#something about the beatles podcast

[pie-of-flames]

That sad Get Back hug wasn't so sad

Remember this? This sad, moving moment from Get Back, episode 1, that made me all weepy about the break-up. I found out from a podcast, Something about the Beatles, that this is pure fakery on the part of the Beatles. Maybe everyone knows this, I don't know, but it was mind blowing to me. The podcast plays the actual dialogue from the Nagra Tapes. They were mumbling nonsense! No sad discussion about how to get George to come back after he "quit" that day. So Peter Jackson's editing here is completely misleading.

Wild.

I clipped the part of the podcast where they discuss this and play the Nagra tape original. It's pretty funny, what the three Beatles are saying, and absolutely consistent with their personalities. Jackson was making his own fan fic here. The entire podcast episode is worth listening to. It's a deep dive into Get Back as a secondary source–Jackson's interpretation, given his mission to make a work of entertainment that Apple would approve, rather than Truth. I found it fascinating.

"Stick it up your ass!" John Lennon

[get-back-homeward]

these tags from @bugband 🎯

“It seems really strange when you look at it that March of 1969 within a fortnight of each other [John and Paul] each take up, marry a woman that is largely, whether they admit it or not, taking the place that they each had for each other in their lives. Their everything, their collaborator, their life partner. It is so unbelievable. It’s like what is going on here that they are so conspicuously filling the other’s previous space in their life with this new woman partner?…..It’s strange that there’s no other precedent for something like this in rock…..It’s a very strange thing going on there in plain sight that I don’t think enough people really examine what the hell was going on with those two. That this is what they did. They’re sort of being reactive to each other, and you know, beginning in ’68 when John started bringing Yoko into the recording studio and occupying a space in his working environment and in his life that had previously been occupied by Paul…..You look at pictures John and Yoko took together where Yoko is posing exactly the same way Paul did in pictures taken previously. What is going on there? It is just a very strange thing that hasn’t gotten nearly, I think, the intelligent examination that it should. Ultimately, though, I don’t think they ever stopped loving each other…..The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference. And [John and Paul] were never, ever indifferent toward each other.”

— Something About The Beatles Podcast (Episode 132: John and Paul - Truth and Beauty)

[bonesandthebees]

Help I'm so out of the loop, what did Dream do this time? Who was the Mangoball person? How is Connor related to any of this??

ok. ok. there is so much to explain so I'll start with the easy stuff.

after so many years, mangoball revealed themself on a post by icarus aka apollos-boyfriend. they are now a beatles fan.

god bless

okay now. sigh. dream.

you're not going to believe me but this is a condensed version.

but recently a clip surfaced from the shut up I'm talking podcast of tommy talking about how much he disliked meeting mizkif. mizkif wasn't thrilled about this. xqc called tommy cringe for it, tommy made a post making fun of xqc calling him cringe for wearing a trump shirt during the stream he did where he met trump, xqc shot back by tweeting one of tommy's standup clips and making fun of him for having an audience of mostly teenage girls. then, despite not being mentioned or involved in the conversation in any way, dream qrted xqc's tweet making fun of tommy with a meme outright calling all tommyinnit fans the r slur.

dream ended up deleting the tweet but only after a few hours or something so everyone had already seen it. he tried to defend himself on twitter, claiming that because he's autistic he's allowed to use it. this all happened very late at night in the US so the british streamers were asleep. dream also made a reddit post trying to defend himself, insulting tommy and co. and saying tommy had no backbone. next day, tubbo had a stream outright talking about how much he dislikes dream and defending tommy, while also acknowledging his own bias towards his friends.

that night, once again when the rest of the british ccs had gone to sleep, dream did a very late night stream that was basically him crashing out for 3 straight hours. he went over very cherry-picked parts of tubbo's VOD, 'explaining' himself and talking about how tommy was always such a terrible cruel friend to him (when tommy was, like, 17 mind you. he covered so many things I literally cannot remember them all but he shared private dms he's had with multiple ccs and also outright said someone shared skephalo porn art in the dsmp discord when tommy and tubbo were 16 but it was fine because the teens 'asked to be treated like adults' (??????????)

today tubbo streamed again, watching dream's stream and responding and acknowledging his own slip ups/mistakes he made while also calling dream out for a lot of the bs he said. he was also supposed to have a call on stream with dream to talk it out, but then during tubbo's stream tommy uploaded an absolutely scathing 5 minute video talking about how terrible dream has been over the years, and dream cancelled the scheduled call he had with tubbo. like if you want to watch anything from this entire mess, watch tommy's video. if you want a more full view of things, watch tubbo's VOD from today.

then quackity streamed today and everyone expected him to say something because dream also brought him up for some reason?? during his stream??? and shared private dms they had?????? but quackity is still winning the idgaf war. he just promoed some new stuff he's doing and then went "there was something else I was going to talk about but I forgot what it was. oh well, later guys!"

look this is. again. kind of condensed. the last two days have felt like ten years.

meanwhile connor has been having gold tier commentary on the whole mess on twitter, unsurprisingly.

