a man in a white shirt is standing on a stage with his mouth open and a purple background . Alt: Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen, in a white vest, standing on a stage and throwing his hand out triumphantly.

MAGNIFICO-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh!

BEATLES WORLD CUP is no more.
#BeatlesWorldCup

Tomorrow, we kick off the QUEEN WORLD CUP.
#QueenWorldCup.

A knock-out tournament, songs going head-to-head each day, until we have determined the greatest ever Queen song.

Get hyped. Or don't.

#BeatlesWorldCup

BEATLES WORLD CUP
#BeatlesWorldCup

Rap? Country? Disco?

So, the band we'll be doing will be announced THIS WEEK. (Speculation is encouraged.)

D.M.s from a select few will determine the seeding of songs, and the tournament will kick off MONDAY 18 SEPTEMBER.

elmo from sesame street playing a record player Alt: elmo from sesame street playing a record player

BEATLES WORLD CUP
#BeatlesWorldCup

Bo, selecta!

He tell me there’s another tournament soon. (Date TBC.)

Me, I’ll be running it on here, plus some private votes to prevent band-wagoning.

An’, as we found Here Comes The Sun is the Beatles’ best, we will determine the greatest song by another band…

IN THE END THE LOVE YOU TAKE IS EQUAL
#BeatlesWorldCup

Here's the full wallchart. All of it.

(And some previous analysis: bsky.app/profile/rich...)

a group of soccer players wearing jerseys with the number 17 and 21 on them Alt: a group of Iceland football players clap their supporters

BECAUSE THE WORLD IS ROUND
#BeatlesWorldCup

Of course, a lot of this upswing in attention was from an office in Reykjavik, UK media drinking buddies, the BBC live page, and a family meal all getting asked by people I was asking, like @danghile.bsky.social and @danict89.bsky.social

(Thanks again)

A pie-chart showing the votes for top songs of R2 by composer. McCartney 36.5%, Lennon 32.5%, Harrison 19.6%, Lennon-McCartney 11.5%

KEEP YOUR COMRADE WARM
#BeatlesWorldCup

A couple of trends were appearing: Those late-album tracks to make it through were supported. As was the Help!-Rubber Soul nexus.

McCartney had the most songs in the cup, and in R2, but the Harriswing was happening.

The top-scoring songs of the Beatles World Cup, Round 2, with Come Together at the top, While My Guitar Gently Weeps second, and Ticket To Ride third

WE MIGHT FALL APART BEFORE TOO LONG
#BeatlesWorldCup

R2 also saw the first Next-Goal-Wins after extra time, Hey Bulldog beating I Want You (She's So Heavy).

But check out the changing appreciation. These are the top-scoring songs of R2 (compared to R1), alongside the composer. (LM is Lennon-Macca)

a soccer player wearing a fly emirates jersey holds his hand to his chest . Alt: Zinedine Zidane holds his head, in shock, in the rain

ON A RUG BIDING MY TIME
#BeatlesWorldCup

However, two of those three 'big' songs to get six nominations were about to fall.

WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS 35-25 ELEANOR RIGBY

IN MY LIFE 34-28 A DAY IN THE LIFE (the Life Derby)

No coincidence, these were the two highest-scoring games of R2.

For those who enjoyed #BeatlesWorldCup, here’s my old mucker Mark Savage running a Google doc on the albums of the year.

I liked the Cure one.

A bar chart showing the top-scoring songs of Round 1 of the Beatles World Cup. Eleanor Rigby is at the top.

LITTLE DARLIN'
#BeatlesWorldCup

Eleanor Rigby's 45 stayed the highest score for a single song in a game until the quarter-finals.

But second in R1 was Here Comes The Sun, tonking The Fool On The Hill 37-10.

Norwegian Wood was the only other song to pass 30.

So far, the 'big' songs were doing OK.

Graph showing the average votes in a Beatles World Cup game, Round 1, was 35; the average over the first three games was 32; Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds v I Am The Walrus 39; Hello, Goodbye v Back In The USSR 55; She Loves You v Norwegian Wood 58; Across The Universe v Eleanor Rigby 64

FLYING
#BeatlesWorldCup

After that we were in early November and as BlueSky membership rose, so did the votes.

