r/beatles • u/EllHeych • 3h ago
Discussion What’s the greatest Beatles single when you consider both the A-side and B-side?
‘Love Me Do’
‘PS I Love You’
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‘Please Please Me’
‘Ask Me Why’
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‘From Me To You’
‘Thank You Girl’
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‘She Loves You’
‘I’ll Get You’
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‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’
‘This Boy’
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‘Can’t Buy Me Love’
‘You Can’t Do That’
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‘A Hard Day’s Night’
‘Things We Said Today’
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‘I Feel Fine’
‘She’s A Woman’
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‘Ticket To Ride’
‘Yes It Is’
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‘Help!’
‘I’m Down’
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‘We Can Work It Out’
‘Day Tripper’
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‘Paperback Writer’
‘Rain’
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‘Eleanor Rigby’
‘Yellow Submarine’
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‘Strawberry Fields Forever’
‘Penny Lane’
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‘All You Need Is Love’
‘Baby, You’re A Rich Man’
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‘Hello, Goodbye’
‘I Am The Walrus’
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‘Lady Madonna’
‘The Inner Light’
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‘Hey Jude’
‘Revolution’
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‘Get Back’
‘Don’t Let Me Down’
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‘The Ballad Of John And Yoko’
‘Old Brown Shoe’
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‘Something’
‘Come Together’
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‘Let It Be’
‘You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)’
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u/gregorsamwise 3h ago
Double As like Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane or We Can Work it Out/Day Tripper are hard to beat, but just for what it represented, I’d say Paperback/Rain. The heavy guitars on A and backwards vocals of B were emphatically announcing the change of mop tops to serious musicians. And it was the first time they took a stand and said “no” to going to the US to promote it and basically invented the music video.
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u/FriendShiny 3h ago
Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane
Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out
Something/Come Together
there are a few singles that’re better than these ones, but then the b side brings down the overall average. but the crazy thing with the beatles is i love all these songs. so it’s not ‘what are the good ones’ it’s ’what are the best ones’
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u/Aggravating_Load_411 That was Can You Dig It by Georgie Wood. 2h ago
Paperback Writer/Rain not being here is crazy
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u/Mo-Ada 3h ago
I want to hold your hand and This boy actually work together so well and it’s interesting how both of them approach the same subject
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u/BigPete2026 2h ago
And in America it was I Want To Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There which has to be a contender.
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u/Klutzy-Delivery-5792 3h ago
I have a "I Want To Hold Your Hand"/"I Saw Her Standing There", three of them in fact haha.
I think I have all these except "Eleanor Rigby"
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u/Complete_News_6154 2h ago
Hey Jude and Revolution were released as a August 1968 single. How can you top that?
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u/OnlyFiveLives Revolver 2h ago
I've always been partial to Paperback Writer and Rain but the correct answer is probably Hey Jude and Revolution.
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u/Holiday-Let-2804 2h ago
Day Tripper / We Can Work it Out is up there as possibly my favourite A/B side single of ANY artist, so it’s that for me, but there are another half-dozen, as mentioned by others that are at this level.
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u/Inevitable-Dig703 1h ago
Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane
Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out
Come Together/Something
Paperback Writer/Rain
Hey Jude/Revolution
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u/StrongChocolate869 2h ago edited 2h ago
Tie: Strawberry/Penny & Hey Jude/Revolution.
(A tie because Penny has just a teeny bit too much of that cutesy-poo Paul thing for me, but it’s an incredible work of art. Very subjective, I admit.)
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u/FormalWare 2h ago
Get Back / Don't Let Me Down. (BTW, Don't Let Me Down is actually the "A" side. Must have been a misprint, or something.)
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u/BigPete2026 2h ago
Just the number of these double A sides and two-sided hits is astounding. Generally a hit single was backed by a throwaway. Companies would save an artist’s few really good songs for a hoped for follow-up single.
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u/CosmicBob55 1h ago
Hey Jude/Revolution. Because Revolution is my favorite song. Not just my favorite Beatles song.
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u/rpeh 56m ago
The only possible answers for "best" are:
1) Strawberry Fields / Penny Lane, and
2) Rain / Paperback Writer
Those two singles were stunning in their own right, but also heralded the album that was about to come. If you tie me to a gold block and aim a laser at my genitals I'll go with #2 as my preference, but I'll happily take the other one if that's what the majority decides.
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u/CrunchberryJones 53m ago
Not only was 'Strawberry Fields Forever' / 'Penny Lane' their greatest single in terms of both musical innovation and quality of BOTH tracks; it was even more incredible because of the timing of its release.
It's important to note that - at the time of its release - The Beatles had stopped touring and had hunkered down in the studio to focus on recording the 'Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' album. It had been over 7 months since the Revolver album and the 'Eleanor Rigby' / 'Yellow Submarine' single hit the shelves. This was the longest they had gone to date without a new release.
Rumors were already mounting that the band had split up; when this release literally took the world by storm. From a cultural standpoint, this moment in time was akin to the moment when Dorothy first opened the door in 'The Wizard Of Oz' and her world instantly went from sepia tones to technicolor.
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u/Stunning-Guitar-5916 13m ago
Yeah it’s not beating some of these, but I’m gonna say it for the sake of discussion: The Ballad of John and Yoko/ Old Brown Shoe are THE underrated single of the band. Neither of them, ESPECIALLY Old Brown Shoe, get the love they deserve. That song was George preparing everyone for the beast that is All Things Must Pass
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u/TheseSevenSongs 3h ago
Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane. I think it’s possibly the high point of their whole discography.
After that
After that I can’t really rank them right now. My opinion could change tomorrow about the ones above but I’ve always thought Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane was easily their best single and I can’t imagine that opinion changing.