Since the Beatles are quite possibly the most popular and acclaimed musical group ever, it seems almost laughable to call any of their songs underrated. Nonetheless, here are a few of their songs that you won't find on the "best of" lists, but are excellent and deserve more credit than they receive.
"I Need You" (album: Help!)
I've seen people criticize "I Need You" as "formulaic," yet these are the same critics that put "Love Me Do" near the top of their list just because it was the first Beatles single. If being formulaic makes a song bad, then the entirety of the Beatles' first couple albums would be garbage-- which it most certainly is not! Perhaps those who dismiss "I Need You" are biased against George Harrison and assume anything he writes will be inferior to a Lennon-McCartney effort. If they looked closer, they'd see that "I Need You" has a lovely and surprising melody, and is the first really good song George wrote, a definite step up from "Don't Bother Me." Not to mention, that distorted guitar is pretty darn cool.
"The Word" (album: Rubber Soul)
Rubber Soul is supposed to be the first album where the Beatles sang about things besides romantic relationships-- "Nowhere Man" and "In My Life" being prime examples of the shift to more philosophical lyrics. However, "The Word" is often overlooked, unfairly I think. It's one of the less-esteemed tracks on this highly-acclaimed album, yet it's perhaps the first Beatles song to discuss love as an idea or a principle rather than a feeling. That makes it a precursor to some of the Beatles' later deeply philosophical songs, like "All You Need Is Love," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and "Let It Be." It also features a killer drum part courtesy of Ringo, which elevates it considerably.
"Hey, Bulldog" (album: Yellow Submarine)
It's no surprise that "Hey, Bulldog" is underrated, since it's tucked away on the most maligned, least discussed Beatles album. However, it's very unfortunate, since this is an inventive, fun, absolutely rocking song! The instrumentals are on point, and John and Paul are clearly having a lot of fun (their freak-out at the end, with Paul's random barking and John's manic laughter, always makes me smile.) And the lyrics, while somewhat nonsensical, are actually fairly thought-provoking. I think if this song had featured on a more popular album, it would be a Beatles classic today. Instead, it's a hidden gem just waiting for discovery.
"Cry, Baby, Cry" (album: The Beatles)
As the design of this site probably indicates, I really love the white album. Many of the tracks on it are underrated, perhaps inevitably since it's such an unwieldy jumble of songs. "Cry, Baby, Cry" is one of those songs that I love but rarely see mentioned. It's true that the lyrics are more nonsensical than meaningful, but I think that's on purpose. They're reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, a childhood favorite of both John Lennon and myself. So "Cry, Baby, Cry" is basically a fairy tale set to a pulsing piano part reminiscent of "I Am the Walrus." And though it's not really part of the song, Paul's "Can You Take Me Back" tag fits in very well with the song's theme of childhood nostalgia.
"Two of Us" (album: Let It Be)
Of course this song is underrated, it's on the album that was essentially salvaged from the wreckage of the Beatles. When I first listened to "Two of Us," I didn't care for it because the country aesthetic wasn't what I expected from the Beatles. Now I love it for that exact reason, because of its uniqueness. It really doesn't sound like anything else the Beatles have done, except for "I've Just Seen a Face." In fact, I think the best way to view "Two of Us" is as the mature version of "I've Just Seen a Face." They're both love songs, but one is about infatuated attraction, love at first sight, while the other is about the joy that comes from being with someone you truly care about, even-- especially-- if you're doing nothing in particular. As far as the debate over whether Paul wrote the lyrics about John or Linda, I don't think it matters. He was probably writing about both of them, for if there's one thing Paul does well, it's writing universal lyrics that everyone can relate to.
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