"Every Scratch, Every Click, Every Heartbeat": The reference is to Elvis Costello's song "45" which, to oversimplify matters, conflates music and life. All the same, "bass and treble heal every hurt" and though this series doesn't feature the dreaded soundtrack to my life, it might be said that each entry spotlights "a song to sing to do the measuring."
This time around, I stamp my Beatle Boots to the giddy pop thrill of "Please Please Me."
Yeah, yeah, yeah, right. My shock-of-the-new awareness of the Beatles, coinciding with worldwide mass consciousness, came at age nine in 1964 when my mother tossed our subscription copy of Life magazine to me, the one with a feature story of some British band — with “moptops”! — the Beatles, who were cockily emblazoned on the cover, arrogance personified. (In my ignorance then, and to current shame, I took colored markers to the cover and “embellished” the features of the foursome, unflatteringly.)
This was before I realized that their tonsorial cavalierism, cockiness, and arrogance was actually earned, by the sheer fab gearness of the music — soon to evolve into more ineffable innovativeness. (These days it’s not unusual for a band to take seven years between albums — the length of time the Beatles recorded on a consistent basis while going through staggering, pop-shattering changes.) The full acceptance of the Beatles was a gradual process for me, though. The first and biggest U.S. hits being played on the radio, radio over and over didn’t fully grab me. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was hand-clapping catchy but somehow lacking, and “She Loves You,” with its harmonies and full-steam contagiousness, was more impressive but oddly off-kilter in a way that I still can’t explain.
Then it happened. I didn’t see it coming… nobody sees it coming. Yes... I SUCCUMBED TO PEER GROUP PRESSURE!
Well, not exactly. Sure, more boys at school had apparently let the British Invasion take their barbers hostage and a few even wore Beatle Boots, and giggly girls were sneaking in fab four-full copies of Tiger Beat and such. And it was like taking sides when my friends were picking their favorite Beatles, while my best friend who could afford all the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean albums went through an Atlantic sea change in buying habits.
Article comments
1 - brad laidman
Best song pleading for a blow job ever written
2 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Ah yes, the "first real oral sex pop song" as mentioned in Tim Riley's "Tell Me Why: The Beatles: Album by Album, Song by Song, the Sixties and After." He cites Robert Christgau for an earlier observation.
3 - El Bicho
Nicely done as always
4 - Mat Brewster
Nicely done, indeed. Love, love this series Gordon.
5 - Clarence Yu
This is really great stuff! Nice and truly eye-opening.
6 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Thanks, all. It turned out twice as long as intended - more memories than I thought started flooding out.
By the way, I think any "oral sex" meanings in the song are unintentional. Lennon had no problems talking about what "Come Together" was about or admitting what the backing vocals in "Girl" were saying. As far as I know, the always honest Lennon never alluded to any other denotations or connotations in "Please Please Me."
7 - brad laidman
Last night I said these words to my girl
You know you never even try girl
Come on! Come on!
I do all the pleasing with you - it's so hard to reason with you - why do you make me BLUE (balled)
lol
and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was a coincedence too :)
8 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Ok Ok, I'm not saying you're wrong, Brad, but take into account that these were the very early days when "the Beatles just wanted to hold your hand" (while the Stones declared "Let's Spend the Night Together").
"Lucy" was a few years later, and I don't buy the Julian picture book story. At least John was upfront about "Norwegian Wood" a year earlier."