The Beatles Impact On My Life

Arielle Gutierrez
London Music Scene
Justin Lorentzen
December 9, 2014
In My Life: The Beatles For as long as I can remember, The Beatles have always had a presence in my life. For instance, my father practically raised me on Beatles’ music and to this day I can distinctly remember driving to my grandma’s house on Sunday mornings and in the car listening to 95.5 KLOS Breakfast with The Beatles. I can remember having debates with other kids in my class about who knew more Beatles music (we were 9 years old). I can remember crying at my high school graduation because our senior song was “In My Life” (my favorite Beatles song). While I would like to think that these experiences are unique, the reality is that millions of people have probably
Why have they had and continue to have an influence on artists of various genres all over the world from the sixties until now? Why have they had an immense influence on both culture and popular ideology? The answer is their music. The Beatles achieved their success and status through their music, but the key to their music was the greatness that is the songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. In the beginning, The Beatles were primarily influenced by black music. According to Ian MacDonald, “the influence on them of black singers, instrumentalist, songwriters, and producers was, as they never failed to admit in their interviews, fundamental to their early career” (MacDonald, 8) In addition to black influences, notable rock and roll musicians like Chuck Berry, Little Richie, Isley Brothers, and the Elvis Presley also influenced The Beatles. According to MacDonald, “while their early lyrics were simplistic by the standards of Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson, Eddie Cochran, Leiber and Stoller […] The Beatles far outstripped their rivals in melodic and harmonic invention, baffling seasoned professionals with their surprising chord sequences” (MacDonald, 9). Despite Lennon and McCartney having no formal training, Lennon and McCartney created music in a way that was practically unheard of. According to
This moment marks the shift to the second part of The Beatles career. From this point on in their career The Beatles began to use the psychedelic influence and reflect it in their music, recording techniques and lyrics. A majority of The Beatles lyrics of the second period were written under the influence of drugs or describe what the Beatles experienced when they were high. According to MacDonald, LSD influenced songs such as: “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “A Day in the Life,” “Tomorrow Never Knows,” and “Rain”. However, one song in particular is most famous for its LSD influence: John Lennon’s “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. The song is characterized by crazy and confused lyrics: “Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain/
Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies”. Also, it has been rumored that if you take the capital letters from the title, you get LSD. By openly using drugs to influence their music, The Beatles changed popular culture. They simply took a counterculture, allowed it to change and evolve them as artist simultaneously reflecting this change in their popular music; thus turning a counterculture, into a popular