True - but in terms of overused pop chord sequences that the Beatles used before they were literally everywhere, Let It Be takes the cake. The starting piano chords (do do dum dum do do do dum dum . . . sorry, got distracted there . . .) have been so overdone it’s heartbreaking. The Beatles, however, weren’t the first - the first was around 1648 with Pachelbel’s Canon in D.
Oh but come on - it needs the be repeated! How else would the emotionally powerful, deeply symbolic, poetic lyrics of “Na na na na na na na” be truly driven into the soul?
A year ago, there are any number of songs that I might have chosen: “Nowhere Man”, “Michelle”, “Drive My Car”. “In My Life” was very sweet, but didn’t stand out to me.
But when I heard it again, recently, I saw it with new eyes. Because I’ve always put myself in the shoes of the narrator–as someone in a happy, contented relationship, expressing the depth of his love to her because she defines his life at the moment.
But when I hear it now, I think of the past–of someone who has complete clarity of vision, who finally understands his actions, his joys, and his mistakes. And even if the person he’s addressing is not someone he’s actually with, she is still the most important person there is to him.
For me, she is not “In My Life”, and yet she always will be. The memory is past, but the Love is still present.
George Harrison, though, is the winner of the “Most Inappropriate Combination of Word Choice and Repetition” award. Just how many times did he repeat the phrase “Don’t be long” in Blue Jay Way?
Okay, now you done gone got me all choked up. My aunt just passed away (cancer) at the age of 63. She was a teenager in the 1960s and a huge Beatles fan, and she and my other aunt introduced me to the Beatles when I was a teenager in the 1980s, which formed the basis of all my subsequent musical development. You’ve made up my mind for me: I’m singing this at the family get-together this Spring and dedicating it to my Aunt Kae.
I’m sorry for your loss and I’m sure it will be a beautiful tribute. I wrote a scene in a movie once where a character sings a Beatles song at a wake. Not this song (actually, a rather unlikely one), but so many of their songs deal with so many layers of feeling that they apply in ways that may not have ever originally occurred to you. That’s why this song burrows into me like few songs anywhere now do.
Too much good stuff here to be certain of my decision, but I finally settled on Drive my Car, because that bass line just sticks in my head for days and days. George Harrison says it was inspired by Otis Redding’s Respect, and that he suggested that the bass and guitar essentially double up on that riff. All I know is that’s it’s pretty damn funky.
I love Girl, Norwegian Wood, Drive My Car, If I needed Someone, Michelle. The melodies and harmonies were so incredible. I got to appreciate In My Life and probably love it most now.
I just looked around and noticed there wasn’t a vote…from me. One more increment of love for Norwegian Wood, though Girl and In My Life are close seconds.
ETA: I didn’t look around and notice the poll was closed.