hamlennon.com: Why The Beatles will last

Why The Beatles will last

for one thing, people can "sing" the Beatles. Think about it...human beings don't sing very often except in the shower or occasional humming. But the Beatles created music - over 220 songs - that captures not only the imagination but also compels people to sing their extremely simple and singable melodies. They've made the world sing for almost 40 years. And even after they stopped making music, people didn't stop singing their songs.

Singing feels good and people tend to remember things that make them feel good, much more so than their everyday lives in which they have to make the monthly rent and feed themselves and their families. "All You Need is Love," for example, is a simple thought but the message is powerful. When all is said and done, all a person really needs in life is to love and be loved. Have you listened to the chorus? It only has one note! Anyone can sing it. One simple message rendered with one note. As opposed to Bob Dylan who was more artist of his times (the 60s and a little beyond) than of the universe -- too many words, too many ideas, too long, not musically captivating enough. Like Dylan, Springsteen, brilliant as his musical paintings are, is too complicated lyrically and not melodic enough to span the millennia.

Songs that last are, first, about the unique magic of music -- not the lyrics. If great lyrics are written to match a great melody, than a masterpiece happens and it will last for a long time. The most brilliant, pure melodist in the history of humankind is Paul McCartney. His most lasting song is "Yesterday," a stunning melody. The lyrics reflect the "mood" of the music (as a songwriter, I understand this quite well -- you don't try to write "happy" lyrics to a melody that asks, through the chords, for pathos). "Yesterday," the most recorded song in music history, with over 4,500 recording to date, has a wistful, reflective melody. McCartney hung the perfect reminiscing-type melody on it..."all my troubles seem so far away..." (He then got lazy in the bridge sections and talks about a girl -- 'why she had to go, I don't know, she wouldn't say...', which diminishes the song somewhat). John Lennon also thought this.

But, I digress. Because McCartney already "sold" us with that great melody (and his vocal and guitar playing!) and most of the lyrics, the lesser lyrics I just pointed out don't harm the song. A simple song with a lyric that matches the melody (lyrics second!) and an honest sentiment of the music -- the song will be here for a thousand years.

I've just named two Beatles songs that will span the ages. There are more: "Yellow Submarine" is another. On the face of it, it's a children's 'throwaway' song. But it will be remembered far longer than Springsteen's "Jungleland" will. And I say that with no disrespect. People want to sing, but you can't tell them to do it: the song must compel them to do it. Listen to the chorus of a Yellow Submarine. Ten notes in the opening, "main" phrase, the first four of which are one note, the 5th note goes up one tone, the second five notes stay on the same note: it's engaging and easy to sing.

In short, the act of singing trumps everything. As I've said, if the lyric paints a nice picture -- and all the Beatles lyrics do -- then that takes you a step deeper, a sort of "booster rocket" for a song's longevity. The chorus of "With a Little Help From My Friends"-- three notes at the top of the phrase that are close together ("I - get - by...") followed by eight of the same note (with-a-little-help-from-my-friends). Simple...easy to sing. Singing feels good. Singing is something we like to do but don't have a chance to do very often: not enough melodies compel us. The Beatles offered hundreds of them to us and it's why countless billions of as yet unborn human beings will be lead richer lives because of The Beatles.

One final note about the Beatles and their longevity: Beethoven "survived" without the aid of record players and radio stations, spreading his music around the globe. He and Mozart and all the great classical composers made it to the 20th century where their music was then heard by the masses. Imagine how people must have felt about the music these classical geniuses created to have people keep passing it on to future generations. The Beatles started when mass media started, in the 60s. But what will make them go further than the Beethovens and Mozarts is that they have an element that those great composers didn't have: The Beatles music inspired human beings to sing. Again, the act of singing makes you feel good - physically and mentally. Listening to a passage from Beethoven can also make people feel good, but the Beatles added a layer - With The Beatles, you could sing along; You could participate.

Hitler envisioned a "thousand year Reich" for the way humans should live: disciplined, hard, brutal -- a world of "no." The Beatles -- the counterbalance to Hitler in the 20th century -- offered a vision of "yes," exemplified through, mostly, their melodies. A day doesn't go by where you don't hear the words "Beatles" (or their songs) or "Hitler" (always associated with madness and mass murder). They were the two "ideas" of the last century, if not longer: The Blue Meanies vs. Sgt. Pepper's band. While humankind will have to consistently deal with the Hitler of the moment - islamo-fascism currently -- the music of the Beatles will always waft above it, the best-ever exemplar of human freedom. The thing that will last for a thousand years is not Hitler but his counterbalance, the Beatles.

baca selengkapnya

posted by Ilham Pandu @ 3:15 AM

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Why The Beatles will last

2 Comments: