One Day. One Band. An Everlasting Impact.

            I really want to make a blog post once a week, but I really don’t know what to write about. When I did my blogging for my technical writing and technical editing courses, my professor usually provided us with some guidance on what to post. Since this blog is for my personal use only, I don’t intend on dedicating it to one specific topic. I just want to use prompts I find online or ones I come up with on my own. This week, I decided to post about my experience becoming a Beatles fan.

When I was in the sixth grade, my elementary school’s music teacher told my class he was going to play some Beatles music for us. At that time, my only knowledge of the Beatles was that I’d heard of them before and I knew that my dad liked them. When my music teacher said he would play some songs for us, I was somewhat interested, but didn’t expect to have any significant outcome after listening to them. Little did I know what would result…

I am almost 100% certain the first song I remember my teacher playing was “She Loves You.” The song hadn’t even ended yet, but I was captivated. I had never heard anything like the Beatles’ sound before and that one song already had my mind spinning. The feelings of excitement and awe I felt stirring within me were unfamiliar and new. I fell in love “at first sound” so to speak.

My next earliest memory of becoming a Beatles fan occurred a few days later. My dad brought a stack of old Beatles record albums into my bedroom. We sat and looked through them together, while I asked him numerous questions. I specifically remember asking if all four members were still alive, and feeling so sad when I learned that John Lennon and George Harrison had already passed away. My dad also gave me all the Beatles CDs we owned, and I began listening to them every day when I came home from school and every night as I tried to fall asleep. I quickly began noting my favorite songs. (Oddly, when I saw the Beatles “#1” CD, I had a very faint memory come back to me of staring at this CD when I was little and liking the way it looked because it reminded me of a toy in my preschool classroom, a set of red and yellow plush dice.)

I’d say the peak of my Beatles obsession lasted from late 2008 until late 2011. I was so obsessed and in love with this band that you could’ve teleported me to the 60s and I would’ve fit right in with the thousands of other Beatle-loving fans. In those early days, I wanted to know everything and anything about this band, the members, the music, etc. I checked out library books and read them for my daily school reading assignments. I listened to their music every day. I collected all things Beatles: books, magazines, albums, posters, clothing, memorabilia, toys, DVDs, etc. I asked for Beatle-related gifts for my birthday and for Christmas. I had so many Beatles pictures and posters on my wall that at one point there were over 100 Beatle faces staring at me. I would fantasize about living through Beatlemania and what seeing them live must’ve been like. I attended the annual Chicago Fest for Beatles Fans for three years straight (2009, 2010, and 2011) and again in 2016. (I always went with my dad, who became my “Beatle buddy” during this time.) Because of George Harrison, I learned the ukulele (and now own four, named Coconut, George, Harrison, and Lennon). I saw tribute bands multiple times (American English was my favorite). I went to two Paul McCartney concerts (in 2011 and 2016), which I still cannot fully believe and will remain forever grateful for. I even met George Harrison’s sister Louise twice: once when Liverpool Legends performed at my high school with our band and orchestra (which I was a part of!) and at the last Fest I went to.

Certain songs and albums remind me of certain times in my life. Sometimes, the “White Album” reminds me of a rainy Saturday morning, when I was eating microwaved Market Day cinnamon rolls in my kitchen. My two favorite albums (“Abbey Road” and “Revolver”) remind me of the summers of my pre-teen and early teen years, time spent with my childhood best friends and my family. Any time I hear one of the songs on the “#1” album, I can see myself laying in my bedroom at night, taking in all the sounds I was hearing. One of my uncles once told me that “And Your Bird Can Sing” was one of his favorite Beatles songs, so every time I hear it I think of him. Actually, when my brother and I were little, my dad would sometimes play Beatles songs on guitar (“It’s Only Love” is the only one I remember for sure). Of course, “She Loves You” always brings me back to the first time I heard the Beatles in my sixth grade classroom.

I think the Beatles have probably impacted me in more ways than I realize or could identify. I know for sure that they certainly introduced me to the world of “sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll” and 60s pop culture. Because of them, I became a fan of more untouchable artists (like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and David Bowie to name a few). Even though I am not nearly as obsessed with the Fab Four as compared to my early pre-teen/teen years, I still feel an emotional connection to their music and remember the lyrics to nearly all their songs. I have so many memories with my dad because of The Beatles; he liked them before I did. However, my obsession led my dad to listen to them more (a lot more) and we spent time doing a lot of Beatles-related things together. It’s been over ten years, yet that one seemingly-average day, sitting in my sixth grade classroom, had unexpectedly changed my life, had changed me, forever.