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International News Title: Rethinking The Beatles Rethinking The Beatles By Alicia Colon In 1965, I was a very young and stupid woman so enthralled by the Beatles that I took out a loan to travel to London hoping to meet them, especially the "cute Beatle," Paul McCartney. I bought every one of their albums and was convinced that they were the greatest band ever. Over the years, of course, one's taste in music hopefully matures but the quality of the Beatles' music has endured for the most part. Unfortunately, the "cute one" has become one of liberalisms "useful idiots" of our culture and forced me to take a critical look at his contributions to the group. He fares poorly as a composer compared to George Harrison and John Lennon. The uniqueness of the band's talent lay in its versatility and ability to render melodies that were not only pleasant but haunted you throughout the day. I'd find myself humming the latest hit over and over. It was only in later years that I recognized that some of the tunes were quite insipid, but bubblegum pop is attractive for the young though no longer appealing to a person my age. Sir Paul's contribution leaned heavily in that direction and was most noticeable after the band broke up in 1970. I'd come to that conclusion long before Sir Paul joined the Hollywood crowd suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome. I'd been listening to a radio station while riding along the New Jersey Turnpike. The tune playing was "All You Need Is Love," and I thought, "What drivel." "Michelle" and "Yesterday" were McCartney hits that would make my eyes roll back into my head. But the Beatles' pop songs were not alone in their banality. I'd concluded that about much of the music during my teen years. Who can forget those awful lyrics of that '62 doo-wop classic, "Duke of Earl"? During that period of time in the late '60s, when the peace-and-love of the Age of Aquarius were in vogue and anti-war rallies were predominant and the smell of pot drifted through the "happenings" in Central Park, I'd thought that the Beatles managed to escape that saccharine influence because of the lyrics of their song, "Revolution." "You say you'll change the constitution Well you know We'd all love to change your head You tell me it's the institution Well you know You better free your mind instead But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow" This first overtly political song was written by John Lennon when he was in India and he told Rolling Stone magazine that he felt he was being pulled in many different positions politically. Needless to say, Sir Paul didn't care for this piece but it's uncertain whether it was because he disagreed with its political outlook or the melody. Sir Paul has admitted to using cocaine for a year in the past and he was arrested in Japan in 1980 for marijuana possession. He claims he doesn't smoke much these days but considering the absurd statements he's publicly made lately, I rather suspect he's fudging that assertion. Last month, Sir Paul received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in the East Room of the White House. Before the audience, which included President Obama, Sir Paul said, "After the last eight years, it's good to have a president that knows what a library is." Whatever opinion one may have of the intellectual prowess of President George W. Bush, it's no small feat to acquire a Yale education and an MBA from Harvard. It's also common knowledge that his wife, Laura, was a librarian whose dedication to promoting literacy and the public library system is much admired. It's rather disingenuous of Sir Paul to mock Mr. Bush as an intellectual lightweight when he himself never attended a university or institution of higher learning. (Mr. Obama, whom he greatly admires, did attend Ivy League schools but for some strange reason his academic records have been sealed.) As if Sir Paul's inappropriate remark at the White House isn't sufficient evidence that he's definitely lacking in cognitive supremacy, he was asked in a recent interview with The Sun to comment on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He blurted out: "Sadly we need disasters like this to show people. Some people don't believe in climate warming - like those who don't believe there was a Holocaust." Sir Paul may have many talents in the entertainment field but deep discernment isn't among them, otherwise he would have been aware that legitimate skepticism about climate change doesn't equate with the lunacy of the denial of historically well-documented fact. That scientific skepticism is being validated with every passing day as the facts emerge of the deceit by corrupt scientists in the face of legitimate climate-change data. Even former proponents of global warming are changing their tune with the exposure of the global warming scheme. The tragic murder of John Lennon robbed the world of a great composer but even he was prone to advocacy of a utopian realm, though that may have been the influence of his wife, the conceptual artist Yoko Ono. I love his song, "Give Peace a Chance," which he wrote as a member of his post-Beatles Plastic Ono band, but every time I listen to it I wish I could have asked Lennon: "What if the enemy won't?" George Harrison was the real wonder and the much-unheralded Beatle during the height of their success. He was also the most spiritual and probably the most cerebral. When there was a rash of student suicides in Manhattan a few years ago, I wrote a column about the connection between these tragedies and marijuana usage immediately before the deaths. I quoted Harrison's "Beware of Darkness," which warned of the depression relevant to drug usage: "Watch out now, Take care. Beware of thoughts that linger; winding up inside your head. The hopelessness around you in the dead of night." Harrison was a real genius and his body of work will survive much longer than Sir Paul's simplistic albeit catchy jingles. Even Ringo Starr, who now says "God is in my life," has emerged as the most mature and successful of the post-Fab Four, simply by concentrating on his music rather than social commentary. The discography of the Beatles still retains much of its well-deserved praise and the brilliance of those compositions is their ability to be rendered by other artists in different but equally enjoyable formats. Not much of today's music can claim that quality. It's regretful that Sir Paul is tarnishing the memory of the group by opening his yap to mouth foolish statements. He has joined other useful idiots such Sean Penn and Rosie O'Donnell on the list of people many will now avoid. Laura Ingraham wrote a book about these lamebrain entertainers that said it best: "Shut Up and Sing." Alicia Colon resides in New York City and can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com and at www.aliciacolon.com.
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McCartey grew up and became Natalie Maines....(laughing)
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
I attended their last North American concert. We drove right behind a modified Brink's truck for miles in heavy traffic from the OAKLAND airport to Candlestick. You could see through it's back window that it contained several men with some equipment sitting in the back, but we had no idea... we were just basically stuck behind them because of traffic. That same Brinks truck with it's load of Beatles drove into the stadium 15 minutes later.
Making the world safe for United Fruit.
Only a Bushbot would care.
Making the world safe for United Fruit.
Nice memory for you then.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
Only brain dead people use such a obviously unfounded comment.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
You must be referring to my quote of your post.
Making the world safe for United Fruit.
Whatever kookie. If you have something other than badmouthing, ping me.
Obama's first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw, calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.
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