Every passing day
in the History of Rock confirms to me that these guys, "the originals,"
earned every penny of their riches and every moment of their fame, with
raw musical talent. Sure they built upon styles of music that had come
before -- but they mastered, and added to them, rather than following
a trend.
My favorite Beatle was George -- not only could he play guitar like
he had six fingers, not only was he into all that trippy philosophy
stuff -- his songs always had just a hint of that dark edge to them,
which whispered that there was more to the world he sang about than
the way it appears on the surface. A dark promise, perhaps, from a "Dark
Horse", as he once called himself; but a promise nonetheless. That
part spoke to me. Compared, for example, to Paul's songs, always sweetness
and light.
And in this song
I quote here, George takes aim (as he often does) at our inner demons,
our need for control, our uncertainties and feelings of regret. In one
of the last songs he wrote before dying, he grapples with these dark
themes and lets us know that, in the end, it'll all be all right. As
somebody who travels a lot, this song really hit me hard when I first
heard it.
"Any Road" by George
Harrison
I've
been travelling on a boat and a plane and a car and a bike
and a bus and a train
Travelling there, travelling here, every where, in every
gear
But ah, Lord, you pay the price, with the spin of the wheel,
with the roll of the dice
Oh, yeah, you pay your fare, and if you don't know where
you're going, any road will take you there.
I've been
travelling on a wing and a prayer, by the skin of my teeth,
on the breadth of a hair,
Travelling where the four winds blow, with the sun on my face
and the ice and the snow
Ooo-ee, it's a game, sometimes you're cool, sometimes you're
lame
Ah, yeah, it's somewhere... and if you don't know where you're
going, any road will take you there.
You may not know where you came from,
You may not know who you are,
You may not even have wondered, how you got so far...
But I keep travelling around the bend, there was no beginning,
there is no end
It wasn't born, it never dies, there are no edges, there is
no sides
But ooo-ee, you just don't win
It's so far out, the way out is in
Bow to God and call him Sir, but if you don't know where you're
going, any road will take you there.
If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you
there.
And if you don't know where you're going, any road will take
you there. |
This quote from George's classic "All Things Must Pass"
album, (song: "I'd Have You Anytime") makes such a good
motto that it's sat on my homepage these last couple months:
"All
I have is yours. All you see is mine..."
Even the simplest throwaway songs by the Beatles just speak volumes
about life. They could even wax eloquent about things we can't even
say.
"I Want to Tell You"
by George Harrison and the Beatles
I want
to tell you
My head is filled with things to say!
When you're here,
All those words they seem to slip away.
When I get near you,
The games begin to drag me down,
It's all right,
I'll make you maybe next time around.
But if
I seem to act unkind,
It's only me, it's not my mind,
That is confusing things.
I want
to tell you,
I feel hung-up and I don't know why!
I don't mind
I could wait forever, I've got time!
Sometimes
I wish I knew you well,
Then I could speak my mind and tell you,
Maybe you'd Understand...
I want
to tell you,
I feel hung-up and I don't know why!
I don't mind
I could wait forever, I've got time!
I've got time!
I've got time!
|
...but George is not the only reason I love the Beatles, of course.
Plenty of talent to go around in that band. Here John meditates
on fame and ambition and, like George did above, following your
own course.
"Watching the Wheels"
by John Lennon
People
say I'm crazy, doin' what I'm doin'
Well they give me all kinds of warnings
To save me from ruin
When I say that I'm OK, well they look at me kinda strange
"Surely you're not happy now, you no longer play the
game!"
People
say I'm lazy, dreamin' my life away
Well they give me all kinds of advice
Designed to enlighten me
When I tell them that I'm doing fine, watching shadows on
the wall,
"Don't you miss the big-time, boy, you're no longer on
the ball!"
I'm just
sitting here watching the wheels go 'round and 'round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go!
Ahh, people
askin' questions, lost in confusion
Well I tell them there's no problems, only solutions
Well they shake their heads and they look at me as if I've
lost my mind
I tell them, "There's no hurry, I'm just sitting here
doing time"
I'm just
sitting here watching the wheels go 'round and 'round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go!
I just had to let it go!
I just had to let it go...
|
These songs are copyright by The Beatles. No ownership
or permission is expressed or implied. The accompanying audio clip is
for your "review purposes",
in other words, I am explicitly hoping that this sample inspires you to
go out and buy the song. And thereby avoid having the Beatles sue me.
|