[oshikiri-toru]

Thinking about the 141's music taste

I know deep in my soul that Soap is into classic dad rock, classic metal (nothing too heavy), and some hype hip hop (only the songs you'd hear on a school bus full of high schoolers going to an away game type shit) and has no clue about anything else

Gaz strikes me as a 90s/00s R&B lover first and foremost. He'll dabble in anything on the Hot 100, too, and loves a good female pop star (think Gaga, Beyonce, Charlie XCX). I also think he'd be into EDM, but really only listens to it at club's/raves

Price is one of those freaks that don't really listen to music. He's big on sports radio, podcasts, and silence. When he does listen to music, though, it's probably the Beatles or some other classic British band because that's what his dad listened to

Ghost is more complicated because I want to go obvious and say anything alternative (goth, punk, emo), but I also think it'd be funny as hell for him to get the aux and it's just pure pop (think Britney Spears, Kesha, Katy Perry). I like to think he listens to everything and just picks whatever is funniest at the moment. Someone wants hype gym music? Bam. Classical. Looking for something soft and moody? Fuck you. He's putting on speedcore.

Laswell likes soft background noise. White noises (brown, green, etc), rain recordings with some piano, maybe some smooth jazz or lo-fi if she's feeling crazy. Sometimes audiobooks. When she's drunk though, she'll bring out the 90s hip hop and go absolutely nuts, rapping the entirety of wu-tang clans discography without a sweat.

They all absolutely hate each other's music taste and will fight to the death over the aux cord. It caused enough fights that they are all required to wear headphones unless they are driving.

[johns-prince]

“If you look at… Just studying the photographs of John and Paul taken in ‘65, including the David Bailey ones… Oh my God, they’re almost like lovers.”

—Robert Rodriguez, Something About the Beatles Podcast (episode 43)

[tavolgisvist]

Cage / Paul and John in 1978

(after this)

Paul and the Eastmans had more business to discuss during that June visit [16-19 June 1978], namely, the still unresolved matter of dividing up the millions of dollars in record royalties that had accumulated in Apple’s coffers since March 1971. Dissolution papers, signed by the four Beatles in December 1974, severed their business ties, but the Beatles recording royalties continued to flow into Apple, with each Beatle receiving 5 percent, while 80 percent went into Apple’s bank account. According to Paul, the main sticking point in reaching a financial settlement was John’s insistence that the others indemnify him against both US and UK tax claims. Until now, the Eastmans had resisted any such agreement, but keen to break the deadlock, Paul sought their blessing to accept Lennon’s terms; after all, what good was a divorce without a settlement?

(The McCartney Legacy: Volume 2: 1974-1980 by Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair, 2024)

I spoke to the Eastmans. I said, “If we all think he’s not going to have a tax consequence, let’s give [the indemnity] to him.”’Cause, you know, if all sides are that smart, let’s all offer it. Break the deadlock. I went to New York, feeling like the bringer of good news. I rang him up. “Hello, John, how are you? Hello, how’s the kids? Oh, great. What’s all this about publishing? Yeah, great”—laugh laugh laugh—“What about Apple?” Tense. You know, that was the unfortunate thing in the last ten years. The moment you mention the word Apple, all of us go, eeeeep! Dread and horror and shock goes through all our systems. I said, “Look, as I understand it, you need this indemnity.” John said, “Fucking indemnity. Fucking this, fucking that. You don’t need to give me fucking indemnity, you fucking—” I think we ended up just sort of swearing at each other. I said, “Fuck you, ya big cunt,” ’cause I just couldn’t handle it. I couldn’t be sweet and reasonable anymore. I was shaking for an hour after that. Of course, the funniest thing was, I then meant to ring John Eastman and say to him, “No, no, it’s not gonna work, this whole thing. I tried to do the indemnity, it’s not gonna work.” Of course, I got the phone numbers wrong. I rang John Lennon back instead. [When the phone was answered, I said,] “Hello, John? Yeah, listen, I just—oh—yeah well…” But it was Yoko this time, and then I said, “Look, I didn’t mean for it to get like that—but, shit, you know, it seems to have got…” The funny thing was, they knew I was trying to ring John Eastman immediately after, so that would have reinforced their little feelings about me double-dealing. I’ve hardly talked to him since.

(Paul McCartney, 1980, in All You Need Is Love by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines, 2024)

Paul’s rage turned to embarrassment. Desperate to set the record straight and not leave New York under a storm cloud, Paul took a taxi ride to the Dakota building. The Lennons’ interior gardener, Mike Meideros, was watering plants when Paul pulled up outside. “It was maybe like five o’clock in the evening,” Meideros recalled, “and the concierge called up. I don’t know the exact conversation because I didn’t hear it, I just heard Yoko saying, ‘No, he can’t come up now.’ And I thought that was pretty cold.”

(Robert Rodriguez, Audio interview with Mike “Tree” Meideros for Something About the Beatles podcast, first broadcast March 10, 2024 - in The McCartney Legacy: Volume 2: 1974-1980 by Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair, 2024)

The next song Paul brought in was a peculiar but musically fascinating medley. The first part, which he had demoed during the summer [June-July 1978], was a lively track built over an energetically bouncing bass line, alternatively called ‘Emotional Moments’ (after the opening lines, “Emotional moments / You left in a rage”) and ‘Cage’ (after the refrain, which immediately follows, “And if you could love me now / I wouldn’t be in a cage”). In the demos, the bass figure, shadowed by a synthesizer, continued in various permutations through the full track, and included a brisk, ear-catching chordal interlude dominated by the synthesizer. Now Paul added a second verse, which more or less explained the “cage” reference: “Provisional license* / I’m under arrest / But if you could get me out / I’d like to take another test.” The chordal interlude was moved to the end of the song, where it precedes a final verse. In the medley, Paul has interposed an entirely different song between the opening and closing verses of ‘Emotional Moments.’ Called ‘He Didn’t Mean It,’ this second song is slower and more melodic. In its lyrics, Paul revives a trick the Beatles had used in ‘She Loves You’…

