To Sir Paul McCartney, with Love…

Let’s talk Paul McCartney. Impressive figure in my life. Looming large and brilliant. Paul has done more for me, than any other composer next to, Beethoven. Heady words, wouldn’t one say? Ah, but they are not an exaggeration.

You see, Beatles heart-throb Paul, was who rocked my lyrical, musical soul for the first time in my young, pre— pre-teen life. There was a poster of the band placed oh so prominently, above my bed. The same bed where I would wait anxiously for my dad to come in and brush his scratchy whiskered face across my cheek as he kissed me good night. Those were the males who festooned my childhood world. I loved them all. My father was a god to me. His presence was magnetic. The Beatles were idols, for sure. But Paul, well, he was my very first crush.

Like so many young girls my age, being in grade school was still a time of delightful innocence. I’m talking still living in a fantasy realm of pretending we were galloping horses with our long pony tails being just that, ponies’ tails. We filled our brains with ideas from Scott O’Dell’s “Island of the Blue Dolphins”, the multi-authored Nancy Drew series, and tantalizing images from Alfred Hitchcock’s short stories. It was a young girlhood just ripe for something phenomenal to awash it with dazzling handsomeness, English accent and pulsing beat.

When 1964 rolled around, we were ready to be bowled over, and America was. The Fab Four were just “pinch their cheeks” adorable coming down-step off their plane all the way from across The Pond. To see their cheerful, “cheeky”, effervescent attitude was an uplift and enticement at the same time. When my “with-it” parents allowed us to sit around the television and watch the Ed Sullivan Show introduce this British band to Our Country, my own sphere of existence changed. Of course, the views of the audience packed with screaming girls did much to further the happy hysteria into the living rooms across the country. I don’t remember screaming— just watching, listening and definitely bobbing up and down on my knees in time to the driving melody of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”. Our female minds immediately fast-forwarded to school dances and us waiting for one of these English blokes to walk across the gym and pull us up off our chair and onto the dance floor. All of these dapper gents were easy on the eyes, but Paul, well, I spotted something extra alluring.

I didn’t realize it then, but I do now. Paul had a gleam in his eyes and an impish smirk on his face almost constantly. He had something underfoot, surely! Was it a frog in his pocket to release into the audience? No— way too old-fashioned. More like a pack of cigs in his back-pocket to sneakily hand a girl in the corridor. In other words, despite his squeaky clean appearance, he had a tad bit of the diabolical behind that cocky carefree hair-toss. I just knew he was beyond fun…he was an advertisement for adventure. If ever I had been in his company, he might have thrown down that raincoat over a puddle in the grass for ME to step on, but then he would have thrown me backward and zoomed in for a kiss–or so I wished!

Here’s the thing- I was still in elementary school! I wasn’t supposed to be thinking of such things! I was supposed to be clapping the chalk out of my teacher’s erasers and running AWAY from the boys. But, from the fated 1964 day the Beatles swept America by storm, my tumultuous “tornadoed” heart was whipped into life-long, pleasant though often wild, frenetics.

Whether he realized it or not, Paul McCartney set the marker for any great love in my life. Had to be cute as all heck, (I know, I know, vapid was I), and had to be very musical. Just about anyone who ever stole my heart had something to do with music. Even more measurable, was that the “Love to Be” must have an articulate nature. There is simply nothing fun about a person who can’t carry on a buoyant banter. Thank goodness such male company found their way into my life and I have to say I have had some truly colorful characters to sit back and think about in hindsight.

