This diary is all about the Beatles. It is not particularly political or topical, though some politics do sneak in. I offer it here mainly as a diversion.
I work on diaries like this when I need something calming, something to stave off however briefly the unyielding onslaught of relentlessly bad news – something to ease my woe and soothe my worried mind. Reminiscing can sometimes do that for me, and what more pleasant subject to reminisce about than music? Sweeter still, to my taste, the Beatles. Not to dismiss all the other greats, I love them all, but the Beatles were special in my life.
Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither wildly as they slip away across the universeJohn Lennon – Across the Universe
NPR.org, November 18, 2008 – When The Fireman released its debut album in 1993 – the instrumental dance and electronica mix Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest – the band’s identity was a mystery. U.K. music magazine Melody Maker eventually exposed The Fireman as a duo featuring the bassist and producer known as Youth and, to everyone’s surprise, Paul McCartney. Reviewers praised the collaboration as “staggeringly brilliant,” but it was a strange and entirely unexpected direction for the former Beatle.