My friend and editor of my books Don asked me to write about Beatles and how their music fits into my life. I think each of us has something to say about it. So, please, do not hesitate to send me a few words from your point of view. If lucky, we may have a discussion that can reveal to each of us something we have not thought about. And here is my view.
As any outstanding human achievement, Beatles have as many facets as many faces their audience has. Everybody finds something personal in their music. For me, it is a breath of fresh air that fills me with the sense of freedom.
Their music makes me believe that any achievement is possible, that the greatest obstacles are negligible, and that the deepest sorrows are not as biting anymore. It feels me with the sense of life and love. The seeming simplicity makes them close. They are the friends who can ехpress the feeling I tried and could not. And joining them in understanding makes me feel united with everybody and everything that exists or existed or will exist ever. Who cannot love them?
There are other authors that produce a similar effect on me. Vivaldi, Mozart, Bach, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald come to my mind immediately. It does not mean that I can listen to them all the time. But when I hear them again once in a while, they always bring joy and energy to me, commiserate during the difficult times and inspire when everything is fine anyway.
Here are some thoughts on the Beatles, actually on John Lennon:
About a year ago, I was at the Museum of Musical Instruments in the Phoenix area. Among the thousands of instruments from all over the world was the Steinway piano on which John Lennon composed his song “Imagine.” As the song played, I watched people standing and staring in reverence at the piano as if it was an altar. I should have asked them what they were thinking. The song begs a utopian dream of a world of peace and complete tolerance. Wow…wouldn’t it be wonderful! But, frankly, I think it is one of the most naïve songs ever written. It has a utopian view of human behavior that does not match with reality.
Just finished reading a book about the influence of World War 1 on the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Both served as infantrymen and saw action. Their writings after the war did not mirror the cynicism and depression of most postwar writers. In The Lord of the Rings and in most of Lewis’ writings, mankind is viewed as both noble and wretched. While they portrayed life as hard, it still was to be a heroic battle against evil carried on by flawed human beings.
The wishing and hoping of Imagine doesn’t get us very far. Nice song, but so representative of the superficial ways people think today. Instead, we need to start talking to each other about the deeper issues of life that can help us treat each other with more respect and love.
That may be more than you wanted…but you asked for it. Happy New Year.
Thank you, Pete!
Very much appreciated!
Utopian dreams lead to great achievements sometimes.
But “Imagine” is not, in my opinion, in the same category as other Beatles songs.
“Imagine” does not project the sense of “fun”. It is not typical Beatles.
Hey Nick,
Here’s my reply to your Beatles post. Sorry if it is too long:
I do agree with Nick in that the Beatles deserve their vaunted place in music because they have something to offer to quite a large audience. They have been around for such a period of time and so much has been written about them, that I cannot hope to add much to this conversation other than, like Nick, to talk about how they have influenced me personally.
The time in which I started to listen to music and make my own choices about what to listen to, came after the hey day of the the Beatles. Plus my parents listened to only Elvis and country music, if they listened to anything and never the Beatles, The Who, The Stones, Doors, Hendrix, etc. The music that my circle of friends listened to was much heavier and loud. This left the Beatles as ambient background… always present and perhaps over played on the radio, but never front of mind for me. I could sing most of their hits, but didn’t care that much for this ‘pop’ music. I did like a few of their heavier songs, like ‘Come Together’ and ‘Helter Skelter’ during my teens and twenties.
In my thirties, I started to appreciate more the lyrical side with songs like ‘Come Together’. ‘Yesterday’, and ‘Hey Jude’. During this period I started to pay attention to more of the positive reviews the Beatles were getting from critics and audiophiles, plus some about the feud between Paul and John/Yoko. I knew there were people who owned all of The Beatles albums and would listen to them often, but I never got to hear anything beyond the hits on the radio. I always felt like something was missing, but didn’t want to spend my spare few dollars on those records.
Fast forward to today’s world where we have the internet where we can read the lyrics to every song! And see the infinite amount of words that people have written about The Beatles. People have created lists of songs from best to worst for their entire catalog and have dissected the most esoteric of lyrics. Plus! We now have music services like Spotify which allows us to listen to whole albums and deep tracks without the need to purchase the albums. What a treat. Now a casual fan can listen and gradually become a real fan of The Beatles. I count myself among them. Songs like ‘I want you (She so Heavy)’, ‘You never give me your money’, ‘Happiness is a warm gun’, ‘She came thru the bathroom window’ give me an appreciation I was blocked from previously. What a joy!
Now for the nasty part in the middle. Many of the Beatles tunes are just silly. I don’t mind silly tunes, but they are just plain stupid. Take ‘All You Need is Love’ as exhibit A:
There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done
Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung
Nothing you can make that can’t be made
No one you can save that can’t be saved
Now, maybe with some mental gymnastics you can come to some Zen understand of this; like the sound of one hand clapping, but not me. I just find it to be silliness. Then you find that many of the songs lyrics are about simple things like drugs and girlfriends. Normal rock and roll topics for the fab four to be singing about in their twenties, but not necessarily as profound as the lyrics might sound: ‘Mother superior jumped the gun’.
Which leaves me to conclude that songs must be taken as a whole, both music and words. They don’t have the richness otherwise. Take for example, a song like ‘Lola Montez’ by Volbeat. It’s just a song about a stripper, but with the guitars and the way it is sung becomes so much more. This is what I like most about the Red Hot Chili Peppers. You have to take the song as a whole because the lyrics themselves don’t make much sense. When you couple it with the musical instruments and the manner in which it is sung, then you get a much richer experience. At the end of the day, this is how I currently enjoy the Beatles too.
Best,
Don
Thank you, Don!
Welcome to the club!
My advantage was that I never understood the lyrics and listened to the music only.
Well, it is not entirely true. I understood the keywords and even some phrases. “She is not a girl who misses much” tunes you in the mood, even if “Happiness is a warm gun” does not make sense. “She”, “love”, “kiss” provide clues and context. “Well, she was just seventeen, you know what I mean” – everybody knows what he means, so no need to understand more words. And those “nothing you can do that can’t be done” phrases provide enough setup of the sense of the utmost desperation. And meaningness of those words adds an even deeper sense of a complete loss. Such a setup makes the solution sound like a revelation: “All you need is love. Love is all you need.” Although, to be honest, I do not keep this song high in my personal rating. It is too straightforward, without twists their better songs have. It is more like a march band tune.
Even today, although I understand much more, I don’t pay attention to the meaning of lyrics. It might or might not be meaningful. The keywords are good enough to add to the music. I actually think it was their genius to say meaningless technically words that together with music provide the effect they were after.
By the way, I love Louis Armstrong’s and Ella Fitzgerald’s scat singing. Is it stupid? Probably, but I don’t feel so. I just immerse in the feeling and float, free and joyful.
And I am happy to know you share this joy with me, too.
Thank you again!
Keep commenting.