(The McCartney Legacy: Volume 2: 1974-1980 by Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair, 2024)

Emotional moments, you left in a rage But if you could love me now, I wouldn't be in a cage Provisional license, I'm under arrest But if you could get me out, I'd like to take another test I've been sent to tell you That the man you were with last night Is feeling sorry, sorry But he told me to tell you That he hardly ever lies But he lied to you last night He didn't mean it, no Said he didn't mean it, no I've been sent to tell you That the man you were with last night Is feeling lonely only for you He told me to tell you That he hardly ever cries But he cried for you last night, ooh He didn't mean it, no Said he didn't mean it, no

(Cage/Emotional moment)

[ihearthes]

Abbey Road Studios:

A Harry Styles Meet Cute

Author: @ihearthes

Pairing: Harry x Original Unnamed Female Character

Rating: Fluffy Meet Cute

Word Count: 3439

“You’re shitting me?” I gaped at my manager. “THE Abbey Road Studios? How did you…? When am I…? What the actual fuck?” 

Her grin across the desk was wider than a grand piano. “When I talked to the publishers about the audiobook, I assured them that being in the quintessential studio where the Beatles recorded The End would lead to a more inspired audiobook recording of your book The End.” 

Leaping out of my chair, I rushed around her desk and hugged her tighter than a guitar string nearing its breaking point. Her laughter was rich, the hearty kind that could be served with both a spoon and a fork. Maybe even a knife thrown in for good measure. 

“I’ll make you proud,” I vowed before releasing her and returning to the other side of the sparse wooden desk with its ornate carvings on each of the four legs.

“You already have,” she grinned. “After all, you have the most popular music podcast in the world.” Her statement was a major overstatement. Although my 2 year old podcast Time Machine Tunes was growing, it was barely in the top 100 music podcasts. Maggie was convinced the book would drive more listeners my way. “This book is going to be the icing on the cake of your popularity. You’re going places, kid.” 

While I could have managed without the ‘kid’ tacked onto every sentence the 72-year-old American dynamo spoke about me, I was keenly aware that I still had a long way to go in establishing my career as a historical music writer. Without Maggie fighting on my behalf, I would still be shopping my manuscript to publishers. Meticulously researched despite the subjects not honouring me with an interview, my book was garnering buzz from the musical world before the final manuscript was even sent to the publisher. 

“If you’ve heard the author’s podcast, you’ll understand her fascination with the greatest band of all time. You’ve heard the stories of how they ended, but this book delves more deeply into the stories surrounding their breakup,” read the promotional blurb written by Cameron Crowe. 

Maggie never would tell me how she managed to convince the great Cameron Crowe to write a blurb for my book, but I suspect it had something to do with the past she never mentions, likely involving a stint as a groupie in the late sixties. 

Days later, the popular zebra crossing was laid out before me with a steady stream of fans lined up to record their personal rendition of the most famous band photograph ever taken. I took a deep breath. In one tote bag, I carried my favourite teas, biscuits, and a bag of fresh fruit. The other tote bag held a copy of my bound manuscript with notes written in the margins of how I want to sound when I read certain parts of the text aloud. Places to pause were marked in pink highlighter. Sentences to be spoken with more emphasis were underlined. The usual. 

This is how I prepare for my podcast, so I shouldn't have felt as strange as I did. At the bottom steps of the studio, I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and whispering to myself, “Just act normal.” 

My fingers pressed on the wooden door, and it surprisingly opened at my touch. Inside was a reception desk with a stony-faced twenty-something female sitting behind it, tapping lightly on the keyboard keys, and a security guard wearing a uniform that must have weighed double the young man wearing it. 

“No tours. The shop is next door, Miss,” the receptionist politely used her pen to point the way. 

Gulping air, I nodded, then spoke in a rush. “I’m here to record. I mean, I have an appointment. I mean I’ve – my manager, really – has reserved a studio for me.” 

So much for acting normal. 

“Which studio?” 

“The Front Room?” I ventured. 

She tapped her pen on the book in front of her before shrewdly surveying me from head to toe. “Oh yes. Hand over your ID please so we can verify your identity.” 

I fumbled my way through my pocketbook, seeking the one item that always seemed to fall to the bottom, no matter how large or small my bag might be. Just as I felt the leather of the small wallet touch my fingers, it slipped away again until I finally had to set the bag on her desk to more effectively dig through it. In triumph, I finally withdrew the offending item, raising it above my head. 

The security guard simply stared at me until I freed my licence from its card slot, handing it over with a flourish. With a brusque nod, he took it from me with two fingers, exiting the room to another office. 

“Should I – follow him?” I inquired, my voice a combination of shaky and firm. 

“No.” Her reply was curt. 

Minutes later, he emerged, handing me back my licence before directing me to another door. “That’s the Front Room. The team is waiting for you.” 

My insides quivered like a bowl of elderflower jelly as I took the steps necessary to walk to the identified door. 

“Ta!” I waved to the front office team before opening the studio door and stepping inside. Closing the door behind me, I slumped against it, eyes closed, and whispered, “You daft git.” Because of course I would see them again. Soon probably. And every day for the week while I would be recording. 

“Excuse me?” The voice caused me to stand up straight. 

“Oh, I didn’t mean you.” My eyes took in the slight man standing before me in blue jeans and a cosy oversized jumper. His curls were ringlets that reached his shoulders, and his beard was neat and trim. 

“Who did you mean?” 

