A Christmas Miracle

I’m not entirely sure what to say to start off. But isn’t that what everyone says when they start writing a blog? I’m not sure what to say blah blah blah. And they always want to describe themselves. But, they only say the good things about themselves: “I’m a sassy woman full of pep!” Or “I’m a guy that likes intelligent conversation and to drink a beer.” What a load of crap.

I’m sounding awfully cynical aren’t I? I apologize. I’m not really cynical. I’m actually a great guy that loves romantic walks on the beach. ;)

Hardy har har. Anyway, back to my first sentence: I’m not sure how to start off and I don’t want to describe myself. I guess I’ll start with my interests.

First and foremost is music. A lot of people say music is their lives, and I’m one of them. Most people, especially people in my age group, would say “those other people are full of crap; they don’t understand music like I do.” But it’s not for me to say whether people are telling the truth or not. I really revolve my life around music.

Brian Wilson, one of the founding members of the Beach Boys, and the man who produced most of their records and wrote most of their songs (he was really the creative man in the group, the others just sang), says that “music is the voice of God.” That statement rings so true with me.

I love all kinds of music. Variety is the spice of life. I’ve got just about every genre on my iPod. What really, really pisses me off is when people say “rap is crap.” I get so mad when I hear that. Music affects everyone differently; it’s not for you to say that one genre is better then the other. It’s all about personal taste. If you don’t like rap then don’t listen to it. But I don’t need to hear you talk bad about it.

The greatest band of all time is the Beatles. Pure and simple. Nothing in the world has influenced me like the Beatles have. I haven’t found a single song of theirs that I don’t like. Pretty good considering they did over 200 of them (I believe 194 are original). If you add up all the Beatles songs together I think you get roughly 12-13 hours of material. How strange to think that only 12-13 hours of music can change someone’s life so drastically, like it has mine and millions of others.

I first got into them about a year and a half ago. Around Christmas of ’06. I’d really wanted to listen to them because I’d heard so many good things about them. I may have downloaded a couple of their tunes, but I wasn’t blown away. I did like some of them though. I remember liking "Yellow Submarine," "Eleanor Rigby," and not liking "Yesterday" (which I’ve since come to love). I still had this idea of them as a boy band though because their most famous song is probably "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

So I mention that I want to listen to some of their songs to my neighbor, Nanci (who also influenced me to start writing this blog). She was (still is) dating this cat (the old ‘70s term for guy, not a feline) named Randy who was (still is) something of a musicologist and had all their albums and really loved them and so on. I should mention that I’d met this dude once or twice before and thought he was very cool.

Anyway, on Christmas Eve, Nanci has a little shin-dig at her casa and my mother and I attend. There are present openings and such, and it’s all great fun (except for an incident with my brother that I won’t go into now).

So a week or two after Christmas, Nanci says that she had found a present under the tree at her house that I was meant to open on Christmas Eve, but it had gotten misplaced. So she gives it to me, and I open it and it’s a burnt copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles that Randy had burnt for me. I thanked Nanci profusely and went straight back to my domicile and inserted the disk into my computer and copied to my iPod.

I don’t remember my initial opinion of the first time I listened to it, but I do remember the first time I realized the Beatles were the geniuses that everyone said they were. I was walking around—something I do quite often—and I was playing Sgt. Pepper and I remember listening to A Day in the Life (the closing track on Sgt. Pepper) over and over. I was just blown away by it. It was mind-blowing without the use of any sort of narcotics.

I asked Nanci if she’d ask Randy to burn me more Beatles CDs. He was more then happy to oblige, and I was absolutely hooked. On my iPod, I’ve got just about everything they put out during their 8 year run, except for a few songs that I haven’t acquired.

It’s amazing to think how much they produced in such a short span of time. 200 songs in 8 years. They had one album a year from 1966 onwards and several albums a year from 1963 to 1965. And they were touring like crazy from basically 1960 to 1966! And most of their stuff was original. Most bands nowadays (and even back then) release an album, tour for a year and a half to promote it, and then set about making their next record. Most bands have a new record every two or three years. The Beatles toured, wrote songs, recorded them, toured some more, made a movie, recorded more songs, and so on and so forth. And when they released singles, they weren’t from their albums. Almost all of their singles weren’t put onto an album.

But enough gushing about the Beatles. I’ve over indulged myself with this blog. If you’re still reading this then kudos to you! I would have stopped six paragraphs ago. I hope this blog is the start of millions more to come. We’ll see. Until then, adios.

What I’m listening to: Mad World – Gary Jules
I think I’ll put a song or album that I’m really digging at the end of every blog. Just in case you, the reader, are itching for a good song or album.