The Beatles‘ The White Album is all over the place musically. In addition, it contains a whopping 30 songs — more than any other Fab Four LP. Unsurprisingly, some of the tracks on the album are less than inspiring.
5. ‘Honey Pie’
Paul McCartney’s music could get overly cutesy at times. He was also fixated on music hall songs. “Honey Pie” is a cutesy music hall song about an actor that doesn’t justify its existence. “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” the music hall detour from Abbey Road, has been much maligned. It’s a lot better than “Honey Pie” simply for its novel subject matter. During a 1980 interview in the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, John said he didn’t want to think about “Honey Pie.”
4. ‘I Will’
At least “Honey Pie” has some character. “I Will” is one of the most low-key love songs in the band’s discography. It barely has a genre, a tempo, or a point.
In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul offered his opinion on the track. “It’s still one of my favorite melodies that I’ve written,” he said. “You just occasionally get lucky with a melody and it becomes rather complete and I think this is one of them; quite a complete tune.” It’s staggering to think he ranks this song so highly in his output.
3. ‘Rocky Raccoon’
“Rocky Racoon” is the sort of song one might excuse because it’s for children. After all, nobody faults The Wiggles for not being musical geniuses. On the other hand, The Beatles gave us children’s songs like “Yellow Submarine” and “Octopus’s Garden” which are so much better than “Rocky Raccoon.” Lyrical detail can be great, but did we really need to know there was a woman named “Magill / and she called herself Lil / But everyone knew her as Nancy?” The Monty Pythonesque attempt at humor here falls flat.
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2. ‘The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill”
“The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” has its heart in the right place. It’s a very 1960s plea for animal rights. However, the message is the only good thing about it.
The Beatles’ The White Album will always be associated with the Manson Family. It pains me to say it, but “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” is one of the only Fab Four songs that’s on the same level as a Manson Family song. It has the sparse folk sound, weird lyrics, and annoying melody of a Charles Manson original.
1. ‘Wild Honey Pie’
The Beatles’ The White Album goes on for over 90 minutes without a central connecting idea. Some fans feel it could’ve been better if it was cut in half. Considering the staggering length of the album, did we really need “Wild Honey Pie,” a 52-second interlude where Paul screams?
The twisted hillbilly sound of “Wild Honey Pie” is also reminiscent of the Manson Family. Why this song has a title so similar to “Honey Pie” from the same album is anyone’s guess.