Suddenly, I had quadrupled my followers and the scores were:
Hello, Goodbye 29-26 Back In The USSR
She Loves You 25-33 Norwegian Wood

And Across The Universe 19-45 Eleanor Rigby

Walrus Interesting GIF Alt: A walrus holds its flipper to its chin

SEMOLINA PILCHARDS
#BeatlesWorldCup

The first seeded song lost. And a game nudged 40 votes.

LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS 20-19 I AM THE WALRUS

Was it a surprise Lucy had only a single nomination in the first place? Was Walrus too confident?

@sixotf.bsky.social still won't forgive the result.

a man wearing a blue shirt with parions sport written on it Alt: a man wearing a blue shirt with parions sport written on it

WON'T YOU COME OUT TO PLAY
#BeatlesWorldCup

We started off with about 30 votes a game, several White album tracks getting bounced, the 'big' songs from Abbey Rd progressing, and the first game to go to extra time (Dear Prudence beat The End).

But then...

a man in a top hat and scarf is walking down a street in a christmas story . Alt: Michael Caine as Scrooge in A Muppets Christmas Carol - a man in a top hat and scarf is walking down a street in a christmas story, singing a happy song

Wishing all fellow Blueskiers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! ❄️

I'm going to try & be good & take a break for the festive period (we'll see if it works!)

I'll be looking out for exciting #ResearchIntegrity, #OpenResearch or #BeatlesWorldCup news when I get back to work in the new year

three men in suits and ties are laying on the floor with their faces together . Alt: three men in suits and ties are laying on the floor with their faces together .

WE HOPE YOU WILL ENJOY THE SHOW
#BeatlesWorldCup

So look at all those songs to immediately go home: Across The Universe, I Me Mine (the only Harrison loss before the semis), Back In The USSR, Revolution, all the songs from the side 2 medley of Abbey Road.

But the voting was going up…

The 64 nominated songs of the Beatles World Cup, divided by album

CHASING PAPER, GOING NOWHERE
#BeatlesWorldCup

But consider all those great songs with one vote.

And consider how heavily rep’d the final three albums were: 29/64 songs. 8/11 of Let It Be was in the cup (an effect of the Get Back doc, I reckon).

And I reckon their love was spread too thin.

The bottom left hand quadrant of the Beatles World Cup wallchart, featuring Hey Jude and A Day In The Life

SHOULD HAVE LASTED YEARS
#BeatlesWorldCup

This favours the songs at the top and bottom of groups of eight, starting against one-vote songs, which would then meet the two songs in the middle, also facing one-vote songs.

Here’s a couple of groups where all the one-vote songs lost (vs songs in bold).

a group of cartoon characters are standing next to each other and one of them has a pink flower on his shirt Alt: a group of cartoon characters from Yellow Submarine are standing next to each other and one of them points

YOU CAN COUNT ME OUT
#BeatlesWorldCup

The other songs with two or three votes were stuck in the middle of the groups, and the one-vote songs went in the gaps, all at random.

Where poss, I switched these around to avoid two songs from the same album clashing too early on.

The Beatles World Cup wallchart showing the 16 seeded songs: Hey Bulldog, Here Comes The Sun, Eleanor Rigby, Strawberry Fields Forever, Help!, Penny Lane, I Am The Walrus, Let It Be, Something, Paperback Writer, Hey Jude, Yesterday, I Saw Her Standing There, Blackbird, A Day In The Life, Come Together

MR HEATH, MR WILSON
#BeatlesWorldCup

Yes, Dick, but that's 11 songs, you need 16 seeds for 64 songs divided into eight pots.

So I took five of the eight songs with three nominations to make up the numbers.

As I've said all along, I want you to know Hey Bulldog is the best, so yes it was in there.

a man with long hair and a beard says " let it be " Alt: a man with long hair and a beard says " let it be "

WHAT IT CAN'T BUY, I CAN'T USE
#BeatlesWorldCup

OK, a bit hard to read, but from it I took those songs on most top 10s as the seeds, to be separated in the draw.

