Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 01/10/2026It's hard for any Beatles song to be underrated, but this one qualifies 000
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Nowhere Man turns alienation into something life-affirming. The descending melody and minor-key turn suggest isolation, but Paul's bubbling bass, luminous guitars and those three-part harmonies surround John with warmth, support and joy. beatles208.substack.com/p/53-nowher…beatles208.substack.com53. Nowhere ManA life-affirming song about depression 001
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 29/09/2026If I Fell really does sound like angels singing. But its beauty depends on two bits of dissonance: lyrics trapped in the wreckage of an old heartbreak, and harmonies that strain just enough at the edges to reveal John and Paul inside them beatles208.substack.com/p/58-if-i-f…beatles208.substack.com58. If I FellAn unspeakably beautiful song, with a few discordant notes to counterpoint 002
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 28/09/2026If not for the girl groups, there would probably be no #Beatles. Please Mr. Postman shows how their rock and roll aggression fused with beautiful harmonies and earnest devotion to create something wholly new beatles208.substack.com/p/60-please…beatles208.substack.com60. Please Mr. PostmanIf not for the girl groups, there would probably be no Beatles 011
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Norwegian Wood is a template for a lifetime of musical discovery. Every time I experience that jolt of delight at encountering some new song, I'm hearing an echo of it. beatles208.substack.com/p/61-norweg…beatles208.substack.com61. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)This song changed my life 001
Reposted by Charles OlneyNed Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 28/09/2026The entire state government of California is a parable about how giving people more opportunities to vote on something is not, in fact, the same thing as making your political system more democratic. 719234
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Revolution infuriated the political left in 1968, but its uncertainty has aged better than many of John's later, more strident political declarations beatles208.substack.com/p/67-revolu…beatles208.substack.com67. RevolutionA revolutionary song about the dangers of revolution 001
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 25/09/2026It Won't Be Long takes the melodrama of the girl-group sound and turns it into a rock and roll thunderclap. The #Beatles didn't keep any ironic distance from that emotional intensity. They gave themselves over to it completely beatles208.substack.com/p/75-it-won…beatles208.substack.com75. It Won't Be LongA girl-group inspired potboiler that turns melodrama into a rock and roll classic 011
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 24/09/2026At the start of the most astonishing scene in Peter Jackson's Get Back, Paul has nothing. Less than four minutes later, John has arrived, the whole band is playing, and a number-one single has sprung into existence before our eyes beatles208.substack.com/p/80-get-ba…beatles208.substack.com80. Get BackWhat a gift to be able to watch the birth of a number one hit 001
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 22/09/2026I do basically agree that people are too invested in identity=electability arguments. But ‘you can win if you’re a generational political talent (running against an unpopular war and a financial collapse)’ does not prove very much. 000
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 11/09/2026No, the conclusion should be that these are two different candidates, running for two different jobs, against two different opposing candidates, who are therefore differentiated in many different ways. SMH 101
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Can't Buy Me Love is probably the least intrinsically-interesting of the #Beatles 1964 mega-hits, but it's a perfect avatar for their year of world domination beatles208.substack.com/p/91-cant-bu...beatles208.substack.com91. Can't Buy Me LoveThe relentless enthusiasm of Paul McCartney and the peak of Beatlemania 101
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 25/07/2026George wrote Love You To only a few months after picking up the sitar, which remains one of the most impossible facts in a #Beatles story full of impossible facts beatles208.substack.com/p/93-love-you-tobeatles208.substack.com93. Love You ToGeorge wrote this song just a few months after picking up the sitar. That is every bit as impossible as it sounds 111
Reposted by Charles OlneyJoe Patrice @joepatrice.bsky.social · 24/07/2026The problem with voter ID laws is that white people are NOT overconfident. It's a "velvet rope regime" where white people's shoddy ID will be "good enough" and Black people's identical ID gets scrutinized and votes possibly thrown out by some 2020 election denialist running a local board. 1121
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 24/07/2026A petition is going viral demanding Charles III use his powers as King to resurrect John Lennon and George Harrison and reunite the Beatles. 040
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Getting Better might be the perfect entry point into the John/Paul partnership: Paul's optimism and John's realism sharpening each other into something neither could have made alone beatles208.substack.com/p/96-getting-betterbeatles208.substack.com96. Getting BetterIt's time to take 'Lennon/McCartney' seriously, and literally 101
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Brutal from Argentina, of course, but also pretty impressive for Spain to only accumulate 1.2 xG from all those shots 000
Reposted by Charles OlneyMike Goodman @themlg.bsky.social · 19/07/2026The degree to which the nastiness in the Michigan senate primary exploded the minute Platner dropped out in Maine sure suggests that the most prominent issue at play here is that a bunch of assholes [factional definition neutral] need something to do. 1295
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Pretty funny that they finally moved on from Southgate and then played the most Southgate game that ever Southgated 100
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Always feels a bit like Digne is just some guy who won a contest where the prize was you get to play for the national team. 000
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 14/07/2026As a teenager, Paul wrote Michelle to try to pick up girls. It ended up being one of their most popular and enduring hits beatles208.substack.com/p/98-michellebeatles208.substack.com98. MichelleStraddling the line between parody and sincerity, Michelle is a perfect and somewhat inexplicable gem 101
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 11/07/2026In the past three weeks, my five year old has discovered that goals often don’t end up counting and now says it doesn’t feel good to clap when they just ‘get taken away.’ Thanks VAR 000
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 09/07/2026The Ballad of John and Yoko was their final UK #1, a fact that seems unbelievable no matter how many times I say it. Great song, but one that feels much more like a Plastic Ono Band cut than a #Beatles chart-topper beatles208.substack.com/p/104-the-ba...beatles208.substack.com104. The Ballad of John and YokoThe Ballad of John and Paul and John and Yoko 101
