"Asked Bobby Dylan..."

OK, so I am a touch bored. So naturally I want to write something here. It's about a subject that no doubt everyone who will read even this far will know at least a little about. To be blunt, there's every chance you know more than I do, but to hell with it.

I've been listening to The Beatles a lot recently. Great, weren't they?

See, I'd obviously been somewhat accustommed to them throughout my youth. I mean, they're like the most well-regarded band in the history of music, probably, so you can't really avoid them. But I'd not really listened to them 'actively' until, maybe, three or four years ago, when my mum bought a CD copy of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, an album she'd had on LP 'back in the day'. I asked if I could borrow it, as because you likely know it's often cited as the best album that's ever been recorded.

I liked it, I'm not going to say I didn't. But I didn't really see what all the fuss was about. So afterwards, I borrowed my parents' old copy of 1, essentially their greatest hits (and, incidentally, the best selling album of the decade, even though it was released in 2001). Again, same thing. Liked, didn't really love.

That would've been about three years ago. And then, a couple of weeks ago, one of their songs came on my iTunes' shuffle function. Actually, several came up (nearly) in a row. Considering I have over 1000 songs, and my Beatles collection makes up a relatively tiny portion of that, I thought it was a bit odd. Like a sign. So I started listening to 1 again.

And, yes, I can now say that I frigging love The Beatles. It's almost like a switch just activated in my head or something. I just get it. It's an undescribable feeling. The talent they had, in terms of playing ability, songwriting and general feel is just astounding.

They're also really interesting to read about. Obviously, being the biggest band ever resulted in a lot of history. Reading about their songs on Wikipedia has yeilded lots of really interesting stuff. Like the fact that they didn't want to release Yesterday (except McCartney) because Lennon, Harrison and Starr didn't think it suited their style at the time. And now it's, according to Guiness World Records, the most covered song of all time, and according to a study by the BBC it's also the best song of the 20th Century.

And that The Ballad Of John And Yoko was recorded only by Lennon and McCartney because the other two were on holiday. (Paul was on drums, bass, piano and backing vox, while John played all three guitars, lead vocals and percussion.)

And that Ringo almost missed his cue for the recording of Hey Jude because he'd nipped to the loo. Paul didn't notice and started the recording, yet Ringo made it back literally with a second to spare. Also, keeping with the same song, you can hear John Lennon shout 'Oh fucking hell!' in the background at 2:56-2:59. Obviously he messed something up. At least I presume he did.

Most of their songs are just full of this kind of texture, which a lot of other bands don't have. I think that's why they're so well respected, other than the fact that they're completely awesome.