Spring Break
Let it be
Daniel Marcin
Issue date: 9/27/07 Section: Opinion
Lately it seems that everybody on the campus feels threatened. The latest wave of carjackings, peeping toms, Iranian presidential visits and finger pointing has left many students feeling alienated, distant and unsafe. But in my time here at the university, I have not seen any group more openly insulted, mocked, belittled and put down as much as The Beatles.
Even Rodney Dangerfield gets more respect around here than The Beatles. And though this very paper has printed some egregious statements about the Fab Four, I must admit that Beatle-hating is a long-celebrated global phenomenon, dating back at least to the KKK and concerned Japanese parents during the 1966 World Tour. If the KKK hating The Beatles isn't reason enough for you to love them, then keep reading.
In April of this year, my very good friend Goutham Ganesan ran a column titled "Turn that noise down," which claimed that "popular music is almost totally confined to its particular time and place." In most cases, I would agree. But the Beatle-bashing begins when he uses one and only one example: the moptops, who "showed some melodic innovation and were rather harmless" but whose music "would be largely devoid of meaning or substance" in a vacuum.
Oh, how I beg to differ. I will concede that yes, "Hello Goodbye," "Savoy Truffle" "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" and other fantastic songs seem to have absolutely no meaning or substance. But tell me, how many young people now and then would be exposed to beautiful melody and harmony if not for gems like "Sun King," "Mother Nature's Son" and "Rocky Raccoon"? I imagine that the alternative is too much meaningless background guitar noise with amps cranked all the way to 11, á la Green Day.
But don't forget that a large chunk of The Beatles' repertoire consists of tunes that do, in fact, teach us valuable lessons. Take the well-known "We Can Work It Out," telling us to put down our differences for just a moment to cooperate. Or what about George Harrison's haunting "I Me Mine," about the harm that we cause to our friends with our selfishness? And the innocent "Help!" always reminds listeners that even the rich and famous feel the emotions of loneliness and depression that we feel. Even outside the grooves of the well-worn LPs on my shelves, John, Paul, George and Ringo offered us life lessons. Harrison's spirituality and charity allowed a generation to have access to Eastern meditation and culture. The substance abuse and alcoholism rampant in the lives of the four after the nasty breakup shows us that all the money and fame in the world won't mean anything if you've lost your three closest friends.
Unfortunately, my friend Goutham isn't the only one making amateur mistakes. Just last week in the Diversions section, Steven Yenzer reviewed the Across the Universe soundtrack and claimed two things that caught my eye. First, and this is how you know I'm insane, he wrote that almost 50 years have passed since John and Paul first shook hands. The actual meeting took place July 6, 1957, just over 50 years ago. Sure, that's forgivable. However, calling 2005's Rubber Soul tribute, This Bird Has Flown, satisfactory is completely out of line. I've seen the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton cover The Beatles, and even that was better than TBHF.
But of all the people to disrespect The Beatles, I think that Bono tops the list. The arrogant "savior" of Africa seems to have no problem telling Yoko Ono that he feels he is John Lennon, or sending her a drawing of a shaggy haired man with John's "granny glasses" with Bono's ridiculous "grandpa" wrap sunglasses over top. The implicit message, of course, was "John and I are one." But Bono seems to overlook the fact that the title "Son of Beatles" was already assigned to the Electric Light Orchestra in 1974 by John Lennon himself.
In the interest of fairness, I was planning on concluding this column with a list of U2/Beatles collaborations, but aside from a half-baked Live 8 performance, the list is empty. All Bono can claim is a half-baked Live 8 performance with Paul McCartney.
Daniel Marcin is a senior mathematics and economics major. He can be reached at dmarcin@umd.edu.
Even Rodney Dangerfield gets more respect around here than The Beatles. And though this very paper has printed some egregious statements about the Fab Four, I must admit that Beatle-hating is a long-celebrated global phenomenon, dating back at least to the KKK and concerned Japanese parents during the 1966 World Tour. If the KKK hating The Beatles isn't reason enough for you to love them, then keep reading.
In April of this year, my very good friend Goutham Ganesan ran a column titled "Turn that noise down," which claimed that "popular music is almost totally confined to its particular time and place." In most cases, I would agree. But the Beatle-bashing begins when he uses one and only one example: the moptops, who "showed some melodic innovation and were rather harmless" but whose music "would be largely devoid of meaning or substance" in a vacuum.
Oh, how I beg to differ. I will concede that yes, "Hello Goodbye," "Savoy Truffle" "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" and other fantastic songs seem to have absolutely no meaning or substance. But tell me, how many young people now and then would be exposed to beautiful melody and harmony if not for gems like "Sun King," "Mother Nature's Son" and "Rocky Raccoon"? I imagine that the alternative is too much meaningless background guitar noise with amps cranked all the way to 11, á la Green Day.
But don't forget that a large chunk of The Beatles' repertoire consists of tunes that do, in fact, teach us valuable lessons. Take the well-known "We Can Work It Out," telling us to put down our differences for just a moment to cooperate. Or what about George Harrison's haunting "I Me Mine," about the harm that we cause to our friends with our selfishness? And the innocent "Help!" always reminds listeners that even the rich and famous feel the emotions of loneliness and depression that we feel. Even outside the grooves of the well-worn LPs on my shelves, John, Paul, George and Ringo offered us life lessons. Harrison's spirituality and charity allowed a generation to have access to Eastern meditation and culture. The substance abuse and alcoholism rampant in the lives of the four after the nasty breakup shows us that all the money and fame in the world won't mean anything if you've lost your three closest friends.
Unfortunately, my friend Goutham isn't the only one making amateur mistakes. Just last week in the Diversions section, Steven Yenzer reviewed the Across the Universe soundtrack and claimed two things that caught my eye. First, and this is how you know I'm insane, he wrote that almost 50 years have passed since John and Paul first shook hands. The actual meeting took place July 6, 1957, just over 50 years ago. Sure, that's forgivable. However, calling 2005's Rubber Soul tribute, This Bird Has Flown, satisfactory is completely out of line. I've seen the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton cover The Beatles, and even that was better than TBHF.
But of all the people to disrespect The Beatles, I think that Bono tops the list. The arrogant "savior" of Africa seems to have no problem telling Yoko Ono that he feels he is John Lennon, or sending her a drawing of a shaggy haired man with John's "granny glasses" with Bono's ridiculous "grandpa" wrap sunglasses over top. The implicit message, of course, was "John and I are one." But Bono seems to overlook the fact that the title "Son of Beatles" was already assigned to the Electric Light Orchestra in 1974 by John Lennon himself.
In the interest of fairness, I was planning on concluding this column with a list of U2/Beatles collaborations, but aside from a half-baked Live 8 performance, the list is empty. All Bono can claim is a half-baked Live 8 performance with Paul McCartney.
Daniel Marcin is a senior mathematics and economics major. He can be reached at dmarcin@umd.edu.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 3
jimbo56
posted 9/27/07 @ 2:10 PM EST
It seems odd that a University full of kids born 15-20 years after the Beatles last performance would really engage in hate. People are entitled to their opinion for sure, but there can be no denying by a reasonable person, the effect that the Beatles had on the musical world. (Continued…)
hearthrob
posted 9/29/07 @ 8:10 AM EST
Hi, I have tried to email you about this Great article but it will not go through.
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