"Why This Band Plays On" -- NYT Op-Ed

[mcscajun]

By MIKAL GILMORE
Published: August 24, 2005

Los Angeles

FORTY years ago this month, the Beatles began their second major tour of America with a performance at Shea Stadium in Queens. It's an event worth noting: more than 55,000 people attended that night, Aug. 15, 1965. It set a world record at that time for a pop concert, and it was the biggest public moment of the Beatles' remarkable career.

(snip)

Which raises a number of questions: Why do we continue to pore over the Beatles' high points? Why is it that those lifetime-ago moments still fascinate us? In part, of course, it's simply because there's such an undeniable epic arc in both the Beatles' story and in their music. Certainly, they possessed an extraordinarily intuitive skill for filling the needs of their times, and for realizing the potential of their own talents.

But there's another reason, just as important, that accounts for the lasting appeal of their history: The Beatles demonstrated that musical and social change could emanate from the shared spirit of the same body politic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/opinion/24gilmore.html

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The piece also included a poem that Allen Ginsburg wrote about his experience attending The Beatles' appearance at the Portland Coliseum a week after their Shea Stadium concert.

Portland Coliseum

The million children
the thousand worlds
bounce in their seats, bash
each other's sides, press
legs together nervous
Scream again & claphand
become one Animal
in the New World Auditorium
- hands waving myriad
snakes of thought
screetch beyond hearing
while a line of police with
folded arms stands
Sentry to contain the red
sweatered ecstasy
that rises upward to the
wired roof.

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

1. This is a wonderful opinion piece.

I think you should post it in General Discussion, if it is not there already. And put "The Beatles" somewhere in the title. Perhaps this from your post: The Beatles demonstrated that musical and social change could emanate from the shared spirit of the same body politic.

I only recognized your title because I read the op-ed this morning in the paper.

The author makes so many good points. Beyond that, it was so nostalgic for me because I saw the Beatles in Detroit on September 6, 1964 at Olympia Stadium.

The author reminds us, who grew up in the 60's, how really lucky we were to experience life's events then. The Civil Rights movement, the birth of Rock and Roll, the changing political climate, the growing anti-war movement. It even mentions the best anti-war song (imho), "For What It's Worth", by Buffalo Springfield.

Thanks for posting.

[hyphenate]

2. I really am getting older

I actually understand Allen Ginsberg's poem. :)

I had to do a report on Ginsberg while still in high school many years ago. With this revelation, I now realize you really need to have lived your life before the poetry of such a one as Ginsberg resonates. I've picked up, through the years, more respect for all of the writers of that generation, from Ginsberg to Kerouac to Richard Brautigan, as I've experienced life from a common viewpoint. I don't think that a child of 18 has the maturity to understand the vision the words reflect, so it's a waste. Too bad.

Sorry to temporarily hijack the thread. Carry on!

[mcscajun]

3. Not a hijack at all...

...if I hadn't been looking for commentary on Ginsburg's poem, I'd have skipped it. It's in the article, but I thought it deserved more exposure.

:)