The Beatles and Childhood

Good afternoon!

I've been wanting to write a Beatles-related post for a while, partly because I feel I ought to start studying them in a bit more depth, and partly because I haven't got much of a desire to write anything angsty at the moment. Most of my anger about our sick society has already put itself into words, either on this blog or in discussions with friends. So until I find myself raging again, the blog's tone will probably be a little less angry and a little more relaxed!

I'm going to focus on the theme of childhood in the Beatles' work. Hopefully it won't be too waffly...

No matter what happens to us in life, we cannot escape our childhoods. We cannot escape the influence of our parents, our schools, our friends, our bullies, our favourite toys, the daily rituals, our worst punishments, our favourite memories. Our upbringing is beyond our control, and dependent on the lottery of birth.

For four young lads from Liverpool who took the world by storm, childhood was no less inescapable, and indeed there is a huge amateur and scholarly fascination with the Beatles' upbringings. Most biographies place a heavy emphasis on their childhoods, from which came a strange sequence of coincidences and lucky occurrences that turned a less-than-impressive skiffle band into the greatest supergroup of all time. A new development on the Beatles' youth never fails to make the News; most recently, of course, the ten-year-old Paul's prizewinning Coronation essay was discovered in Liverpool library. You can even visit the childhood homes of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and stand amongst a small group of awed tourists as you survey the room in which the young Paul learned to play his guitar. Without their unextraordinary, Northern beginnings, the Beatles would never have existed.

Perhaps if Paul had not been brought up in a family in which his father, Jim, was a musician and his mother, Mary, encouraged a strong work-ethic for her sons, he would not have worked so hard at perfecting the guitar (despite at the detriment of his schoolwork!). If John's aunt and mother had not been such strong, witty individuals, John may not have the quick sense of humour that he brought to the band. If Ringo had not spent much of his childhood in hospital, the resulting better education may have sent him on a very different path. And if George had not been encouraged by his approving mother, he may not have worked so hard despite his unequal share of the lime-light.

Indeed, the Beatles themselves were fascinated by their own childhoods and the memories of the days before fame and fortune. John, in particular, referred to his past in several songs, most notably In My Life and Strawberry Fields Forever. Paul, of course, penned Penny Lane, a jolly tune about the Liverpool road and roundabout in which Paul spent many a childhood hour waiting for the bus.

The Beatles, four young men influenced heavily by their pasts, went on to influence the lives of literally millions of 1960s children, many of whom were caught in the all-consuming disease-like phenomenon of "Beatlemania." Many young people had rooms filled to the brim with Beatles merchandise, and the euphoria and sexual excitement caused by the Fab Four awakened many an innocent young girl. One of the legacies of the group is that even today's children are influenced by the Beatles, as they become more and more engrained in the cultural identity of Britain. Few children can escape the dreaded Yellow Submarine in primary school music classes. My Dad had me singing Can't Buy Me Love and She Loves You at the age of six, and I remember curling up on the sofa, ten years ago, watching black-and-white footage of the band performing. Looking back, I was particularly bewitched by John Lennon.

Recently, in the wave of Beatles nostalgia that came with the 40th anniversary of the release of Abbey Road and the band's subsequent demise, the Times 2 featured an article about today's young kids and the Beatles. The journalist played a handful of infants the original vinyl of several well-known Beatles songs and recorded their reactions. One child's merry comment closes the article: "The Beatles are great. The modern songs are a pile of dog c**p.”
(http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/beatles/article6825010.ece)

Childhood is at the centre of the Beatles, just as childhood is at the centre of life. The upbringings of the Fab Four have the power to fascinate and indeed it is well worth visiting Liverpool to experience a glimpse of their lives before they took the world by storm. Over forty years on, they have the power to transfix and transform the lives of today's children, if not in the same hysterical way as they influenced the crazed children of their heyday.

J
xxx