The concept of the B-side isn’t just relegated to music. Even in life, it’s very hard to predict who, which venture or which move will be successful.
In music parlance, a B-side is a song that is less likely to be a hit. Back in the day, the A-side had the song or songs that the record company and artist thought were going to be that popular and the B-side contained the songs that they thought weren’t going to set the charts ablaze. Remixes, extended and instrumental versions, all of these fell under the B-side. Some people also called these ‘Bonus Tracks’. Essentially, they weren’t the main tracks that the artist and record company wanted to promote.
At the same time, some of the biggest hits were actually envisioned as B-sides. That is, they were released as a B-side to a track that they thought would be more popular and some weren’t even released on albums, but went onto becoming crowd favorites and staples in concert setlists (eg., Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam). Sometimes, even artists can’t gauge which of their songs will become hits and relegate them to the status of a B-side.
Here is a sample list of songs that were originally B-sides but went onto become massive hits. Some of them will surprise you:
Queen — We Will Rock You (released as a B-side to We are the champions)
The Rolling Stones — You Can’t Always Get What You Want (B-side to Honky Tonk Women)
Green Day — Time Of Your Life(B-side on their Insomniac album)
U2 — The Sweetest Thing (Recorded in 1987 but released only 10 years later)
The Beatles — Strawberry fields forever (B-side to Penny Lane)
The Righteous Brothers — Unchained Melody (B-side to Hung on You)
This is only an abridged list and goes to show one thing — how hard it is to predict which song will be a hit. The concept of the B-side isn’t just relegated to music. Even in life, it’s very hard to predict who, which venture or which move will be successful.
Remember the irritating teacher who only paid attention to the toppers and ignoring the people who actually required extra guidance?
Or the boss who created insecurity by bolstering only their coterie and putting others down?
They basically treated people like A sides or B sides — people who they thought were good and those they labeled as mediocre.
If you look back, how many school toppers or teacher’s favorites went on to do something magnificent with their lives? A few may have fulfilled their potential but what you see more of is people who come into their own after they finished their education as they finally found what they liked, outside of the stifling confines of the education system.
Ever so often, we see people and teams surprise us with their success and what they go on to achieve. That’s mainly because we think of success as a linear process when in fact it is a messy one.
Maybe you are sitting on an idea, a script, a business plan, thinking it isn’t good enough. Truth is, you will never know unless you do something about it. Maybe someone labeled you worthless, causing you to suddenly doubt your abilities. All of it is just make-believe, someone’s misguided notion of what you are capable of. You may have disregarded someone, only to have them make you eat your words. All of these are variations of being treated or treating people like B-sides.
Behind every B-side is an A-side waiting to be discovered.
P.S. Over the past few years, June 21st has assumed importance as World Yoga Day. Before that, it was and still is, World Music day, hence the music reference. In some ways, Yoga and music complement each other. One helps shut down the inner cacophony and the other the external cacophony.
