After a month off, I hope everyone had a restful break and are ready to be served up more blistering top-ten lists that will keep you on your toes. This top ten will focus on one of the most iconic bands of all time, The Beatles.

10. “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”

Starting off with an eerie instrumental, “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” is almost a nightmarish tune which is pretty unusual for The Beatles. There are sections of the songs that are more upbeat, but those portions dissolve back to the “haunted circus” sound. The lyrics are nonsensical but the song overall is a fascinating listen.

9. “I Am The Walrus”

The opening lyrics of “I Am The Walrus” are “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.” Your guess is as good as mine as to what in the world that means. Although it is not clear what the band means by “I am the egg man, they are the egg men, I am the walrus,” it is still one of The Beatles’ best works in my opinion. I like how the band went through distinct musical eras, from pop to psychedelic, eventually back to the folksy stuff. This song shows that lyrics do not have to be profound or meaningful to make the song a good listen.

8. “Two Of Us”

The first song of their legendary “Let It Be” album, “Two Of Us” harks back to what the band started as a pop band writing love songs. “Two Of Us” is not lyrically or thematically complex, but the song gives a sense of comfort.

7. “In My Life”

I really enjoy this song, similar to “Two Of Us” in regards to comfort, “In My Life” reflects on life and cherishing people you love and how feelings and emotions can change over time. There is a cool organ (I think it is an organ) solo that is carnivalesque.

6. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”

One of the best uses of personification that I have ever heard of, bar none. Giving the guitar the human trait of weeping and utter sadness is truly incredible, I think that so much emotion is able to be played/shown on the guitar and comparing crying to the wail of the guitar is such a cool description.

5. “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”

A surprisingly dark song by The Beatles standard, this song tells the story of a student who hits people on the head with his hammer. I don’t get where the idea for this song came from but it is pretty dang catchy. The weirdest thing about this song is the instrumental is really upbeat and happy, which doesn’t match the story of the tone at all.

4. “Octopus’s Garden”

This is one of the very first songs that I remember listening to, there is such a comfort to this song for me. There doesn’t seem to be any ulterior meaning behind this song, it’s just about hanging out in the ocean with an octopus, and who wouldn’t want to do that? It is one of the few songs by The Beatles where Ringo Starr sang vocals so it is pretty cool to see what he brings to the table.

3. “Help”

This feels like such a prototypical rock and roll song, which is why “Help” is so high up on my list. The fast-paced drum track matched with a slightly distorted guitar really helped The Beatles pave the way to what rock music would eventually become, this song is so pivotal to the history of rock and roll.

2. “Let It Be”

One of the most powerful songs of all time, “Let It Be” is the kind of song you listen to and know that everything will be okay, especially with the current stressful world we live in. “And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light that shines on me” is such an awesome lyric.

1. “Here Comes The Sun”

Similar to “Octopus’s Garden,” “Here Comes The Sun” is one of the first songs I remember listening to long back when I started my musical journey. “Here Comes The Sun” is instantly recognizable from the iconic guitar introduction all the way to the “doo doo doo doo” bits in the chorus.

(Editor’s note: while my guitar gently weeps should be higher on the list, fight me.)