Wincing, I frowned, my face cycling through about five different expressions before settling on a smile that, I hoped, lit up my whole face. “Me. I meant me. I’m —” Freezing, I held out my hand to this man, briefly forgetting my name. 

“I know who you are. I’m Sean, your engineer.” 

“Oh! It’s so nice to meet you. Thank you for helping me.” 

Sheepishly, he shuffled his feet. “Don’t thank me too profusely. This is my first time doing this on my own.” 

“Congratulations!” My voice squeaked out a little too loudly. “This is my first time recording in a real studio. My podcast is normally recorded in a tiny room at home that I’ve converted into a studio.” 

“I’ve heard your podcast,” Sean reveals. “My partner and I never miss an episode.” 

Grasping my hands together, I hold them over my heart. “Really? Thank you so much. It’s my baby.” 

“One of these days you’re going to need a producer, you know. You can’t keep doing it all on your own. Not if you want to get bigger. And you’ll need a recordist. And an engineer too.” 

“Oh.” My voice was tiny. His words felt like a scolding and a dismissal of my teensy podcast and my dream to grow it into something larger. 

“No, no. I didn’t mean anything by it.” He was quick to correct my assumptions. “You’ll continue to expand your audience, and more people will want to be part of your team. It’s the natural evolution of recording. Unless you’re not any good – which I’ve already said you are.” 

Choosing to take him at his encouraging word, I set my totes on the sofa in the control room. “Sean, I’m confident we’re going to get along just fine this week.” 

“I’m sorry that you’ve just got me. It’s usually a bigger team here for the Front Room, but…” His voice trailed off, and I focused on his face. 

“But?” 

“It’s nothing.” He mindlessly picked some lint off of the immaculate sound board. “Some of the rest of the team thought it was sacrilegious for you to come into Abbey Road Studios to share your book about how THEY ended.” 

The emphasis on the pronoun made it clear who he meant. “Ah, I see. They refused to work with me even though they had no idea what the book actually says or how much research I did?”

His shoulders raised and lowered, and his eyes roamed the floor. “Like I said, I’m sorry.” 

The reluctance of the rest of the team set like a stone in my stomach, but I shook off the negativity. Oh well. Fuck them. 

“Their loss,” I grinned. 

He smiled back at me. “Agreed. Let’s do this.” Sean gestured around the space, pointing out everything I needed to know, and I unpacked my totes in preparation for the day. “Nice selection of teas,” he commented. 

“My throat gets dry sometimes.” 

As if he needed my explanation. He had worked with loads of people who probably needed tea to lubricate their throats, so it couldn’t be unusual. Why I felt like I needed to justify every bit of my practice was beyond me. I was a professional after all. 

A professional who had no idea what she was doing in a fancy studio like this. 

Apparently I was feeling a twinge of imposter syndrome. 

“Shall I heat some water now?” Sean asked as I unpacked the manuscript with all of its sticky notes resembling the jagged cliffs of Dover. It was really sweet of him to offer, so I agreed. The control room wasn’t very big; other than the sofa, it housed a couple of plants and, of course, the prominent sound board. Sean flicked the switch on the electric kettle to the left of his console and turned back to where I was standing, my manuscript tucked to my chest as though it contained a pirate’s treasure. 

“Let’s get you into the booth,” he said, leading me through the only other door in the small studio. “We mostly do music here, as I’m sure you know. But I think I’ve got things set up well for an audiobook. I brought in this small desk and a chair. If you don’t like the chair, I can find another one. Oh, and I found this.” He directed my attention to a book stand. Sheepishly, he smiled. “I was worried a music stand would be too flimsy.” 

His simple preparations were touching, and my gratitude was boundless. 

My arse settled into the chair, and I sighed at how luxurious it felt on my bum. “Perfect!” I proclaimed, placing the first chapter of the manuscript on the book holder. 

“Great! Let’s try some different microphones and test your voice.” 

An hour plus a few minutes later, we had finalised the microphone choice as well as the calibration of the sound board controls with my voice. My cup of tea was to my right and my coloured pencils were to my left so I could easily grab them to indicate changes to my delivery. 

To record, Sean closed the door between the control room and the booth, but I could see him through the full sized soundproof glass inset on the door between us. During the first couple of hours, he would encouragingly nod to me at times. Or he would grimace, and I would know I had to read a section differently. Or louder. Or softer. Or with more expression. 

“Uh, this first chapter will probably take a long time to record,” Sean shuffled his feet as we finished our morning tea. “Don’t panic. Once we get into a groove, the rest of the book will go much faster. It’s just that we have to, you know…” 

“I understand,” I commented, nodding graciously. “It’s fine. As long as we get finished with the book by the end of the week…” 

“Oh, that won’t be hard.” He flapped his hand at me. “We might even have time on the last day to record a few of your upcoming podcasts.” 

“Really?” I was intrigued at the thought.

“But only if we don’t get too distracted.” 

Ha! What could possibly distract me from my work? 

I found out the answer to that question that very afternoon. 

Sean and I were finally recording chapter two, our bellies full of the lunch he’d convinced a studio runner to take away from a nearby Indian restaurant. The remnants, half-full boxes of rice and curry with naan bread, covered the top of the coffee table by the sofa. 

We had switched out the comfy chair for a wooden stool so that I could sit upright, practise my best posture and, most importantly, not fall asleep after the heavy meal. Sean played the roles of engineer, recordist, and director with joy and a skill that I came to both appreciate and disparage as the early afternoon flew by. 

 When I looked up from the script in front of me as we were in the middle of chapter three, I was surprised to find Sean turned towards the main studio door, his lips moving as though he were talking to someone. 

