Now that Game of Thrones is over, I’ve been casting about for a good series to dive into. Nothing had quite hit the mark so I turned to documentaries as I browsed Hulu recently and happened upon the new Ron Howard documentary Eight Days a Week.
THE BEATLES WERE SO CHEEKY! I quickly fell hard and fast for it. I’ve loved the Beatles years now, but I didn’t have quite the same introduction to them as most. My mom loves Sarah Brightman, Andrea Bocceli, and Elton John so those were the voices I grew up with. (And Billy Joel. Thanks Dad.)
As with most things television, film or music, I have to credit my husband for helping me grow to appreciate the Beatles. Some of the first mix CDs he made me early in our relationship featured Beatles’ songs that are some of my favorites to this day. Songs like “When I’m Sixty-four” still make me chuckle:
I could be handy, mending a fuse
When your lights have gone
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride
Still, my knowledge of the group is largely culturally sourced. Broadly, I know they’re considered the most creative force to hit popular music and I’ve picked up bits and pieces over the years about various songs, like how Paul McCartney supposedly wrote Hey Jude for Lennon’s son, Julian. But it wasn’t until I watched Eight Days a Week that I learned just how rare a group they really were. Their candor and silliness in their early days, matched with their artistry rendered them unlike any other band in history. When I look at artists like Taylor Swift today, I see a product. I’m not saying Tay is any less an artist, more that what so many artists today strive for is what The Beatles just had by nature of being four young, talented friends who wanted to make music together.
I can’t recommend the documentary enough. It gave me an excellent peek inside the lives of these artists I’ve come to love and piqued my interest enough to pick up some reads so I can dive a little deeper. And in the meantime, I’m adopting a new musical appreciation strategy for our kids that will henceforth be known as Beatles Sunday. All Beatles. All day. It’s never to soon to start teaching them to appreciate good music, right?
Sources: Dempsey, Liam. How the Beatles Changed Music. Digital Music Academy [online resource]
Married with Style 