fiddleandfart]

Yes, what makes this so great - as it does with "Girl," in "Rubber Soul," is the sheer ACHE in Lennon's voice - here in "It's only love and that is all...," and in "Girl," "..when she promises the earth to me and I believe her..." brilliant singing with the pain of experience (from one actually so young at the time).

[@fiddleandfart]

@@vmpineda155 You've not heard "Revolver?" It's not about "better," but rather where they're going, and how they're going... The Beatles' musical progress, man..!

[@albertwallace5060]

Thank you so much! I actually check every day for the next one :) Do I have to wait another 2 or 3 weeks until Rubber Soul??? You’re doing an amazing job. I’ve listened to these albums hundreds of times, but you bring a renewed energy and sense of fun to it all. Thanks again.

[@Sp33gan]

Caroline, I hope you know how hard it is to wait three weeks until you review the next album! It feels an eternity and then here it is. ♥ Yet again, you can hear how they've advanced in songwriting and arrangements. I love how you notice the percussion as Ringo made a point of doing something different for every song on each album. He's never been a flashy drummer but his timing is spot on and he loves to be creative. Snare, toms, cymbals, bongos, tympani, tambourine, maracas, clave, cowbell, anything to make it different than the one before, yet he still complements each song with what he chooses to play. George is really beginning to come into his own as a songwriter, giving John and Paul a bit of relief from the pressure of having to come up with so much material, as well as asserting his own stamp on the group's sound. Yes, please, definitely make your top 10 from these first five albums and singles. I suggest making a top 10 for the next string of albums as well and comparing how they've changed and what you prefer. For me, while I love their material from start to finish, the period from late 1964 through 1966 has always been my favourite. This is John and Paul at the top of their writing partnership as well as George's emergence and Ringo's creativity. At this point, they were influencing every other act out there in some way.

[@josephhebert6356]

Ringo once said that a lot of his time in the studio was spent sitting around for hours on end waiting for something to happen. He would sit around, smoke cigarettes incessantly, and play cards. Then when called upon he would lay down a historic drum part, influencing drummers for ages. As for all the odd instruments that would appear on Beatles songs; there is a closet off of Studio Two at Abbey Road that is filled with an assortment of instruments for any one to use. The Beatles would raid this closet from time to time in search of some different sounds to use in their songs.

[@Sp33gan]

@@josephhebert6356 I've read that, too, and i can attest to the mildly bored feeling of waiting for bandmates to get their parts down. It's tough to be doing nothing and still having to be listening to take after take of the same passage. Plus, Ringo always strove to change the drumming for each song. He was one of so few musicians who could walk in already have their part down. Or he's thinking about what he wants to do while the others lay down the bed tracks. His tempo was always perfect, one of the main reasons the others wanted him to replace Pete Best. As to the closet, being as musically adventurous as they were, they all made good use out of everything they could think of. They pushed boundaries, causing all other bands to follow or not be on top of the next sound and style trend. The beauty of the 60s is there were so many great sounds from all genres of music and everyone was influenced by everyone else.

[@TTM9691]

It's like waiting for the next Beatle album to be released! :P

[@Sp33gan]

@@TTM9691 haha! Yeah, pretty much. I can remember the excitement of rushing out to get the new album and hurrying home to play it and lose myself in the sound. It's cool watching someone else live what we've already experienced. And Rubber Soul is next! ♥

[@timr3563]

"Help" is in my top five Beatles songs. Paul singing the counter melody (?) to John has sent chills down my spine for 50 years. I just subscribed and am looking forward to what comes next. At the end of this video you mention the possibility of a special edition at the halfway point. If you do this, please give some insight into your musical experience/training.

[@gary6514]

Paul wrote Yesterday for his mother Mary who died when Paul was 14. The line "why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't say" really hits home when you realize the reason why he wrote the song.