ringo turned 70 today. how is that possible? wasn't it just yesterday that i watched the fab four's first appearance on the ed sullivan show? it was a sunday night in february 1964. my sister and i had front row center seats on the floor of our family living room. i can remember being so excited that i could barely sit still. i even grabbed my sister's hand and held it tight in exhilaration. i was 12, my sister 14 -- really just innocent babies still growing up in indiana farm country. we were sheltered from most of the harsh realities of the world but we felt it. yes we did -- we felt it right down to our toes just like so many other teenage girls watching that night. it was a thrill like no other. and i liked it very much!
the beatles were there with me when i first slow danced with a boy at a sock hop a few years later. the song was "yesterday" and the boy smelled like brute aftershave with a slight tinge of teenage boy sweat. i guess i pretty much liked that too. i remember returning home from a date with another boy a few years later and sitting in the car listening to "let it be" on the radio. i wondered if that boy would be one of the ones sent off to the other side of the world to be maimed or wasted like so many others. it made me very heavy-hearted.
zoom forward a few years and i'm a single mom of two young kids. we're in the car whizzing thru the countryside when "can't buy me love" comes on the radio. as i sang along out loud at full volume my son matt said "yuck -- you like this?" it was my first generation / culture gap between me and my kids. fast forward about 10 more years and matt and i spent a great deal of time together discussing the beatles, how their music shaped my life and how it was affecting his.
i have a great collection of beatles coffee table books; most of them were gifts to me from matt. i cherish every one of them.
lennon's "grow old along with me" was played at my second wedding. i listen to the beatles at work when i'm writing copy for newsletters and packaging. and, what do you think the ring tone is on my phone? "here comes the sun" -- a lovely way to receive a call from a loved one or friend.
ringo turned 70 today. i'm 57. we've spent the last 46 years together. i wonder if he has any idea how much it has meant to me.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
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8 comments:
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I love the Here Comes the Sun song so much as well.
Well, I, too grew up in the era of the Beattles. They've been part of my whole life. My blog post for the 8th is on "Yesterday" - that was always one of my favorite Beatles songs.
I'm 65, a good bit older than you, Julie - but music like the Beatles is eternal!
Ahh the beatles, whilst I am too young to know their effect first hand, I did spend a year living in liverpool (just round the corner from penny lane) and the history of them lives on throughout the city, even in the flat where I lived there was a group of Romanian guys who were a beatles tribute group living in the flat above me, they constantly practised the songs all day every day lol, such fun!!
Micki x
How can Ringo be 70???!!! I too remember when I saw them first on Ed Sullivan. My dad was disgusted, called them long-haired hippies, but still let us watch them. I was just 7 at the time, but I too remember it like it was "Yesterday"! Of course, my favorite songs at the time..."She Love You, Yea, Yea, Yea" and "Love Me Do"...such deep lyrics!!! Ha! Thanks for happily jogging my memory!
even Paul's 68!
I might borrow your ringtone.
Neat-o idea!
what a fabulous way to grow up.....with the beatles by your side! my parents almost named me "michelle" after the beatles tune......and "here comes the sun" is one of my all-time favorites (along with "o-bla-dee").
happy birthday, ringo.
xox, :))
lovely post julie! so nice to see you back. i sang "grow old with me" at a wedding in january. beautiful song.
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