NyQuil
Big F$&*in Q
If we're evaluating bands through personal lenses, with the Beatles, it's probably because their songs were so pervasive while I was growing up that I don't attach a great deal of personal significance to the band.
They're almost like traditional folk songs, Christmas carols or children's songs, I can hum them, I know the lyrics, I hear them everywhere. They've been covered by every acoustic guitar playing guy on every street corner. Every karaoke night has a Beatles song. They played over the PA at supermarkets and in shopping malls.
I didn't really "discover" the Beatles, they sort of happened to me without any agency on my part. I don't find many of their songs to be overly complex or interesting from a musical perspective, aside from their very experimental stuff, which I dislike on the basis that I've always felt that it was inaccessible for its own sake. I found some of their lyrics to be childish and silly.
Of course, I'm not a complete idiot - I've read books about them, watched documentaries, seen the laundry list of bands that were heavily influenced by them and their impact on the evolution of music. I've been informed in considerable depth by Beatles fans why they are so good and so important. I've seen the youtube videos that go into considerable detail into the musical theory behind some of their hits.
So while I can appreciate them on an intellectual level, I do not on that visceral emotional level. In that capacity, I can certainly understand some of the perspectives in this thread.
I can recall going to see that free Eagles concert that Eugene Melnyk threw for season ticket holders back when he was still wealthy. I was no real fan of the Eagles, but over the course of the event, it shocked me to the core that I knew virtually all of their songs. I never set out to assimilate the Eagles, it happened via some form of musical osmosis.
However, in the face of the mountain of evidence that asserts the greatness of the Beatles, I don't feel the need to challenge their position based wholly on my own personal beliefs and experiences. I can tell you who my favourite five bands are, but I won't try to prepare an argument that they are the greatest of all-time.
Part of that is the fact that I believe it is impossible to separate the context of life experience from the music itself. Your mood, life circumstances, age, actions, all of these are factors that inevitably affect your perspective on a particular band, song or album. In that vein, what is "honest" about looking to a collective judgment is that, through amalgamation, personal experiences are ultimately subsumed or effectively cancel out, leaving a purer evaluation of what was created.
They're almost like traditional folk songs, Christmas carols or children's songs, I can hum them, I know the lyrics, I hear them everywhere. They've been covered by every acoustic guitar playing guy on every street corner. Every karaoke night has a Beatles song. They played over the PA at supermarkets and in shopping malls.
I didn't really "discover" the Beatles, they sort of happened to me without any agency on my part. I don't find many of their songs to be overly complex or interesting from a musical perspective, aside from their very experimental stuff, which I dislike on the basis that I've always felt that it was inaccessible for its own sake. I found some of their lyrics to be childish and silly.
Of course, I'm not a complete idiot - I've read books about them, watched documentaries, seen the laundry list of bands that were heavily influenced by them and their impact on the evolution of music. I've been informed in considerable depth by Beatles fans why they are so good and so important. I've seen the youtube videos that go into considerable detail into the musical theory behind some of their hits.
So while I can appreciate them on an intellectual level, I do not on that visceral emotional level. In that capacity, I can certainly understand some of the perspectives in this thread.
I can recall going to see that free Eagles concert that Eugene Melnyk threw for season ticket holders back when he was still wealthy. I was no real fan of the Eagles, but over the course of the event, it shocked me to the core that I knew virtually all of their songs. I never set out to assimilate the Eagles, it happened via some form of musical osmosis.
However, in the face of the mountain of evidence that asserts the greatness of the Beatles, I don't feel the need to challenge their position based wholly on my own personal beliefs and experiences. I can tell you who my favourite five bands are, but I won't try to prepare an argument that they are the greatest of all-time.
Part of that is the fact that I believe it is impossible to separate the context of life experience from the music itself. Your mood, life circumstances, age, actions, all of these are factors that inevitably affect your perspective on a particular band, song or album. In that vein, what is "honest" about looking to a collective judgment is that, through amalgamation, personal experiences are ultimately subsumed or effectively cancel out, leaving a purer evaluation of what was created.
Last edited: