Beatles History In My Life

Recently, my favourite pastime is for playing with my dogs.
Time has changed. When I was a high school boy,I was always playing the guitar. Becoming a musician was not exactly my dream but it was a real fun.

Yesterday, as I walking down the street, light Jazz music came into my ears. That was comfortable and I could have a relaxed time for walking. After that, I went into a department store to buy something, then Rolling Stones and Deep Purple were echoeing in the building, which was really exausting time for me.

I noticed that I don’t like this kind of music any more. I at least enjoyed them in the high school, but now I don’t see any inteligence in the music or I don’t feel any growth in music. Repeating the same is the character of Stones, but it’s really boring for me now.

I know this is also a change of my time.
I don’t deny them because there are fans for that music too, but for me, it’s apparent that I don’t like it.

Maybe some CDs like Beatles, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Mozart, Miles Davis, Bill Evens, Pat Metheny, some good Hawaiian music artists, and my favourite Japanese music composers are my music rotation day by day. I don’t need many others. I will not get starved in music only with these music around me in the rest of my life.

I grew old.
It’s time for me to understand my personal favourite things.
I’ll not be influenced by reputation of fashion of the time any more.

I often read magazine articles of Bealtes in Japan. Japanes magazines still pick up the Beatles as the main topic in the magazines probably because they still have power for the readers and consequently magazines are sold well.

To be honest, I don’t like it.
I often dislike to see the Beatles being treated by non Beatles fans or snobby magazine writers. Probably some of them don’t know the Beatles, or even don’t like them. But for magazine sales, Beatles is still a big topic for big sales, then this kind of drag article appears.

For fans like me, it’s very unacceptable experience. Of course it’s a kind of proof for the presence of the Beatles because they are still written live in spite that they are already a past music group. But apparently some editorial persons or writers mislead the readers by their own small world concept.

Soon after people listen to the Beatles for the first time, I believe they would notice the fact of the music of them. Articles or critics are not important for them in the end as their music is irreplacable. Words can’t beat the talent.

But, the gap between the truth and written story often makes the real Beatles vague to readers.

I also expect that Beatles will not be written in the magazines any more. Then we, fans can enjoy without any noise from outside.

Beatles became like a measure for music tellers. When they talk about modern music, they always compare musicians with Beatles. That approach is often used today although I don’t like it.

John once said, God is the concept by which we measure our pain.
Bealtles became the concept by which we measure our music, which means Beatles became the God of the music.

I’ve not written articles for so many days. Now I’m in Japan, my hometown.
Japanese music became so different from when we used to know in our young time. When I was young, Beatles fans were looked with very strange eyes not only by teachers but also by well behaving students at school. Now people think Beatles are kind of classic, maybe.

At the same time, I often see present teenagers in Japan still think Beatles are bible of their music. It seems to mean Beatles are a live band for them still.

This phenomena is often observed among Japanese kids too, and it’s interesting for me.
John and George are not here with us any more, and their staff like Brian Epstein, Neil Aspinole, Mal Evans, and many more have already passed away. In fact, Beatles are a band living in the past as a data. However, for many, Beatles are still living as they are as if John and George, and their staff were still working alive.

I myself can’t believe they are already gone.
They are still playing music in my head every day with tremendous energy.
They, Four, including John and George, are still great mentors for me. How can I believe they already ended ?

Like many young generations we already know, maybe Beatles will be treated as a LIVE band in the coming many generations. Like we experienced, thoes who meet the Beatles then will be appreciating the godsent talent of four members and they may take it for granted that the Beatles are neverending, or live and active artists in their mind.

Rock music needs live sense because it’s a music of motion or moving bodies to the music. Like in the concert hall, we need the live artist when enjoying rock music. Many artists are forgotten because they are no more young or live.

Beatles remain the same ony by the power of music and their virtual living sense.
It’s a kind of miracle.

I’m back in Japan, my home country.
This stay will be about a few weeks long.

On the first day in Tokyo, I visited HMV store, which is a large size store with tremendous number of music CDs and Videos. I used to check new titles there when I was in Tokyo about 10 years ago. Then, there were a lot of people and I used to stand at the end of line before cashier to finish payment. But this time, there were few people in the store, I checked out the cashier so quickly.

Indeed, people don’t buy music CDs in Japan. Not only in Japan, they don’t buy CDs in the majour countries now. Music is produced endlessly each month, most of them are just commercial items. We can scarecely find an art of music, or something which change our life so drastically.

