I bloody love the Beatles. What is it about them I wonder. I wasn't even born until a few years after they split but they have a magic which is indefinable and which for me no other band possesses. They owned the 60s, they defined them and they grew with them and they wore each new outfit with such grace. Look at how they moved from beat, to pop, to psych, to rock with such ease while the Stones for example (a wonderful band) stumbled when they tried to move outside of their blues based origins.
I'm so torn as to whether I think they should have split up when they did to protect the legend or whether they should have carried on. It would have diluted their legacy without question - we all remember Dean and Monroe for example far more than those stars who have slipped, gracefully or otherwise into old age. It's a fascinating question, I know that even now I feel robbed that only two members remain. I don't think I wanted them to reform, I just wanted to believe it was possible.
Thursday, 3 July 2008
Halfway Through The Year
2008 has been a funny one so far. Maybe it's due to my getting old or maybe it's simply the relative non-appearance of Summer, but it seems to me that this country is in a terrible old mess. Global pressures are playing their part - the huge increases in oil price and the 'sub-prime' collapse in the US, but it's more than that, it's a basic lack of decency coupled with the continuing collapse of the concept of community.
We no longer know or trust our neighbours, our existence is so insular that we suspect everyone, and the constant stream of news regarding knife crime and paedophiles for example only fuels this fire. I don't think these particular issues have really got worse in recent years, the figures however unreliable suggest not, but since we've cut ourselves off from those around us we begin to suspect everyone. I know I do, and I hate myself for it. It's time to get out there and meet people. I'm a pretty crappy Christian, the merits of which I don't intend to debate here, but at each service we do the 'peace be with you' bit. We spend a minute or two greeting those around us in church, shaking hands and wishing each other peace. I don't care whether you have faith or not, that's a bloody good idea.
We no longer know or trust our neighbours, our existence is so insular that we suspect everyone, and the constant stream of news regarding knife crime and paedophiles for example only fuels this fire. I don't think these particular issues have really got worse in recent years, the figures however unreliable suggest not, but since we've cut ourselves off from those around us we begin to suspect everyone. I know I do, and I hate myself for it. It's time to get out there and meet people. I'm a pretty crappy Christian, the merits of which I don't intend to debate here, but at each service we do the 'peace be with you' bit. We spend a minute or two greeting those around us in church, shaking hands and wishing each other peace. I don't care whether you have faith or not, that's a bloody good idea.
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