The 5 Most Bizarre Songs by The Beatles

If there’s one thing The Beatles showed us, it’s that they didn’t hesitate to follow their inspirations, even if it meant straying far from the accepted definition of rock & roll. And if that also meant that occasionally things went a little strange, then that was just part of the experience.

These are five Beatles songs that wear like their bizarre nature like a badge of honor. Let’s look back in chronological order.

“Good Morning Good Morning” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

This Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band song doesn’t seem all that strange at first listen. It features clever John Lennon lyrics on the monotony of daily existence, which runs throughout the album. It also has a lively rhythmic pulse. The band then adds a few small adjustments that move this song into an unusual realm. First, at the conclusion of the refrain, there is the choice to abruptly change to German: Gut, gut, gut, good morning. The loud cacophony of animal noises added at the end of the song is even more bizarre.

“Blue Jay Way” from Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

In order to pass the time until his friends came, George Harrison, who was suffering from jet lag and lodging in a rented property in Los Angeles, made the decision to compose a song on an antique organ. Without any elaboration, the lyrics essentially recount the events of the evening. The street where the house was located, “Blue Jay Way,” has a distinct, eerier story to tell, as conveyed by its music. The creaking organ, the suggestive strings, and the backing vocals, which resemble ghosts haunting the song, are all a little off-kilter in the accompaniment.

“Happiness Is a Warm Gun” from The Beatles (1968)

The White Album contains a lot of strange material, thus it is tempting to limit this list to just tracks from those two LPs. Although “Revolution 9” is the obvious pick, its attempt to be off-the-wall is almost too studied for it to have the same impact. The reason “Happiness is a Warm Gun” was chosen is that, in contrast to some of the other mini-suites The Beatles would go on to pull off (such as Side Two of Abbey Road), this one consists of three totally disparate musical elements united only by the charisma of John Lennon.

“Only a Northern Song” from Yellow Submarine (1968)

The Beatles’ contract stated they still owed the company a film, even though they had no desire to work on the animated Yellow Submarine movie. They made a bargain, giving up a few new songs in exchange for the usage of their likenesses and music. In general, the four songs they selected were deemed too unconventional to be included on a conventional album. With its errant chord progressions and self-referential lyrics, “Only a Northern Song” resembled a single, massive inside joke that George Harrison played on his record company and band.

“You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)” (Single, 1970)

This one’s recording schedule alone makes it seem a little strange. In 1967, the Beatles began with a few sessions in which Rolling Stone Brian Jones performed a brief inebriated saxophone performance. Then, two years later, Paul McCartney and John Lennon made the decision to return to it and complete it. In 1970, it was finally released as the “Let It Be” single’s B-side. The crazy nonsequiturs that make up this song sound as though they may have come from the renowned company Monty Python, even though the original sessions were recorded before that craze.