Singing in the Dead of Night: The Beatles and Me

The world is full of cliches. Some are irritating, some are amusing, yet there exists a single cliche that we as a society have clung to. Over the decades, as people and ideologies have changed, as we transitioned from one millennium to another, as we keep sprinting headlong into the unknown, there remains one constant:

The Beatles were the best band EVER.

...and while my prose is a touch melodramatic, I don't think anyone would argue my point. Don't get me wrong, you may disagree with the statement itself (different strokes, after all), but the mindset is practically chiseled in stone. They've sold millions (perhaps billions) of records, had 27 number-one hits, won 8 Grammy Awards, have been the stars of video games and movies and television shows, shattered concert attendance records, been covered by greats like Sinatra and Bowie and Ray Charles, and have even received an Oscar. Wow. Even today, over forty years after they officially ended, they are still immeasurably popular. Everyone knows The Beatles, from my 85-year-old grandparents to my 13-year-old students.

The question is: why? Why is this band so celebrated, so remembered, so adored?

We'll get to that later.

For now, I'd simply like to give you my experience with their music - the music. It began when I was six years old...

I've always had an overactive imagination. Well, that's the polite term for it, the way my parents and teachers always saw it. To me, it was a blustering hurricane, a charcoal cloud that swirled about my brain and overshadowed reality. I remember sprinting up the stairs from our basement because there was an old ventriloquist dummy who liked to grab the legs of little boys and drag them back downward. I remember holding my breath whenever I passed a cemetery because I might accidentally breathe in a wayward, Hell-bound spirit. Yeah, I was weird.

Most of all, though, I remember The Dark. I'd cower in my bed every night, praying my dad wouldn't reach in and turn off the lights, hoping my mom would sit on the edge of the mattress until sun up. I hated it. Every shadow was a snarling monster. The faintest noise made my skin crawl. The space beneath my bed was a dead zone, a terrifying blank canvass in which unimaginable horrors dwelled. I shielded myself beneath countless layers of blankets, I had nightmares, I squirmed, I was terrified.

One of these long and lonely nights, I remember my Dad sitting with me. I can't remember the specifics of why he was there, but long-story-short, I was scared again. After a few minutes of sitting and talking softly, he left my bed for a moment and vanished downstairs. When he returned, he had a Walkman (remember those?) and a pair of headphones in hand. After a moment of fumbling with the cassette tape, he handed it over and told me to listen. "Pay close attention to the lyrics," he said, his voice husky with sleep.

It was "Help!" by The Beatles.

I smiled. So did he. It was one of those songs that played around the house. Dad had enormous speakers (taller than me, at the time) and would often sit in his recliner and listen, studying the sound, absorbing the experience. His taste was varied (Brubeck, Stravinsky, Lightfoot, Torme, The Eagles, Brahms, The Who, Fitzgerald), and The Beatles crept in from time to time. "Help!" was a familiar melody. In the darkness, with Dad at my side, I listened to the whole song. After, I rewound the tape and listened again.

As he heaved himself off the bed, he said, "Anytime you feel scared, just listen to this song. You'll feel better."

My pace quickened again.

"But...but what if I'm at Mom's house? She doesn't have a tape player..."

Dad thought for a moment, brushing his graying beard with calloused fingers, then grinned. "Try singing it. I'm guessing  by tomorrow you'll know it front and back."

He left, and I fell asleep to those tight harmonies, that twangy guitar, and those comforting lyrics. To this day, "Help!" is one of my all-time favorite songs. In the weeks, months, and (I'm ashamed to admit it) even years that followed, I often sang to myself in the dark, when the shadows grew too large and I wondered what hid beneath my bed. After awhile, I had to learn new songs to sing. Logically, I stuck with The Beatles. "A Hard Day's Night," "Eight Days A Week," and my Dad's personal favorite "Ticket to Ride" each provided quick, go-to comfort. Even ballads like "Yesterday" and "Blackbird" would do.

