Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy

"Say the word and you'll be free, say the word and be like me, say the word I'm thinking of, have you heard the word is love? It's so fine, It's sunshine, It's the word, love." The Beatles from "The Word"

In a strange twist of conformity, the nurse burst into my room with the manic cackle of a hyena with an Angel Dust habit. Twirling like a dervish, shiny colorful pills splaying around the room in a rainbow of hallucinogenic medication. Just as she was surely about to slit my throat with the heel of one of her razor sharp stilettos, one of the steroid downing orderlies tackled her with the exuberance of a juiced up linebacker. That mad man with the grape nuts sized sack saved my bacon. As I thanked him, he informed me that it was no problem, he was warned that earlier in the day the nurse had gotten into the medication prior to her shift after listening to The Beatles "Rubber Soul" for an entire week. Hearing that got me to thinking.

This week the wisdom and power of the Beatles has hit me on a few different fronts. First, while SuperMom humored me by sitting through another viewing of "Across The Universe" we got to chat-chitting about how I have to, sometimes, introduce her to songs from her own generation. It doesn't bother her, because she was basically as square as June Cleaver growing up. She graduated in 1966, prime time to be a peace loving, pot smoking, dancing to the music, hippy, but alas it was not meant to be. She wasn't down with the counter culture, not a motivator, innovator, aviator or eating taters. She was all about West Coast surf music, which is a huge influence on me, but that's for another blog. During this Beatles flavored conversation she informed me that "Hey Jude" was her favorite tune from the Fab Four. A later song? I was floored. I figured, if any song, it would be a Meet The Beatles era tune like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" or "Love Me Do." Never would I have guessed that she would be a fan of a song with the complexities of "Hey Jude".

Those that know me well can tell you that my favorite Beatles symphony is "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", but the reason may elude even the Atomic One. I was thinking about this earlier this week. When I was a wee Cub Scout of a lad I had a friend named Eric Wood. His pop was our scout master, yes I was a Cub Scout so what, and also his dad was the local fire chief. It was at the Wood house that I first remember hearing the Beatles and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was the song. Now whenever I hear it, I am instantly transported Jason Statham style, back tot he simple carefree times of my adolescents.

As I have gotten older my appreciation for the wisdom of the Beatles lyrics has become a major influence on me as a writer. Not only do I quote them at random, but there are certain lines that seem to speak directly to me. "If I fell in love with you, would you promise to be true, and help me understand". I get that on a very non-trusting, I have no clue about women level that has plagued me my entire life. "And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain, don't carry the world on your shoulders". Sometimes I feel that I am Charles Atlas and the globe is resting in my not so gym chiseled arms. Though I tend to roll with the flow on most things, I sometimes need to remind myself that I am not everything to everyone. And this last one is just now starting to hit me like a baseball bat to the kidneys. "All these places have their moments, with lovers and friends and I still can recall. Some are dead and some are living, in my life, I've loved them all." I miss my California friends deeply, I miss those familiar places, and I have often fell for the right girl at the wrong time, but my love for them was never in doubt. It was true, pure, and painful. Even the ones that blew it off as a simple crush or something else entirely.

The best thing about a song, especially a great song, is that the lyrics and melody combine to illicit different emotions from each and every one of us. The Beatles have an entire catalog of tunes that will makes us laugh, cry, think, love, and want to die. That's the magic of those four lads from Liverpool.

Songs by them that affect you and why?

Dixie Cup of Love: Them All.