What happens when Gen Z picks a Beatles single they’ve never heard before?
For this video, I gave a group of high school students a box of original UK Beatles 45s and asked each of them to choose one at random. The only rule was that it had to be a song they’d never heard before.
From early Beatlemania to their later years, their choices produced some surprising reactions!
Headphones used (not sponsored): Meze 105 AER:
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This is why Paperback Writer and Rain work so well on the American Hey Jude album. Because they sound contemporary.
Had to stop listening after 5 mins, video jumped all over the place and too disjointed to follow and enjoy the music
Lovely rendering, thank you! But why did the boys not try to recreate a concert-situation with attentive occasions?
I'm jealous that there are people that can actually hear a Beatles song for the first time.
Lol! I hate to think of what they would have made of Ain't She Sweet if that was even there?
Interesting. Not always the first time you like a song. A lot of the Beatles grow on you as they are so creative.
Paul macartney is a musical genius
He especially enjoyed the musical parts….OF MUSIC
It was excellent to hear the students reactions, because each song 🎵 is so different! It would be equally interesting 🤔 to see their reaction to the b-sides! Thanks for a fabulous video. Cheers 🍻
I know this is outside your wheelhouse, but I'd love to see you react to Stephen Baxter's 1998 science fiction short story, "The Twelfth Album," about a couple of guys working on an old passenger ship in Liverpool who find a post-Let It Be record by the Beatles. From an alternate universe.
It's in his book Phase Space.
Love it! Elena's joy was awesome 🙂
Poor Marco was traumatized by Revolution 9.
Plays 1 second
I like it!
Elena is just like me 😂
Also, poor Marco, how could you possibly introduce The Beatles to someone with Revolution 9? 😂
The good thing is it's only gonna get better from here on
Many here may be misinterpreting the significance of the "Something" controversy: rather it is testiment to the breadth and ultimate maturing of the Beatles catalog, which was cultivated and experienced by us over years. A young person coming upon it anew, expecting the typical Beatles number, might be understandably perplexed. Thus the reactions in the moment are instructive and honest and should not be criticized.
Nikos heard 'Day Tripper' for the first time, and now on YouTube I've heard "Day Tripper – Songwriting Work Tape". There's a lot of giggling, so I'm calling it "Day Tripper: Toke 1".
In Dutch we call the situation the students find themselves in "ongemakkelijk". Something between uneasy and embarrassing.
I want to Hold Your Hand uaered in the "British invasion" to the Unites States. The song had monumental repercutions in America and would wide.
Revoltion #1 is on the "White Album". It is more bluesy and it is the way John intended it. When John first presenteed the song to the group, the others thought it should be more of a rocker. And so they recordeed it and created one hell of a rock and roll record. Both renditions are good. I like the bluesy take more myself. But I am glad there are two renditions.
What a well behaved bunch of nice young people so respectful…Andrew are you playing them the re mix versions? I love re mixes better that give them more punch
Wow, that was really interesting, just shows The Beatles are timeless regardless of when the song was released.
Is the school in USA or UK?
"Something" deals with tension and release so beautifully that's it's arguably the most dynamic and contoured Beatles love ballad. But I get where she's coming from with her preferred genre tastes and age. Where's she's expecting driving solos and heavy riffs to rise the tension further she was met with forlon sighs. Those falls into the riff and especially into and out of the solo are what make it such a heartachingly beautiful song.
But I have to admit I'm now curious to hear what it would sound like with a soaring solo and more energetic changes just for the heck of it. 😀
Great video and impressed by every student's insights and desire to learn about music to this depth on e again. Well done everybody.
"Sees Cat " is my favourite Beatles B- side !
Having the guts to criticize the musicality of Something, there is not future, now it is confirmed.
Always love watching young people react to what WE all know is amazing music… I don't know if I would have started the one guy off with Revolution 9, but he totally appreciated the "normal" music… The only less than stellar review was from the girl who mainly listens to metal; Something wasn't her jam – I'd bet she'd like Helter Skelter a bit more… 🙂
So he listened to music and "especially enjoyed the musical parts"? We need more music education so people can talk intelligently about this.
The one heavy metal chick should check out Helter Skelter 😊
HOW EXCITING THAT PEOPLE TODAY CAN EXPERIENCE THE THRILL OF NEW BEATLE MUSIC. HOW GREAT OF YOU TO SHARE THE SINGLES WITH THEM. BUT, OH, NOTHING LIKE. BEING THERE AT THE TIME.YEAH, YEAH, YEAH
Did anyone pick "i know your name (look up the number)"?
The person who was denied hearing "Paperback Writer" should have listened to "Rain" – a neglected masterpiece!
I found myself fighting off tears throughout the entire video. What made me so emotional were three things: Hearing the snippets of music; the concept of the video; and the students' reactions, especially the more positive ones, and double especially for Elena's reactions. She is my soulmate. Think of what sorcerers these Beatles were that their third single, From Me To You, a simple boy/girl song, could, in 2026, cause a young person to have something akin to a religious experience. Many of the students were GENUINELY moved by the songs they heard. When I was a teen (in the 70s) I often used the term "Beatle magic." I would talk about their then-current solo songs and say, "You can still hear the Beatle magic in this song." They could leave the band, but the band wouldn't leave them. They couldn't keep it out of their music. There is something profoundly positive seeing these students 60+ years later get legitimately turned on by these songs – particularly the pre-Pepper stuff. What we (older people) call early and late, they call normal and experimental. And they mean normal as a compliment. Great video! The best – so far – of the student reaction videos. Much better talking with them individually than as a group. I think you get more honest feedback this way.
just started this and I'm already delighted by that young man humming the riff of Day tripper. can you imagine writing something so catchy that young people 60 years in the future enjoy it?
🎉 that was fun. Kudos for the presence of song excerpts. Either the singles went in to the collective memory more strongly OR the Beatles simply chose the right immediate catchy songs as singles. I opt for the latter.
Interesting reactions, a fun to watch. Thanks for sharing.