“Hey!” My voice expressed my gentle offence in his headphones. “I thought we were a team, but you’re not even listening!” 

He shook his head, removing his headphones and punching the button for his microphone. 

“Take five. There are a couple of fans of yours out here who want to meet you. I think you might recognize one of them.” 

Ugh. Fine. 

Standing from the stool, I stretched my arms over my head, my vintage Beatles t-shirt rising and revealing my belly button. Through the large window between the booth and control room, I watched as Sean stood, his head bobbing up and down and a grin on his face. 

When I could stall no more, I opened the door, leaning against the door jamb as I examined the two men standing by the studio door.

“Hi,” said one. 

My jaw dropped as the other man’s face came into focus. Holy shit. How was he here? Had Sean joked about him being a fan? He must have been because there was no way… 

“Jeff Azoff,” I breathed, attempting to speak coherently. “You’re Jeff Fucking Azoff.”

“Yes” was his smooth answer. “And I’m sure you know who this is…” He gestured to the man with him, and I shifted my gaze briefly to him. While extremely handsome, his face didn’t ring any bells, but I decided I’d better be polite and go along with the implication that I should know him by sight. 

“Nice to meet you,” I muttered, quickly turning back to THE Jeff Azoff. “How did you…? I mean, holy shit. The number of times your father’s name has appeared in my research is staggering. Did you grow up surrounded by all of those musicians? REO Speedwagon? Dan Fogelberg? The fucking Eagles?” 

“Yes,” he nodded. 

Man of few words. 

“What was it like? Oh wow. What I would give to pick your brain. Did I hear Sean correctly? You’re a fan? You listen to my pod?” 

Once more, he bobbed his head in answer to my multiple questions. And then he tried to hoist me off on his friend again. 

“Harry has worked with some other great artists,” Jeff began, nodding towards his companion. 

Dismissively, I waved my hand in the direction of the handsome man who simply grinned, an extraordinary dimple appearing. 

“YOU know my podcast?” I demanded of Mr. Azoff.

“Yes.” 

Holy shit. Confident I would need to pry any future responses out of him, I placed my hands on my hips. 

“You’ve heard my series about the Eagles then?” 

“Indeed.” 

“And? What did you think? Are you going to tell me everything I got wrong?” 

“No, but I really think you might want to talk to Harry about…” 

I interrupted. Whoever this Harry was, I was much more curious about this man’s take on my podcast. “Has your father heard my podcast?” My voice may have squeaked a little when I asked the question. 

A nod was the only reply I got before he turned back to the bloke with him. 

“Is this weird for you?” 

“No.” The handsome man appeared to be amused as his lips twitched to the side, and his eye crinkles magically appeared. “Unique, but not weird.” 

Narrowing my focus on the handsome one, I squinted. “You’re a musician recording here?” 

“As a matter of fact, I am,” he grinned. “I’m Harry.” When my face still showed no signs of recognition, he added in a smooth voice with a northern accent, “You might have heard of me. My music has won a few awards. Harry Styles.” 

The blood drained from my face. I had been freaking out over Jeff Azoff when the muse to Stevie Nicks was standing in front of me? It was Harry who grasped my elbow when I started to fall over from a lack of oxygen, gently guiding me to the sofa. 

“Maybe some water?” he asked Sean who rushed into the booth to grab my water bottle, handing it to Harry quickly. 

“Sip it slowly,” the Grammy winner said, and I ignored his instructions, nearly choking as I sucked water into my lungs. “Hey, hey. Easy there.” Glancing at Azoff, Harry laughed, “This feels more normal.” 

“You –” I choked, coughing between words. “You – know – Stevie – Fucking – Nicks.” 

Curiosity furrowed his brow. “That’s why you nearly passed out? Because I know Stevie?” 

“You not only know her.” My voice was filled with incredulity and awe. “You’re her muse. You’ve performed with her – and with Fleetwood Mac. And you were the one who inducted her. Holy fuck. You must have done something right in life.” Stopping, I swallowed. “Holy fuck. I must have done something right in my life.” 

He had settled on the sofa next to me, his face a mass of confusion. His head was tilted, and his lips were pursed as he scratched at his head. 

But I didn’t have time to wait for him to catch up. “You can introduce me! Fleetwood Mac is my next podcast series, and if this book does well, I might write a full book about them. I’ve been engaged in a deep dive of reading about their time as a band. I’ve read everything I can find – official or not. In fact, there is a stack of books on my nightstand about Stevie and Mick and the rest. You have to introduce me. It would mean the world to me.” 

My pleading must have broken through his confusion, and he cleared his throat. “You want me to vouch for you to Stevie? I don't really know anything about you.” 

“But you listen to my podcast, right?” My head swivelled between Harry and Jeff. “Oh! You could read my book. See what my style is. I swear I would do right by Stevie. I’m so disappointed that I didn’t get to meet Christine before she… Anyway, I’ll do anything for an introduction. What do you need from me?” 

“Anything?” Harry humoured me. 

“Yes.” Swallowing, I nodded eagerly. 

“You’re saying I could read your book? The one that’s not yet published? The one you’re recording now?” 

My head bobbed like a cormorant. 

“The one that’s about The End? That book?” 

I hadn’t stopped my silly affirming as my head continued to move in the same up and down pattern. 

“And maybe Jeff could read it too? And my friend Paul?” 

My head froze, mid-bob. “Paul? Sir Paul? Sir Paul Fucking McCartney?” 

