My father was a huge fan of The Beatles. He bought many of their albums in duplicate, one to listen to and one that he kept in the plastic casing. I wonder how he knew that these never before opened records might be worth something someday.
Born and raised in a very, very small town in Texas, my dad followed the British Invasion and loved this mob-topped quartet mostly I think, because, not only were they from very , very far away and spoke with funny accents, they played their own instruments and wrote their own lyrics. They weren’t produced. Their songs are simple, catchy and fun to sing along with.
Thirteen albums, twenty-two singles, seven years and a legacy to last a lifetime.
I once read that Not liking The Beatles is as perverse as not liking the sun.
I couldn’t agree more.
Growing up, I heard a lot of Beatles music and became a fan myself. I wish I had asked my dad which Beatles song was his favorite before
he died. He probably, like me wouldn’t have been able to name just one.
The song In My Life makes me cry every time I hear it with it’s heartfelt declaration of love and dedication and I love the entire Abbey Road album, their last.
Strawberry Fields Forever evokes a dreamy psychedelic state that I often long to be in and All You Need is Love is an outstanding anthem that will always remind me of the Cirque du Soleil show that I have had the pleasure of seeing twice! I have never left a performance feeling lighter or happier. I wish my dad could have seen it.
Yesterday has beautiful lyrics and is arguably their most covered song (according to Wikipedia, over 3000 times!), but Blackbird is the one that I sing to you. It’s lyrics are haunting, yet hopeful:
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
you were only waiting for this moment to be free
Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night
Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
The last line of the last song of the last album The Beatles recorded is: And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. How appropriate, 15 beautiful words that sum up The Beatles and their legacy. These are also pretty good words to live by.
The best is yet to be.
Day 40/100
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I heart the Beatles too and really wish that I would have chatted with daddy more about them and what his favorites were. I still can't really hear too many Beatles without getting teary eyed and of course, "In My Life" makes my cry every time too. At the wedding this weekend, their first slow dance as man and wife was to "All you need is love". It was so beautiful!