As many of you know, the 50th anniversary of the Beatles first performance in America recently passed.
The Beatles stunned America on the “Ed Sullivan” show. It is estimated that 45 percent of all TV sets in use were tuned into this broadcast.
My mom recalls her young self venturing to her uncles house to observe this revolutionary moment because he had a much bigger TV than the one owned by her family.
The Beatles have always been a family favorite within my household.
In fact, the first CD I ever owned was the Beatles first album, handed down to me by Dad. I listened to it over and over and to this day I still have every song on that album memorized.
As I grew older, my taste in music change and changed and changed again. I no longer enjoyed the same music my parents did and still do not, which I think most people my age can relate to.
Yet, I sat with my mother and sister watching the Beatles 50th anniversary special on CBS (on a TV that is probably much bigger than the one my mother had watched some 50 years ago) singing along to all the songs, each accompanied by a flood of different emotions and memories.
In that moment, it dawned on me how powerful the Beatles really were…or are.
There is not very much a twenty year old woman has in common with her parents in terms of music and culture, but we have the Beatles. We’ve always had the Beatles.
This power, I think, lies within the ease with which one is able to relate to the music.
My world as a teenager and at twenty is nowhere near similar to my mother’s at the same age.
But somehow, the music of the Beatles still speaks to my life and my experiences.
As explained by the Beatles biographer, Bob Spitz, and quoted by Chris Talbott in an article for cjonline.com, “This was a seismic shift in American culture and it gave the teenagers not only a voice but a way of being, a way of thinking that had never occurred before. Previous to the Beatles’ arrival here, teenagers were an appendage in the family. After that, the teenager became one of the dominant forces in the family….This was pure.”
During our adolescence, we all find ourselves fighting for something, fighting against something, finding ourselves, defining ourselves, falling in and out of love.
It is during this time that we sculpt our lives and try to determine the kind of imprint we want to leave on the world.
The Beatles speak to all of this. They speak to being a part of something that is much bigger than yourself and having no idea what you’re doing at the same time.
They have a way of making you feel lighter while reminding you what’s important. The Beatles tie you to every other young person that has ever been in your position, feeling what you’re feeling.
The Beatles were a true musical revolution, they were and still are, life changers.
It takes talented musicians, powerful minds and powerful hearts to connect generations….even 50 years later.
I can predict with confidence that my twenty year old children and I will not have much common ground in terms of music but we’ll have the Beatles…we’ll always have the Beatles.
Bridget Goedke
Viewpoints Editor