Eleanor Rigby, ADIT Life, Yesterday (6)
Strawberry FF, Here CTS, Let It Be, Hey Jude (5)
Penny Lane, Walrus, Come T, Something (4)

64 Beatles songs in order of the number of times they appeared on any of 14 top 10 lists

LONG, LONG, LONG
#BeatlesWorldCup

@twgerken.bsky.social, @leguape.bsky.social, @markwainwright.bsky.social, @paulybrown.bsky.social, @shayan86.bsky.social all ponied up a top 10.

Those 14 top 10s provided exactly 64 songs. Serendipity.

Here they are by number of top 10s on which they appeared.

Twist & Shout, Penny Lane, Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, Something, Strawberry Fields, Hey Jude, The Long And Winding Road, Here Comes The Sun, and can I have an all-time favourite? Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp. Technically a George Harrison song from All Things Must Pass (truly brilliant album). If not then She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.

ALL MY TROUBLES SEEMED SO FAR AWAY
#BeatlesWorldCup

But I wouldn't trust me to pick 64 songs and say let's go. Upon request, 13 other people sent me their lists.

For example, here's a real submission which picked two of the four semi-finalists, including the winner, and foretold the HARRISWING.

Hey Bulldog, Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, Magical Mystery Tour, A Hard Day’s Night, Paperback Writer, For No One, And O Love Her, A Day In The Life, Eleanor Rigby

DON’T LOOK AT ME, MAN, I ONLY HAVE 10 CHILDREN
#BeatlesWorldCup

So, it all began by asking friends - ex-band mates, colleagues, my mother, other people I’ve chatted music with on the reg - for their top 10 Beatles songs.

I wanted a wide spread of tastes.

Mine are below.

I am basic, yes.

a man in a black turtleneck is being photographed by another man Alt: George Harrison in a black turtleneck is being photographed by another man

WIPING THE DIRT FROM HIS HANDS
#BeatlesWorldCup

ICYMI, we had a knockout tournament to determine what the greatest Beatles song was.

2,830 votes were cast over 63 games on consecutive days.

Here Comes The Sun won.

But as threatened, let’s break down the stats…

a black and white photo of three men playing guitars Alt: a black and white animation of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon playing guitars

IT HAS BEEN A LONG, COLD, LONELY WINTER
#BeatlesWorldCup

Final score, stop voting!

HERE COMES THE SUN 52

IN MY LIFE 29

Full data, observations, etc tomorrow.

For now, thank you everybody who voted.

The Harrison and Abbey Road fans dance away for a night of (probably genteel) celebration.

a female referee wearing a black shirt that says fifa on it Alt: a female referee wearing a black shirt that says fifa on it

YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING
#BeatlesWorldCup

I haven’t said what time the final whistle is, because I had a lot on.

Let’s say 9pm. 37 mins to go.

So, like, keep voting for Here Comes The #Sun or In My #Life.

Or don’t. I’m not King of the Beatles.

Yet.

a cartoon of a group of people standing on a bridge Alt: An animation of Beatles albums including Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road and Let It Be

HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE
#BeatlesWorldCup

Since we started this, there have been 2,823 votes cast, ATOW.

Cast on here, from Transformer friends, BBC colleagues, an office in Reykjavik, friends’ friends, my mum, friends’ mums. Lots of kids hearing the Beatles for the first time.

#Sun or #Life?

a man in a purple jacket is standing in front of a group of people Alt: John Lennon in a purple jacket is standing in front of a group of people, in the cartoon Yellow Submarine

HAS NEO-LIBERALISM GONE TOO FAR?
#BeatlesWorldCup

Here Comes The #Sun has a 5:3 vote lead over In My #Life.

It was always favourite, as it was in the semi, and has always looked comfortable in possession. Out comes the olé football.

(More updates to follow, but I’ve been busy today.)

Here’s a thread encapsulating everything which made me want to do a #BeatlesWorldCup.

I’m glad somebody else could muster the words, and during the Final.