Every Beatles Album's Opening Track Ranked From Worst To Best
4. Back In The U.S.S.R. - The Beatles (Disc 1)
The actual start of The White Album is also a massive rib, but it’s one of the best musical japes of all time.
Inspired by Americans singing about how much they loved their homeland - including Chuck Berry's Back in the USA - Paul McCartney decided it would be a good idea to perform one of those songs about the Soviet Union.
Cue mentions of Moscow, comrades, and a fantastic ape of the phrase “Georgia on my mind". Give that man all the awards, just for that one line.
It helps that the song also kicks ass, embodying all the best tropes of the style it’s ripping off. There’s toe-tapping piano, thick bass work, and a guitar solo that ranks up there with The Beatles’ very best.
The White Album is seen by some as The Beatles as their most free creatively, for better or worse. It feels like one big musical collage of different ideas all mashed together, and Back in the U.S.S.R. primes you for that with a giant smile on its face.