McCartney was and still is McMarvelous! Our generation took every word from every lyric to heart. We poured over the songs and dissected their meanings, We lay upstairs in our bedrooms sometimes with best buds by our side, staring at the album covers, reading the printed lyrics, discussing them at great length. For us, it wasn’t book clubs first, it was album reading clubs. My friends and I hung on to every word and to us, Mccartney was our Shakespeare. Sure they were simple themes. Mostly about sweethearts and forlorn thought. Generally about how and what one loved about another. Never selfish. Never angry. Never mean-spirited. The words of the Beatles rang celebratory bells; chiming cheers for youth and love! A good number of the Beatles’s lyrics were written together by Paul and John. George wrote some great stuff, too. Even Ringo. The melodies were more often than not, a collaboration. I don’t need to give you a Beatles’ 101 lesson, I’m certain of that. What I need to tell you is that the innocent happiness with which a fair amount of Paul’s lyrics contain did a fine job of bolstering that positive spirit in all of us.

Much speculation goes on about how the Beatles became such a phenomenon. My opinion is this; because there was so much strife and controversy ensuing during the year’s of the Beatles’ reign, their youthful spirit spoke to us. The Cold War, The Vietnam War, The Civil Rights Movement, the tragic politics, all weighted heavily on this nation. As children, often we were shielded from these worries, but not completely. From McCartney’s songs, and so many of the band’s songs, we could still celebrate childhood and the particular feelings that accompany it. As the folk song movement trudged along often shackling conscience to the core, the Beatles had us afloat, sailing along, relishing sea and sky, friends and loves, magic and mystery. We were allowed to still wallow a bit longer in fetterless juvenescense. This quality inherent in Paul’s writing taught us to hunt for the positive, and to find the silver lining behind any cloud. We were never taught to think how to do harm or ill will. Never.

Of course the songs progressed with time and the composer’s own personal progression. We all know about the visits with Maher Baba and thus writing songs that had been influenced by self-realization. Again, McCartney took from it, what was, to promoting  kindness and sincerity. We hear this in his songs, even in lyrics that seem so simple. But, reading and learning his songs we learned to read them as if they were proverbial. I loved that freedom of thought, that openness to interpretation, that allowance of individual perspective. To this day I feel McCartney, Lennon, Harrison and Starr did so much to feed my soul and help me grow as a person through their song writing.

Awhile after the Beatles’ “Let It Be” Album came out, I was readying for college. It was in college when I began to listen to “Wings”, McCartney’s own band. From this body of music I extracted an even deeper affinity for the pensive, for the sentimental and for the hopeful. I believe these passion-induced lines of thought still course through my veins in any endeavor I care strongly about. I know I became a good parent and teacher because of these characteristic ways of looking at life. Favorite songs from McCartney’s band such as “Band On the Run”, “Bluebird”, and “Jet” were just the beginning for his continued song-writing and performing. This was a transitioning time for the Beatles who had dissolved as a group but were shining in their own corners, trying out new ideas. What a great example for any young adult to know that nothing stays the same, and yet, so much is connected forever, no matter what. That connection is the Good.

We could interpret for hours the many faceted eras and genres of music the Beatles and McCartney explored. It was an ingenious melding of technique and music styles…rock n roll, classical, jazz, Eastern and maybe a tiny amount of folk. Off the top of my head, the songs I really love to this day are “The Long and Winding Road”, “Yesterday”, “Norwegian Wood”, “Here Comes the Sun” both which George Harrison wrote, and “Hey Jude”, “Twist and Shout”, “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”…..oh heck, I love them all!

The thing that stands out though, about Paul McCartney, is that he is like the “Energizer Bunny” of the group. He is still hanging in, still playing music, still keeping the dream alive. He kept on playing not only bass, but lead guitar sometimes, acoustic guitar, keyboard, piano and whatever! Ringo is too, and he deserves every bit of credit for all his contributions and continued performances. I just have that affinity for that darling Paul who collaborated with Lennon, Harrison and Starr to make it big in England, and when he was just 22, came to America with his mates and literally rocked our world. When interviewed, Paul seemed the most upbeat, truthful and forthcoming. His demeanor was lovable. He was sheer joy. He gave us sheer joy. He taught us there was no shame in begging for: “Love Me Do”.