LADIES AND GENTLEMEN — THE BEATLES

FIVE WORDS I WILL REMEMBER ALL MY LIFE

I have been in love with The Beatles since I saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. I watched on the only television set we owned. It was an Admiral 13-inch screen black and white portable.

I was 11 years old and sitting cross-legged on the floor, inches away from the television. I heard my father say, “Move back. You are going to ruin your eyes.”

I was having none of that. I was enthralled by the four handsome guys, especially Paul McCartney. My love. I was convinced I was going to marry him.

Sadly, I never married Paul. He had a few marriages, but none to me. But I don’t want to write about my crush on Paul; I want to write about the profound words created for so many love songs from the Fab Four. Specifically John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the songwriting geniuses of The Beatles.

There are so many favorites of mine. I’ll just talk about a few of them.

I Will by Lennon and McCartney

All the lyrics to this song are so lovely. But my favorite is at the end of the song.

My young adolescent self wishing and hoping, yes Paul, I will. I will marry you!

These words are a tapestry woven with pure passion and emotion. They are simple, lovely, and honest. When put to music, it brings such melodic happiness to my heart.

Michelle — Lennon and McCartney

French words in any song make pure magic. I don’t speak French, but I love the sound of it. It is so romantic. It is an exotic love song for a very lucky French woman named Michelle. When I first heard it, I imagined Paul singing it to me. I wanted to change my name to Michelle.

Blackbird by Lennon and McCartney

These words move my soul much more than they ever did when I was younger. I now understand what Paul was trying to convey.

This was not a love song, but it is one of my favorites. What thrills me is the addition of birds chirping throughout the arrangement. An interesting note I discovered in my research is that one of the sound engineers who worked at Abby Road recorded an actual blackbird singing in his backyard and used it for this track.

I did not realize at the time Paul was singing about strife in the American South during the 1960s. It is a song of encouragement, faith, and hope. Every single cover makes me love the song more and more.

I could continue with some of my favorite lyrics John and Paul wrote. Each song is better than the next. When the Beatles evolved to their psychedelic stage, some became wonderfully weird.

Yellow Submarine

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

A Day in the Life

I love them all. Each time I hear a Beatles song, I am transported back to my living room in 1964, watching Ed — and I am 11 years old again.