Blog 15
Both valid questions I have to agree with you. The simple answer is that I got extremely lazy and couldn't be arsed writing the Blogs that I promised you. I may still write them but knowing myself the way I do I wouldn't bank on it. Why have I decided to write a new Blog now? Well a) primarily because I am bored (and hungover) and b) I feel like I have something to share.
Today is the 8th December and on this day in 1980 John Lennon was murdered in New York. So what you may say, that's hardly news, that a musician from the distant past was murdered 32 years ago today; and you'd probably be right. The reason I am sharing this with you is that I have had two Beatle related experiences recently.
Last night I was invited to a dissertation party here in Stockholm. These parties are held after a PhD student has just successfully defended their thesis. The custom during these dinners is that all the people associated with the student give speeches; their supervisors, friends, family etc. It is quite a nice custom and it is a good way to celebrate several years of hard work. On this occasion the external examiner (or opponent as they are called here in Sweden) was from Germany and he gave a nice, if somewhat nervous and pre-scripted, speech. Anyway he finished his speech with a famous quote from John Lennon, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" (which is from the song Beautiful Boy). Not Lennon's best song but certainly one of his best lyrics to quote. Basically, a German researcher was giving a speech in English to a room full mainly with Swedish people and he finished his speech with a quote from an English "pop" ("rock" if you prefer) musician who's now been dead 32 years and nearly everybody understood the meaning and sentiment behind the quote. Now I thought that that was quite special.
So this morning I began thinking about another experience I had recently. I went to Las Vegas with Sarah and her family and I was lucky enough to go and see the Cirque du Soleil show, Love, at the Mirage Hotel (the tickets were a very nice gift from Sarah's late Nan via Sarah's Mum). Anybody who's seen the show and who likes The Beatles would surely agree that it is brilliant, both for the music but also for the artistic performance (even if it does lack a bit of direction is some parts; my only minor criticism). The performance kicks-off with a reworked A cappella version of Because. From this very first song the hairs were standing up on my arms and neck and I had goosebumps (the bespoke sound system in the theatre is amazing) and for some reason I felt quite emotional and I still don't completely understand why. It's a song I've heard many many times before in many different places and in many different moods and it's never had the same effect.
Now I wouldn't say that I had an epiphany during the show and I'm not even sure if it had any profound effect on my conciousness but it definitely had some effect. Hearing the German researcher last night finishing his speech with a John Lennon quote started to coagulate some of my thoughts about The Beatles and their enduring global appeal and cultural impact.
The Beatles were four lads who were all born and grew up within 10-12 miles of where I was born and grew up and that very fact never ceases to amaze me. I used to catch a bus to university that went past the place were 3 of The Beatles went to school, an ex-girlfriend used to live on a road that John Lennon's first wife lived on before they were married, I used to regularly drive past John Lennon's old house to go the supermarket, I have frequented pubs that The Beatles frequented before they were global mega-stars. Four lads from Liverpool. What made them so special and why do so many people still love them? Obviously they were very talented and they worked very hard in their early years to establish themselves, you only have to read about their exploits in Hamburg to appreciate that but I'm also confident that there are many other equally talented and hard working musicians who none of us have ever heard of. Did The Beatles just have the je ne sais quoi, did they just come along at the right time to fill a social and cultural niche during the revolutionary 1960's, I don't know the answer to either. There are myriad more learned and knowledgeable authors than me who have written libraries worth of books on the subject. Even if you're not an ardent Beatles fan you would at least have to acknowledge they achieved something that was never previously achieved and has never been achieved since. Four lads from Liverpool.
You may now be wondering what I'm trying to get at here and I think the essence of my thoughts and the purpose of this Blog was to formalise and convey maybe why I had an emotional reaction in Las Vegas and responded last night. I think it all has to do with inspirational achievement, impact and legacy. If I put aside the excitement, the visual and aural stimulation of the show in Las Vegas I think I became more aware of my own humbling insignificance, which made the impressiveness of the Cirque du Soleil show resonate with me so much. What can I do or what will I ever be able to do that even has one billionth of the impact of The Beatles or John Lennon. The harsh stinging reality that I (you, we, anybody that you know) will never have a legacy that is known and celebrated from Germany to Las Vegas. Obviously such esteem is reserved for people who deserve it (and some who don't) and what idiot would use the most successful pop group in the history of music as their yardstick to judge themselves, I know I shouldn't. Successful as The Beatles were/still are I keep coming back to the thought that they were just four lads from Liverpool, which makes it even more special. Could I or my friends have been a neo modern day Beatle? A Neatle perhaps. Whether that be in art, literature, music or science. It seems that now it is unlikely and that is a sobering thought.
It is testament to the enduring appeal and legacy of The Beatles and more specifically John Lennon that 32 years after he was murdered, people will still gather today in Central Park in New York at the Imagine memorial and sing Beatles songs. Now I'm not one for sentimental nonsense and I don't harbour stupid notions that if John Lennon had lived we would live in a different world but I do think it is slightly sad that he was murdered at a relatively young age when he was just regaining his love of making music.
Tonight then I am going to have a drink and raise a toast to the memory and legacy of John Winston Lennon who was a Liverpudlian just like me (except richer, more famous and infinitely more talented) and bask in my own humbling insignificance.
Homework assignment: Listen to the first song on The Beatles' Love album, loud and on a good stereo with good speakers (not on an ipod, iphone, ipad, laptop etc) and I defy anybody not to have some type of response (if you don't you are emotionally dead). Then when you have done that, again on a good stereo, listen to the Abbey Road album from song 7 onwards and tell me it's not one of, if not the, greatest grouping of songs on any album ever.