Harry laughed, a delightful tinkling sound, his head rearing back with his joy. “Does everyone in your world have the same middle name?” 

“Huh?” 

“Fucking. Jeff Fucking Azoff. Harry Fucking Styles. Stevie Fucking Nicks. Sir Paul Fucking McCartney.” 

Slapping my hand over my eyes and forehead, I groaned. “Please don’t tease me or joke with me. I’ve been trying to get Sir Paul to talk to me and read the manuscript since I started writing it. Not a single response to my queries.” 

“Hmmm…” Harry murmured, tilting his head to one side. “So if you would do anything to meet Stevie, what would you be willing to do to meet Paul?” 

“Name your price.” I was hoping he wouldn’t ask for much. All I had was the flat I shared with a friend from uni and a wardrobe of vintage clothing I’d carefully culled from a variety of charity shops.

“I get to be there when you meet them.” My head whipped up so that our eyes connected. “Plus five dinner dates with me.” 

My eyes narrowed, “In addition to any meals we share with Stevie or Paul?” 

Nervously, he licked his lips and glanced at Azoff who shrugged, seemingly disinterested. 

“Yes.” 

Author's Note: This really is just an introduction to these characters as part of a series on Meet Cutes. Who hasn't dreamed of meeting Harry Styles somewhere? Live vicariously through these women who randomly run into Harry Styles as part of their normal lives. How might one chance meeting change their lives forever?

[bambi-kinos]

Beatles Reading List (Introductory)

Hi guys. So I saw a post floating around asking about "where to start" with the Beatles and how to find out more about them. Moeexyz's recommendation on it was to read fanfiction and this alarmed me a bit. Fanfiction just isn't a good source to get information about the band for one simple reason: fanfic authors change stuff for dramatic purposes all the time. It's just not a great way to get more information about them because fanfiction by necessity shifts things around for the sake of storytelling.

That Beatles iceberg is nice but the only way you're going to get a good picture of the Beatles is by doing a lot of reading of published sources. That's right. You're in for a lot of homework.

In an effort to combat misinformation, I asked the McLennon discord server to help me put together a rough list of introductory level books for Beatle fans that want to learn more about the band. These books are either a) read by me or b) read by someone I trust and I have included her quotes about the books she liked. I'll have color commentary talking about what they are and why they should be read. I do not consider this post finished! My server is constantly reading and discussing (we're looking at podcasts right now because they're the ones doing interviews with Liverpool citizens who were peers of the Beatles!) and they're being very gracious by contributing to this list. That means that this post may be updated in the future as I read more! If you want to keep up with updates then give my blog a follow, I'll post every time I update this list.

Some of these books are available on Archive.org but others can be gotten through your local library or through piracy. If you buy something, buy it used. Never pay more than $20 for a Beatle book.

The Whole Story

Anthology This is the documentary made by the band after John Lennon's death in 1980. It is both a documentary as well as a book (essentially a script of the documentary) which makes it very accessible. This is the version of the story that the band wanted to put out and includes interviews with Paul, George, and Ringo. They cover their beginning to their end. Anthology can be found on archive.org if you want to read it: https://archive.org/details/beatlesanthology0000unse_y2k8 The episodes are also available on Archive.org. If you search for "Beatles Anthology" and select "movies" option to search for videos then you will find it there. It's worth the watch and is all around the best introduction to the Beatles.

The Beatles - Hunter Davies This is the only sanctioned biography of the band. It's written in older language since it is contemporary to the 1960s but it's still very readable and a good intro. It is part of the media image that the band wanted to present at the time so you should make sure to think about what you are reading, who is saying what, and contemplate why he is saying it. It it still a great resource.

150 Glimpses of the Beatles - Craig Brown This is a short book that describes 150 anecdotes about the Beatles and what it was like to experience them. I recommend this because it demonstrates what a unique and personal experience the Beatles are while also demonstrating their global reach and how they became the most famous rock band in the world. It's a short read but a good one and there are many charming and thought provoking anecdotes in it. The story of the Beatles is just as much about their fans as it is about the band and you cannot understand one without looking at the other.

Books About Each Beatle

This particular section is a bit of a minefield. Many books written about the Beatles are of questionable veracity or just out and out wrong. (I can think of two that were written as blatant cash grabs and filled with libel that someone should have been sued over.) My recommendations on this may change so please check back from time to time! John Lennon

The John Lennon Letters - John Lennon, edited by Hunter Davies Primary source documents of the various letters and missives John wrote through his life. This may be the most important book on the list because it shows us who John really is: just another ordinary guy like us, trying to get through life. Also gives insight into his mindset as the decades pressed on.

The Making of John Lennon - Francis Kenny This is a very vital and heartbreaking read for people who want more insight into John. John Lennon is the most famous Beatle but he is also the one who's image is the most obscured and distorted. Francis Kenny is a Liverpool native who puts John in his proper context. To quote my server friend who read this one: Kenny, himself a Liverpudlian, takes into account how life in Liverpool in the first half of the 20th century shaped not only John but everyone he knew and his entire family. Mimi and Julia get a good critical view, and Uncle George gets his moment in the sun. He also lays out how class divides affected the Stanleys and then how Mimi took it out on John and Julia. He quotes a 1880s travel guide of London that said Liverpool was called "the New York of Europe," because of its economy and place on the ocean, and like in the Gilded Age New York that was happening concurrently across the ocean, Liverpool had pockets of wealth and splendor surrounded by poverty and rough living. Definitely a pro-read and a great insight into the culture and time John lived in. It does not fall into the pitfalls of hero worshipping John but Francis Kenny still treats John with sympathy and respect, hard qualities to come by when it comes to the cashgrabs written about John and his family.

