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[1960-1969 Best Songs]
Billboard Top 100, 1967, #55 [Not Available on iTunes]
"Penny Lane??" you say. "Of all the great songs by the Beatles, you're picking Penny Lane? Are you mental?"
Okay, people: remember the rules. First, a song has to make the Billboard Top 100 for a year. So the vast majority of the Beatles' greatest songs don't qualify for your program. Second, you have everything The Beatles ever made anyway, so quit complaining.
Now that that's over with, pay attention: this is a brilliant musical work. Almost every other song on this list is competing with other songs on the Pop charts. Penny Lane is competing with Gershwin, Tchaikovsky and Mozart.
Have I gone off the deep end? Definitely. But try me: play it at a medium volume with no outside noises. Follow along with the strings, horns, piano and percussion: every instrument is woven into just the right place. And Paul McCartney's voice has never sounded more pristine.
Call me crazy ("You're crazy!"), but this is a beautiful song.
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