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Girl is a wistful ode to an imagined love, in the form of an almost-perfect presaging of John's feelings for Yoko beatles208.substack.com/p/103-girlbeatles208.substack.com103. GirlA song about a dream girl--whose perfection is defined by her casual indifference 101
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 07/07/2026The US spent two decades as plucky overachievers. Interesting change of pace for them to now be a pretty good team who absolutely wilted under the bright lights. 000
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 06/07/2026It was a very Bluesky-Brain thing for people to assume that the world was rooting against the US in the World Cup (when in fact global football fans were reasonably warm to the USMNT. Except it turns out the Bluesky Brainers were kind of right after all. 000
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 06/07/2026What on earth is happening in Mexico City. This is just nonstop madness 010
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 03/07/2026Giving me flashbacks to Scotland 3-3 Argentina at the 2019 World Cup, which was possibly even more bonkers of an ending. 010
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 03/07/2026My most old-man-yells-at-cloud football opinion is that holding up your arm for an offside call while the ball is in play should be a bookable offense 000
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 02/07/2026The Fool on the Hill is a beautiful song about the haunting isolation of wisdom beatles208.substack.com/p/107-the-fo...beatles208.substack.com107. The Fool on the HillPaul gets philosophical about the burdens of being human 101
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 02/07/2026I'm not saying that Charles Manson correctly divined the meaning. But still, his madness did expose an element of truth here. Helter Skelter really is a shockingly violent song. 001
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 02/07/2026My principled stance is that refs need to assign more red cards regardless of intent. Dangerous play is dangerous. My biased fan stance is that this is the greatest travesty in the history of the World Cup. 042
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 01/07/2026The fight for third-place qualification turned out as good as you could possibly hope for, but playing 70 games to eliminate 16/48 teams is ridiculous. Expand to 64 imo. 100
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 24/06/2026When I'm Sixty-Four isn't a critical favorite, but I think it's actually one of the most compelling (and subversive) songs on Sgt. Pepper beatles208.substack.com/p/109-when-i...beatles208.substack.com109. When I'm Sixty-FourPaul singing a song at 26 that he wrote at 16 in a style that was popular when he was 6 about being 64 101
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 23/06/2026The McCartney Pastiche is its own amazing genre. He's earnest, empathetic, engaged: fully committed to making the song a genuine version of itself, while still injecting his own unique personality into every experiment. 182
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 23/06/2026It was written looking backward, toward the music that HIS mother might have known. But it lives on today as a song that still delights kids who are now almost six full decades removed 001
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 22/06/2026When I was a teenager and #Beatles obsessive, Real Love was the closest I ever got to experiencing my favorite band as a real living thing beatles208.substack.com/p/113-real-l...beatles208.substack.com113. Real LoveOf all the new Beatles songs, this one sounds the most like The Beatles. For better and for worse 111
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 18/06/2026Because is one of the most beautiful #Beatles songs, but one that I've never quite been able to love. Perhaps that's because the song itself evokes feelings that seem to exceed the human experience beatles208.substack.com/p/114-becausebeatles208.substack.com114. BecauseEthereal harmonies that feel like they might just stretch out to infinity 021
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Lennon and McCartney are famously among the most gifted songwriters in history, but they spent years as a cover band before ever writing any of their own hits. That's not a coincidence. 011
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 17/06/2026P.S. I Love You commemorates a very literal thing that happened: the #Beatles writing letters back home to their fans while they were in Hamburg open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...open.substack.com116. P.S. I Love YouThis soppy little love song actually defines a critical, and transformational moment in the history of the Beatles 011
Charles Olney @olneyce.bsky.social · 14/06/2026Would you like to guess which of these two teams Ian Darke and Landon Donovan think are playing exceptionally well and which one is embarrassed at their performance? 000
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 05/06/2026John Lennon called Run For Your Life his least favorite Beatles song. But the song's flaws are also part of what make it worth examining and (maybe) celebrating open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...open.substack.com120. Run For Your LifeCan we get past the misogyny? Should we try to get past the misogyny? 101
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 08/06/2026Finding lifelong joy in a 23 second song fragment open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...open.substack.com119. Her MajestyA final bit of impossible serendipity to conclude a decade of perfect accidents 101
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 09/06/2026Brian had plenty of flaws, and he messed up quite a few things on the business side. But I truly believe there was no other person on earth who could have done more to lift the #Beatles to the highest heights 001
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 28/05/2026It's amazing just how many songs John wrote from 62-65 about how women were doing him wrong. Of course, these were songs, not personal diaries, but there's definitely still something of the confessional in them 101
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 01/06/2026Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite is John doing his best to write like Paul, and provides an extraordinary of what made the whole Sgt. Pepper experience so exciting open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...open.substack.com124. Being for the Benefit of Mr. KiteJohn writes in the style of Paul, and places a tentpole that holds up the entire premise of Sgt. Pepper 101
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 01/06/2026I'll Get You is about as close as you get to a 'generic' #Beatles song, which might sound like criticism but is actually high praise open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...open.substack.com123. I'll Get YouOne of the songs that invented 'the Beatles' sound 001
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 22/05/2026One of the defining sounds of the early #Beatles was John's double-tracked vocals. I Should Have Known Better might be the apotheosis of that effect open.substack.com/pub/beatles2...open.substack.com129. I Should Have Known BetterJoyfulness in song, but it all really comes down to how you feel about the double-tracked vocals 001
Reposted by Charles OlneyOh That Magic Feeling @beatles208.bsky.social · 22/05/2026The Inner Light is a very performative song, in the Austinian sense, where it actively DOES the thing that it's describing 001