Dave Connor wrote:You know Mr Frodo, I was listening to She Loves You the other day and realized it's a great as anything they ever did. People say they grew and matured (which they did of course) but the genius and radical departure from what had gone before was all there in those early hits.
I agree, Dave. The raw talent-- the fortitude to hold together in a live performance (despite questionable audio to do so)-- the lack of electronic gimmicks. It never ceases to amaze me.
Yes-- "She Loves You" was a real turning point not only for the Beatles, but for song writing in general, for its "third party" voice-- "
SHE loves
YOU" as opposed to "and
I love
HER". That song matched or perhaps beat "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in its effectiveness. What a follow-up!!
"She Loves You" did SO much for all aspects of popular music-- not just for song-writing! It iconized their persona in the form of "yeah, yeah, yeah" which pretty much became cliché where Beatle identity and marketing was concerned at the time. It is also such a well constructed song that tells an immersive story in three verses.
Of course, what came afterwards was ground-breaking. I still think of "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" as the dramatic sequel to "She Loves You"-- still third person in lyrical concept. Another favorite along these lines is "And Your Bird Can Sing", which really tells more of the same story, considering "bird" is a 60's British term for a woman.
It may be hard for those who did not grow up listening to their music to appreciate their depth of originality. It takes a certain understanding of what else was going on (or not going on) at the time, and then to understand their own professed influences, be they from Motown, British skiffle, country, vaudeville,
advant garde, or what-have-you.
For me, their body of work remains impressive and loaded with important musical lessons to be learned. The word "timeless" comes to mind.
With a body of work like that, "you know you should be glad".
