I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know about The Beatles.
When I was a little girl not even three, my father, himself just 22 years old, would play his guitar and sing me songs written by John and Paul.
Later, as an eight-year-old, I’d dim the lights in our basement rec room and grab my four-year-old sister’s hands. Together we would spin and spin to the dissonant denoument of “Day In The Life,” falling in a dramatic, tangled heap as the song crashes to an end.
As a teenager, 15 and desperately homesick, singing “Norwegian Wood” while crossing the Swiss Alps in a cramped BMW, my parents looking at each other with nostalgia in their eyes.
On my wedding day, looking into the eyes of my new husband, dancing together gracefully to “I Will,” a song he sang to me on our first date, revealing his love for the sacred music of my own youth.
At age 33, standing in the kitchen of an urban loft apartment, singing “Happy Birthday” to the late, great George Harrison at a posthumous party held in his honor.
Tonight, as a framed print of George (our favorite Beatle) watches over us from the kitchen wall, The Poo and her father sit snuggled together watching “Yellow Submarine” on DVD.
It is a treat, this viewing. The Poo is up well past her bedtime, and was allowed to skip her bath. She has a cold, and her nose is dripping continuously as she sits in the crook of her father’s shoulder, watching the blue meanies attempt to drive music and joy out of Pepperland.
I hope she remembers this night; the music, the darkness of the room, the story unfolding vividly before her two-year-old eyes, the embrace of her doting daddy.
I know I will.
What music moves you?
by A.L. Hatch
[tags]kids, children, parents, parenting, music, The Beatles, life’s soundtrack, tunes, heart, love, favorites[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by DG Jones, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved
10 responses so far ↓
Bon // Oct 23, 2007 at 6:14 am
i came later to the Beatles, more at junior high, when i began to throw the historian in my soul headlong into the canon of rock and roll, and my father - far away - made me a mixed tape with his best of Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and Abbey Road crammed on to it. i thought it was the coolest thing in the world, and played it til the tape thread finally gave out, chewed thin by excess use.
but for childhood tunes, for me, it is my mother’s collection: Kris Kristofferson singing “Me & Bobby McGee” (i didn’t know there was a Janis version until i was fifteen), John Denver singing “Grandma’s Feather Bed” and “Take me home, Country Roads,” Joan Baez singing “Farewell Angelina.” and The Sound of Music, oh yes. all of the above still transport me to a place of ultimate comfort.
Thordora // Oct 23, 2007 at 6:26 am
Right now, the music moving me, and hopefully entering my children’s memories would be Regina Spektor and PJ Harvey. Hearing my kids sing along with me is so much fun! (and this hopefully counters all the aggro stuff my husband plays when I’m not around.)
Sadly, my childhood memories are filled of the mostly bad taste of my parents-ABBA, Liberace, Anne Murrary. I always cry when I hear Snowbird though…
Hetha // Oct 23, 2007 at 6:34 am
I discovered the Beatles in high school, which is surprsising since my parents were sort of pseudo-hippy types. I grew up on Santana, Jackson Brown, Led Zeppelin, The Who, and a band that to this day makes me put everything down and boogie my butt off, Earth Wind and Fire!
A.L. Hatch // Oct 23, 2007 at 6:40 am
Hetha, have you heard the Earth, Wind, Fire cover of “Got To Get You Into My Life?” One of the best Beatles covers EVAH. It is in the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club” movie.
Slouching Mom // Oct 23, 2007 at 7:12 am
Joni Mitchell, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Joan Baez, and yes, the Beatles — all music that transports me instantly back to childhood.
Chris // Oct 23, 2007 at 8:56 am
My husband and I are lifelong Beatles fans and we bonded over Led Zeppelin in our early courting-by-email days (we met online). Our wedding processional was “Here Comes the Sun,” played on acoustic guitar by my brother, with whom I spent many hours listening to the Fab Four as a kid. Our daughter was born to Joni Mitchell (though we’re not sure which song was playing at the moment she arrived).
My daughter, now 4-1/2, has been obsessed with Yellow Submarine lately. She asks me to play “Nowhere Man” for her often (happy to oblige). Yesterday morning, she woke up and started singing “Altogether Now” (she especially enjoys the ever-increasing tempo of the chorus at the end) and I had to fight back the tears as I listened to her squeaky little girl voice, so joyful and earnest.
Those of you with younger children might want to check out The Sippy Cups–a band from San Francisco that covers The Beatles, Sid Barrett, Ramones, Elton John, and more. We saw them play this spring and it was the best show I have seen in ages! The mosh pit full of preschoolers was a sight to behold. We love their all-covers CD “Kids Rock for Peas.”
A.L. Hatch // Oct 23, 2007 at 9:03 am
The Poo’s two favorite songs so far as “Hey Jude” and “Get Back.” Although last night in the tub she was spotted singing “Yellow Submarine.”
Binky // Oct 23, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Johnny Cash!
BipolarLawyerCook // Oct 23, 2007 at 2:49 pm
I, too, have a fond spot for the Beatles. In high school, my group of friends (basically, the national honor society) would go to our friend A’s house on the weekends, put 10 Beatles CDs in the CD changer in the basement, and play cards and smoke weed all night. : ) I automatically relax when I hear the Beatles as a result.
aimee/greeblemonkey // Oct 23, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Music is sooooo important to me. To many different bands to recount here.
But you will be happy to hear that Declan’s favorite band also is… you guessed it… The Beatles.
Leave a Comment