John - Cynthia Lennon John's first wife, Cynthia, wrote two autobiographies about herself and John. This is one of them. It's a tough read in many places but a good one. Hers is a voice that doesn't shy away from John's flaws and actions but she also takes care to tell us why she and so many other people love him and remain loyal to him.

Paul McCartney

Many Years From Now - Barry Miles This is Paul's only sanctioned biography. It is formatted as a quasi-interview with Paul where there are interruptions of regular prose in each chapter. There are eyebrow raising moments where you can tell Paul is not quite telling the truth but it's important to read and identify these moments since Paul's habit of embroidering the truth is important to know and understand. Nonetheless it is still a lot more honest than I was expecting when I read it.

Paul McCartney: A Life - Peter Ames Carlin Probably the best Paul McCartney biography on the market. Peter Ames Carlin also did a similarly great bio of Paul Simon for people who are into that. To quote my friend Betty who read it: Paul gets to be a whole person here: the preternaturally talented boy wonder, the guy casting around for meaning, the less than attractive moments and qualities described without getting preachy or turning to [Paul Derangement Syndrome]. Carlin treats him with dignity instead of something to be gawked at and gossiped about. His (many) sources are cited at the end of the book. What I really appreciated was the ideas he put forth that I've only seen on Tumblr and not in Serious Official Biographies, which says to me he's writing as a fan and scholar and not a journalist trying to fill column inches.

George Harrison

I Me Mine - George Harrison Make sure to get the extended edition! George Harrison in his own words. There's a lot to say about this biography but it won't make much sense without context so I just encourage you to read it. George Harrison was, in my opinion, the best Beatle.

George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door - Graeme Thomson A good no bullshit biography about George Harrison. This covers his life as the material musician and the man seeking the divine. Graeme worked very hard to be respectful of George and his life, did extensive interviews with George's wife Olivia. Such a pro-read and definitely the best George biography written to date.

Ringo Starr

Photograph - Ringo Starr Ringo has stated that this book is his autobiography. In a few bumpers on the Beatles Sirius XM channel Ringo says that he doesn't want to write a biography like the others did but he was happy with putting this photobook together and essentially writing a bio through the captions. This is the closest that we will get for a biography for him as of right now. In time that may change but this is your best option. Piracy is the way to go when it comes to getting a copy of this, iirc it was a limited run and getting a physical copy might be very expensive these days.

Brian Epstein

A Cellarful of Noise - Brian Epstein/Derek Taylor This autobiography was ghostwritten by Brian's assistant Derek Taylor. It's not a tell-all but Brian talks about his youth and how he met the Beatles, including giving his own personal (and accurate) insights into each band member.

Conclusion

There are many, many books about the Beatles. Almost all of them offer something but most are about very niche periods in the Beatles history. When it comes to understanding the band I tried to put together a list where you can get an overview of the band and then read materials that either come straight from the Beatle in question or are not as biased as the competition. I am a McLennon shipper but for a post like this I did my best to recommend books that don't have that kind of bias in them so this is a list you can send to non-shipper friends haha.

In another post I will put together a history book list in the order of their timeline as a band, starting from the Quarrymen and on to the present. There is a LOT of ground to cover in a historical arrangement and it will take a while to compile. Please check back here regularly or give me a follow: whenever I update this post or make a new list, I'll make sure to post about it.

My plan is to make a website with all of this information that anyone can reference but it will take a long long time to make such a thing so put a pin in that one.

[m1ssunderstanding]

Understanding Lennon McCartney Rewatch Part 1.4

Oh, John. It's hard because I'm like “fame was not good for that man” but I'm also like “he would've gone crazy with self-loathing if he didn't have the fame.”

John and Paul start to answer a question at the same time. John: no, go on, you can say it. They're seriously so married. 

John's schoolboy flirting is cute, but what's more noteworthy to me is a) how happy Paul is to be shoved and b) how he instantly leans back into John. It's like they're bungeed together or something. 

John gets me. Look how much he loves Paul bringing out the forced confidence shield to protect him. He's so in love. So turned on. 

Here's my question about the death threats. Did the other Beatles actually receive them and tell Brian about them and keep them from John? Because that would be incredibly sweet and noble of them, but also, in that case, surely John received death threats too. Meaning he just didn't care about his own life and assumed the others were being left out of it because they hadn't actually said they were bigger than Jesus. Or did they have people filtering all their mail by that point? And Brian had been keeping the death threats from all of them? Because that could be interpreted as both protective and selfish of him. Does anyone know?

Again. I just love how Paul goes to bat for John over and over during this tour. Batting his eyes and playing with his hair and shouting down any and all criticism of John speaking his mind.

This moment is so telling to me. An interviewer who was up front at several concerts points out the looks and smiles between John and Paul which you can only see from the front and asks, “is it really that much fun every time?” The easy answer is, “Yeah. We like what we do. It's fun!” But Paul gets cagey. “Oh well the thing is you know with things like that it's probably…” and he makes up a bullshit story about messing up on a song they haven't performed in a year. Why do that if you don't have something to hide? (Even if you're subconsciously hiding) That right there is a tip-off for me that they're not normal about each other. 

Interviewer: are you guys breaking up? John, immediately and emphatically: No. Paul: "Depends what you mean by breaking up, you know . . . Because we can't go on forever like this, so we've got to think now and prepare for, you know, if it did happen. The time has come for us to break up, but we've realized the possibility . . . Of breaking up as a natural progression." Literally shut the fuck up right now, you're going to give John an aneurysm.

