I took my daughters to see a Beatles cover band last night in downtown Franklin, Tenn. We arrived quiet early, sitting outside at Mellow Mushroom and watching the crowd emerge. Soon, the square was packed with music lovers of all ages, singing and grooving to the band that has captivated the world across the past half-century like none before or after it.
Why are the Beatles so timeless, to the extent to where a talented cover band (Sixty-Four, in this case) can draw a far larger audience than most emerging musicians who write and perform their own material? There’s such a powerful emotional connection to the Fab Four, and that connection never seems to subside. I saw folks pushing 70 who were singing and dancing to their heart’s content, and I felt like I was an eighth grader once again who played Abbey Road or Sgt. Pepper each morning before school.
Music is a huge component of being emotionally engaged with life. It brings energy, memories, hope and perseverance. I find that it’s important for me to see a live act of some sort at least once per month, and I’ve seen Sixty-Four twice in the past 30 days
Young people such as my girls get this so naturally: how music and the arts are indigenous to our sense of being fully alive. They had no idea what “Yellow Submarine” could possibly mean, but the three of us sure had fun singing along. My oldest daughter has already started her Christmas list, and a Beatles CD is right on top of it.