By the time I turned nine, the dark wasn't so scary anymore. Now I was just a kid who liked a couple of Beatles tunes. When I was eleven, Santa (aka, my Mom) got me the epic Beatles greatest hits compilation 1 on CD for Christmas. I've had the damn thing for fourteen years now, and I still can't put it down. It's a tour-de-force album that did a great job introducing me to the many sounds of the band. As a kid, I loved the upbeat pop stuff of their early years, like "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "Love Me Do." As a teen, I dug on the melodramatic hits like "The Long and Winding Road" and "Hey Jude." By the time I reached college, I had fallen in love with soulful songs like "Let It Be" and "Something." Of course, by then I was in love with all their albums. My top three favorites have always been Rubber Soul, Revolver, and my unquestioned gold medal, Abbey Road.

So again, the question resurfaces: why? Why are they so terrific? Well, there are a couple of easy answers. First and foremost, there's the imaginative songwriting. All four members of the band were endlessly creative, weaving unexpected melodies that sparkle, dance, simmer - songs like "I'm Looking Through You," "Girl," and "A Day in the Life" spring to mind.

Abundant musical chemistry is second. Although none of them were world-class musicians (the only one who comes close is McCartney), each track hums with a frothy synergy that is uniquely theirs. Starr's humble percussion intertwines beautifully with Harrison's delicate lead guitar, which in turn rests atop a bubbly McCartney bass line and John's clanging rhythms. It all fits together so well, so intimately and with such finesse.

Thirdly, there's the musical innovation involved. Has there ever been a band as influential as this? Whose chord progressions, structures, and melodies still echo in new music half a century later? The genres they pioneered expanded our musical consciousness and stretched our pop sensibilities as far as they could go. Of course there were the standard rock tunes and syrupy pop ballads, but even a Beatles novice will tell you there's plenty of fascinating stuff in their canon. The eastern drone of India can be heard in many tracks, maybe performed best in "Tomorrow Never Knows." Psychedelic odysseys like "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" simulate the rainbow-swirled insanity of LSD. The brazen angst of "Revolution" foreshadowed punk. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" introduced many listeners to the soulful bounce of reggae. "Helter Skelter" gave us heavy metal. The Beatles even had some throwback tunes, like the 1930's buoyancy of "When I'm Sixty-Four." One of my favorite musical trips is the aptly nicknamed "Abbey Road Medley," which runs several short songs into one. Fantastic stuff, overall.

I once read somewhere that The Beatles are magnificent because they "transcended their medium and excelled artistically in ways people never dreamed," or something like that (pardon the paraphrase). Whoever wrote it - it's true. At the time, you didn't expect an album like Magical Mystery Tour or Sgt. Pepper. Their music surprises, engages, captivates. It's impossible not to tap your toes, to hum along, to play air guitar, to smile, to ponder, to imagine. All the accolades aside, all the thundering applause and obsessive fans swept away, good music lingers. I'm in my mid-twenties, and after almost two decades of listening, I'm still uncovering new things and rediscovering old things.

Yet I remember when their music was all I had. When I'd sit awake at night, paralyzed with fear, the lyrics and the melodies sailing me off to sleep. Golden slumbers filled my eyes.

Below is a list of what I consider to be The Beatles' 25 best songs. To listen to them all is a perfect introduction to the band, the music, and my soul.

25.) Day Tripper 
24.) I Feel Fine 
23.) And Your Bird Can Sing
22.) While My Guitar Gently Weeps 
21.) Got to Get You Into My Life
20.) I've Just Seen A Face
19.) In My Life
18.) Help!
17.) Hey Jude
16.) Blackbird
15.) Penny Lane
14.) You Never Give Me Your Money
13.) I've Got A Feeling
12.) Here Comes the Sun
11.) Revolution  
10.) Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
9.) Yesterday 
8.) Twist and Shout
7.) Eleanor Rigby
6.) I Am the Walrus
5.) Something
4.) The End
3.) Happiness is a Warm Gun
2.) I Saw Her Standing There
1.) Let it Be