When Beatles released their music, their albums were like words of God, new bible of real life, or such a precious guide book for life. Their music was more than just music, they taught us totally new idea of life.

Beatles album was about 20 dollars, so it’s not that different from present time CD price. But when I bought it with 20 dollars, I got more than the money value from their albums. Now CDs are sometimes less than 20 dollars and not expensive at all compared to the Beatles time. But I never fail to think it expensive when I buy a CD at a store. The CDs I buy now don’t have something precious in it, moreover, the music does not deserve the price all the time.

Beatles music was such a bargain. They gave us something far more than the price.
Maybe we can’t buy such an art work again at a store.

I don’t like Yoko although I know John loved her.
When she appears on TV, I don’t watch it any more.

If she was not a wife of John, who would listen to her words or music ?
Her remarks are always strong and often offensive to people or world, especially to Beatles fans and John’s Liverpool family.

If she was admired as an established artist without John’s shadow, we would love to hear her story as much as possible. But only fact we are forced to admitt abou her is that she was John’s wife. Otherwise, we all probably will ignore her because she herself is not influential to us at all.

She can say anything as far as media request, but she also should know the she became famous only because of John’s fame.

Recently I happend to see her talk on TV, but again, I was dissapointed with her attitude.
Of course I can’t blame her of being John’s wife because he chose her. Happy life is a natural human right. But she is not expected by Beatles fans to talk much about John or the Beatles. Please stay away from us, fans, we also have a just right to enjoy the great asset of human, the music of the Bealtes,without needless lectures.

When she was playing music with John in the late 60’s, that was a real hell for fans because she broke all down. I don’t need it again by her comments as the wife.

I often think of my future from now. When I was young, I just lived as I am without thinking of my future or past. I grew older than I believed.

John passed away when he was 40. George’s last time was in his 58 years old.
I know I should not compare myself to them, the genius guys. Doing so often makes me miserable.
But thinking of them, I suppose they lived their times with sense of light speed. They made Sgt. Peppers when John was 27 and George was 24 ! Now I’m in my late 40’s but I can’t believe their masterpieces were made in their 20’s. They proved their talent in that young period of life and they made people happy and free by showing the new life concept, which was not socially believed right way before the Beatles appeared. One of the contributions to the freedom by the Beatles was that they showed the free of choice for younger generation. After we saw it, we became brave enough to try new type of life even if the families or teachers didn’t recommend us.

If Beatles was not born then, other musicians like Eric Clapton or Bob Dylan might have done it instead of the Beatles. ( Stones followed the Beatles, so probably they couldn’t do it) But it’s apparent that the result of the other musicians’ revolution was not beyond the history of the Beatles.

It’s rediculous to think of their life in the fast lane over my future. They did it because their God gave them the privilage to lead the life. Their life is like Morzart, who wrote more than 500 tunes only in about 30 year life time. As it’s been told, it’s totally impossible to write that many classical songs in that short life. It’s also said that his music scores have no shadows of revision, which means he could listen to the completed music in his head before he writes tunes. It’s a real God work.

Thinking of Godsent talent dissapoints me because I don’t have it, but knowing the existance of sentout people by the God makes me relaxed because I notice this world is more or less led by the God. If so, I don’t have to struggle too much about my future. I can live my life as it is….like Let it be.

Year 2009 started. To be honest, I did not think I would be alive until now.
I first thought I would die in 1999 by the Nostradams’ prediction. That prediction was too shocking for a small kid like me then to have a hope after 1999. I was not tough at all when I was a kid.

Last year we experienced the most serious world economy crisis in our life time, and maybe this year it will be still going on. Crazy time !

But staying calm in mind is the most important for me.
Sooner or later, people die and the world changes. The earth will someday disappear in the universe, and new stars will be born. Fate goes on. Nothing can stop it. I like to try my best to accomplish something, but struggling for unknown fate is not my philosophy. Optimistic ? Yes, I could be so.

John’s song, Nobody loves you, is my favourite one.
When the world gets moody, I often like listening to this song. I feel like this song tells me something like above. Maybe John is wispering to me from heaven. I like to think so.

When Beatles were all alive, I could not imagine John or George would die.
But it happened. All things must pass. Something new will appear after this caos.
Then, just let it pass by.

A happy new year !

