The Beatles: Don't Let Me Down

When I was younger, I had a fascination with the Sixties. It seemed like a much more hopeful, idealistic time, when people believed they could make the world a better place instead of accepting it as it is. Later, as I read about the history of the period, I learned it was not as bright and sunny as I had thought. Vietnam, race riots and assassinations were moments as dark as any other decade had.

Yet other decades didn't have the Beatles. It's hard to think of another musical group that defined their decade as much as they did. It couldn't have gotten a better representative. Their music and images are still symbols of youthful energy, optimism and inventiveness.

An important key to their influence is that they democratized music. They made it look easy, that anybody could do it. You didn’t need to hire a big-time producer and a studio full of professional musicians, you didn’t need to commission a song from Tin Pan Alley. If you had a guitar and something to say, you too could make music. After Lennon and McCartney knocked out a song for the fledging Rolling Stones in about 15 minutes, Jagger and Richards took notice and started writing their own songs. Many more got the same idea just by listening to the music. The Beatles were the Pied Pipers of the era, convincing a generation that they could rewrite the world with their words, their music, and their ideals.

Sadly, the story didn't end well. The Beatles broke up in 1970 after several years of bickering and growing musical divisions. I guess that should have taught us something. But often the illusions and the dreams are more powerful than the reality. They were for me.