The Beatles: Music for Every Generation

It’s pretty clear that The Beatles made music that has remained fresh and original for nearly 60-years. Hell, they recorded everything from ballads to speed metal. “Helter Skelter” may even be the first punk song. Because of the band’s versatility and creativity, Beatle fans of all ages can be found everywhere. I think my son summed it up well back when he was 5-years old:

“Kip, why do you like Beatles music so much?”

“It makes me happy.”

That pretty much covers it, doesn’t it?

But wait. Perhaps Mark Oliver Everett, lead man for The Eels, said it best:

“Kids know what’s going on. They always respond to The Beatles, for instance. Doesn’t matter when they were born, they always seem to respond. Show me a kid who innately doesn’t like The Beatles and I’ll show you a bad seed.” 

Couldn’t have said it better.

Which brings me to this story. A few years ago I went to a Paul McCartney concert. Going to see Paul is an almost religious experience for me, and for millions of others as well. A few minutes after I found my seat, a guy who looked to be in his early 20’s sat down beside me. He was, shall we say, a little out there. He had blue spiked hair, piercings through just about every visible part of his body (nose, ears, lip, eyebrow, the whole gamut), had tats on top of tats (including a nice devil head on his neck) and in short was dressed like Sid Vicious in his glory days.

But hey, I’m not one to judge so after some quick introductions we conversed a little and settled in for the show. Turns out this was Punk Rock Guy’s first experience seeing a former Beatle. As we waited, I couldn’t help but notice my new friend was a little, I don’t know, emotional. He was very fidgety and sort of rocked back and forth in his seat. I glanced over at one point and his eyes had actually welled up with tears. He was in such bad shape that I thought something was seriously wrong with him. Drugs? A personal crisis? I felt as if I had to know.

“Uh, hey buddy? Are you alright? Anything I can do?”

“No, I’m OK. Just trying to keep it together here.”

“OK . . . what exactly is wrong?”

At that point he grabbed my arm, pointed towards the stage, and said this:

“I can’t believe he’s going to be right there.”

All I could do at that point was pat him on the arm knowingly and shake my head in agreement, because I knew exactly how he was feeling.

Because you know what? When you attend a Paul McCartney concert you see old people, small children, hippies, cops, alt rockers, metalheads, country music lovers, and yes, even punk rockers with blue-spiked hair and devil head neck tats.

Because the greatest of them all appeal to everyone, ya know?

PS – Don’t even think about telling me you’re not a fan of The Beatles, for I will dislike you, question your intelligence, beat you about the head and shoulders and disown you as a friend.

To get a glimpse of the variety of McCartney fans, check out the video below. You’ll also see that Kip was right- the music does make people happy.