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The Top Ten Beatles Songs

Get a sneak peek at our new collectors issue of the greatest band's 100 greatest songs

August 25, 2010 1:40 PM ET

In Rolling Stone's new Special Collectors Edition issue (on sale now), we count down the 100 greatest songs from the greatest band of all time: The Beatles. Check out the top 10 songs now, before the issue hits stands. "The Beatles: 100 Greatest Songs" also features Paul and John talking about their favorite tracks, the Fab Four's best cover songs, and George Harrison's finest guitar work. "Lennon, McCartney and Harrison had stunningly high standards as writers," Elvis Costello says in his introduction. "Then they started to really grow up: simple love lyrics to adult stories like 'Norwegian Wood,' which spoke of the sour side of love, and on to bigger ideas than you would expect to find in catchy pop lyrics." 

What song do you think is Number One? 

For more on the 100 greatest Beatles songs, pick up Rolling Stone: The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs on sale at barnesandnoble.com.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

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