Today I saw a photo of Paul’s son, James.
To be honest, he doesn’t look as if he has a talent in arts or music. Face has no tension, and he is also fat with loose body. Paul’s face is such so some kind of his reflection is over James. But at least Paul had also a tension in his appearance when he was young with John.

Julian, Sean, Dhani, Zack, all the other beatle kids are not great either compared to their parents. But interestingly all the male kids of them followed their parents to become musicians. It’s apparent that second generation must face big difficuties when following the great job of their fathers. Especially they have the Beatle fathers. It’s quite natural that people compare fathers and sons.

It may be possible for some artists’ sons to overcome father’s shadow and become bigger artists than their fathers. However, I can say that it’s totally impossible for Beatle kids to be bigger than their fathers. Not only their kids but also anybody in the world can’t beat the existance of the Beatles, maybe forever.

Beatle kids dared to choose the hard way, trying to become someone.
Julian Lennon first made a big hit, I remember, but he turned out to be compared with his irreplaceable genius father, John. Julian of course knew it before starting his career. He struggled with that situation and now he seems happy as he is now.

Sean and Dhani followed next. But probably they gave up chasing their fathers before they made the first record. I suppose so by looking at their life now because they have no stress in their faces although I sometimes saw it in Julian’s face before.

Again, James’s face alreay has no tension or stress. Maybe he can live happy with great asset of his father and with peaceful mind which has no competitive intension to his great father, Paul.
The picture I saw today was a little dissapointiong for me because I once agin noticed that even their kids can’t realize the dream of the Beatles again.

In Beijin, it’s hot with Olympic.
China is recently becoming more powerful and it’s seen also in the result of medal numbers they got. For me, it’s incredible to outnumber the USA’s medals even if it’s Russia, Japan or China because America has been the most powerful and successful also in sports. But so far, China got the double numbers of gold medals over the USA’s.

If this situation continues, I wonder if China would be the beggest power also in arts. In music, movies, or any arts, Western countires have been the top runners all the time and they have always been exporters of arts rather then enjoying Asian or African cultures.

I’m Japanese, and I enjoy Beatles or any western cultures or western arts together with Japanese arts or cultures. I have no alergy to any counties’ cultures as far as it’s good one. Recently the world is changing and becoming smaller in speed of information. China is growing big in economy now. Also China has long history in culture too. I know it in Japan.

Sometimes I travel overseas and often notice that people in wenstern countries rarely have interest in Asian cultures or arts. Asian cultures are still minor interests for western countires.

I expect China. If they grow bigger in arts too, maybe good arts or cultures in Asian countries would be assessed again with fresh eyes in the world. Japanese products like Toyota, Sony, Yamaha, and many more alreay introduced the Asian productive technique in the field of economy, whcih could be competitive with Western technology.

Next cultures of Asia should be informed more in the world.

On YouTube I found a John Lennon’s video, which consists of part 1 to part 8.
Each part is very interesting because I first saw Qarrymen’s members or his friend who saw John’s mother’s accident on the road in front of his house.

Most impressed part was Cynthia’s comments in each memory with John. Especially in the end of this video, part 8, she says that she experienced wonderful things and worst tragedy through the life with John. Also she says she still loves John as she used to, she added there is no reason that she should not love him. I was deeply moved with her word.

She must have experienced ugly time with Yoko, as Yoko suddently bat in her life with John sometimes staying at her house with John or sitting just between John and Cyn in the taxi, and John suddenly left her and Julian to New York. All John’s relatives in New York including John’s sister were never introduced John’s funeral and could not say good bye to John when he died because Yoko never let them know anything. Cynthia still loves John over those hard experience.
Cynthia says that you never change the love, I suppose her love is much deeper than the love we know.

John was such a talented person, but it’s also true that he was sometimes childish without knowing the right thing to do. But I once again understand how John was loved by everybody in spite of his imperfect character. Maybe John was helped by many people even if he did not notice it, I think that’s John’s life in Liverpool.

He loved Yoko more than anybody else. And the life style was influenced by Yoko. Nobody can’t deny it.

But I don’t like Yoko’s behavior to people in Liverpool. She is just trying to erase John and his friends’ past beautiful time by her selfishness. I suppose she also had hard time, but she must treat John and his friends past time as a treasure of them, not as her own possession of her judgement. Nobody including Cynthia or Julian knows John’s grave or how Yoko treated John after his death. It’s incredibly wrong.

John still loved Liverpool, Yoko can’t erase his time of Liverpool.