THE HIT HAMMER: The Beatles' "Ticket to Ride"

(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)

The Beatles - "Ticket to Ride

Hit Number 1: May 22, 1965

Stay at Number 1: 1 Week

I've brought it up a couple times in the past, but we have finally arrived at the Beatles' "Help!" era. This was that middle phase of the Beatles, where they were all but done with their boy-bandish songs, but they hadn't become psychedelic and weird yet. This is the point where many said the Beatles "peaked", and while I'm not sure that that's accurate myself, it still was an amazing time for their music. I would have to say that it was where they peaked as songwriters though. They dug deeper into the meaning of their songs, with the song "Help!" having to do with John Lennon's personal life. ("Help!" of course hit #1 later in 1965, so I'll discuss that more when we get to it) First up from the "Help!" album was "Ticket to Ride".

Immediately, there was one obvious difference between "Ticket to Ride" and the other Beatles songs that have hit #1 so far: It's the first song about a breakup or "lost love". Mostly accredited to Lennon, who sang lead on the song, it's about a girl who's leaving this guy, and she couldn't care any less about it. The guy goes back and forth between being sad, and even shows bits of rage by saying things like "She ought to do right by me". That's the part that can't be denied, but others, including the Beatles themselves, offer up different scenarios of what the song could be about. Apparently, the word "ride" is a British slang term for "sex", leading some to wonder if the song could be about prostitution. It's very easy to laugh that off, but you almost have to wonder a little bit. While Paul McCartney said it was referring to "a British Railways ticket to the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wright", Lennon (who took more ownership of the song) said it was about cards that were carried by Hamburg prostitutes that indicated clean health. So..... is it about prostitution? That'll be one to think about for the day.

However you interpret the song, there is a lot of cool things going on in "Ticket to Ride". That fluttering guitar riff from the start is a cool trait that foreshadows the sorrow felt from the narrator of the song. And the group go back and forth from fast to slow, depending on the mood of the narrator. In his time of sadness, the song is pretty slow, with the narrator saying "I think I'm gonna be sad, I think it's todaaaaay yeah, the girl that's driving me mad, is going awaaaay yeah", before picking up the pace when he's feeling a little angry about the situation. In that sense, "Ticket to Ride" is spot on when trying to capture how anyone would feel when their significant other just walks out on them like that. Of course, you'd be sad, but you'd also be angry, wondering how anyone can do you wrong like that.

"Ticket to Ride" rocks out pretty hard, putting it in the likes of songs like "A Hard Day's Night", and it's structure is a lot like the Beatles hits from the previous year. You've got the immortal two-part harmony from Lennon and McCartney, some cool guitar riffs from George Harrison, and free and easy drum banging from Ringo Starr. Lennon sounds like a man who's beside himself, especially on the long notes of "todaaaaay" and "awaaaay" which is all you really need to "sell" this particular song. You can try to dumb it down a little bit, like the Carpenters did in 1969, but that results in a pretty mediocre song. (Their version is a 3) "Ticket to Ride" needs to ROCK OUT. It also wouldn't be complete without the outro of "my baby don't care!", which gives us listeners one final burst of excitement before the song ends. "Ticket to Ride" just joins the long list of great Beatles songs. Even if it is about prostitution.

GRADE: 9/10