My father used to read the obituaries, something I thought odd as a child, but he said that there were stories about really interesting people all the time. And I have to admit that now I also at least glance at them on a pretty regular basis. Today I spotted the following, Lucy Vodden, 46; Inspired a Beatles song. Part of what caught my eye was her age, which seemed awfully young until I read the story and found that she was a school friend of John Lennon's son Julian.
There's plenty of buzz about the Beatles these days and I hope Rock Band fans are enjoying the game. The thing I wanted to note was that one of the things that make their music so enduring is that it was totally non-formulaic from the very beginning. If you take the time to sit and listen to their music you will hear that every single song has elements of complexity that no other rock band at the time and very few since ever achieved. Even "She Loves You," (not available on iTunes) completely familiar and straightforward, right? Listen to the first 20 seconds and follow the chord changes and harmonies. Or better yet, listen to all 2:19 of it. It's a brilliant piece of songwriting and performance. If you look at the tabs you see there are 8 named chords, 3 more that are invented chords and one place where the harmonies swerve so quickly it just says NC (no chord). I have a strong musical background and I can't even tell whether or not the key changes, (for the non-musical among us, a typical song has around 4 chords). No wonder nobody else sounds like them (and none of their songs sound like any other).
BTW, if you wonder why people my age (at least those who pay attention) think most current popular music is lousy, it's not because it's too cool or modern or raw, it's because it's BORING.
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