I understand. I know. I don't relate to Paul much but I do relate to his hyperactivity and his avoidant attachment. I make sure constantly that I'll be okay when all my relationships end. But you don't talk about that in front of the other person. Especially someone like John whose worst fear is being left. Come on. Think. 

See, now look what you did, Paul. Here's John's answer the next time they're asked about breaking up. 

And yeah, the klan being the ones to “stand up against the Beatles blasphemy” really proves my point from the last post I think. It's just masked racism. 

It actually seems like Paul's more vocally political at this point in time than John is. I wonder what happened to change that? Was it just the influence of their respective wives? Was it just easier for them to play up the roles they'd been assigned for the most part?

Okay on this round of “are you breaking up” they look at each other first before they answer and then Paul goes “all together probably.” I wonder if they talked about their previous answers together and admitted – however cautiously or however veiled – that hearing the other say they might leave hadn't been fun. Who knows, honestly.  

Paul and John often talk about making a radio show together apparently. Gosh if only they could've done that now. I'd make them my token white boy podcast. It'd be great. They'd be so lame and so adorable and they'd talk about recipes and politics and they'd gossip and rank other people's music. But anyway, what really gets me is the often bit. So they really did plan their post-beatle future together. Enough that it was a frequent topic of discussion between them. They planned to be together forever. 

Ugh it always guts me that Paul brought a girlfriend to Paris with him to meet up with John.

Okay my tin hat is glued to my head for this but. But. Hear me out alright? So John starts filming on 09/19/66. He's there for 6 &½ weeks. Putting the end at the beginning of November, right when Paul goes in disguise and alone to Paris. Do we have tabs on John for those dates? John just talked about going around Paris in disguise. What if  they met up by themselves and in secret? What then?

 No fucking wonder John was exhausted with him. Damn. He takes a month and a half to write strawberry fields, shows it to Paul, then...

Interviewer: the songwriting team will keep going whatever happens will it? John: yeah, we'll probably carry on writing music Forever. It's just so ‘Obviously. Might as well ask me if the sun's going to come up tomorrow.’

His friend – try dangerous drugs with and take home to daddy type “friend” – just died brutally and suddenly two days ago, and this is what he looks like and talks like and he's going in to work like it's nothing. I just. Compare that to John talking about Brian's death? Obviously two very different relationships but still… Paul's upbringing really fucked him up so hard. He thinks he's not allowed to be human. What can I say? It's a drag.

AKA the happiest 6 months of John and Paul's lives. 

I find it fascinating that Paul alone is asked to compose and record what would eventually become the carnival of light and that he just went ahead and included everyone in that. Really makes me wonder if he got a vibe off John that him doing the family way alone was hurtful or if they maybe even talked about it? Or maybe he just didn't like doing the family way without John.

Actually quite a lovely, forward-thinking, humble speech. Imagine being John, though. Watching that from home like “why the fuck is he philosophizing to the world without me?” Because you know John shares all those sentiments and might even have got there first. It would be infuriating.

“A lucky man who made the grade” is an interesting way to describe Tara and I can't help but wonder if it has anything to do with Tara being cool enough for Paul to associate with him. And Paul is many things but stupid is not one of them. He's going to at the very least wonder if this verse is about John laughing at his friend's death. Right? Like I know Paul's the repression CEO but seriously I don't think even he is that good. 

Maybe that Leopold and Leob quote isn't just about tearing people down verbally. Maybe Wooler genuinely got a vibe of a sense of superiority and therefore lack of empathy with Lennon/McCartney.

I mean he really does sound like he's describing sex though, doesn't he? Emotional, loving, romantic sex. Followed immediately by Paul's “I'd love to turn you on” lyrics and the “down with pants” and “sword swallower” pins. Alrighty then. 

What I would call my Beatles bio after watching this. "They Touched Dicks: The Only Logical Conclusion."

[vomittedsoap]

Assigning AMC's The Terror characters music

[if they were cooler....I mean tbh none of these guys other than Blanky would have any music taste at all. Or at most they would have one big Spotify Megaplaylist with no defining genre]

Crozier: The Cars, Bob Dylan, The Who, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, The Police, Tom Petty, Live, Rush. Sometimes can get into stuff like TOOL.

Blanky: probably one of those people who talks about all the concerts he went to in his heyday, i.e. Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, KMFDM, Depeche Mode, The Who, Skinny Puppy, Tool, etc. He brought Crozier along too sometimes. Has the coolest music taste but you never know until something is brought up and he says "I remember that show...it was great." and adds nothing else.

Fitzjames: Mitski and Kate Bush lmao. Other than that, just whatever's popular. Anoying to listen to music with him cuz he's one of those people who thinks everyone will be impressed by him singing along to Paramore.

John Franklin: Hank Williams Sr, David Allen Coe, Joe Rogan podcast and believes everything Rogan says.

Hodgson/Little (Little wouldn't listen to anything if it weren't for Hodgson): fun or chill stuff like Third Eye Blind, Blink-182, Moby, Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, Yellowcard. Hodgson plays the guitar a little bit and plays for Little and Irving sometimes.

Irving: Music that they play in Walgreens; i.e. GooGooDolls, Matchbox Twenty, Maroon5, The Fray, Semisonic, Train, Hoobastank, Counting Crows, TobyMac. Also has been caught listening to stuff from bands he claims have Christian members/influences (Evanescence, Slayer, Skillet, Black Veil Brides)

Jopson: Ska/rap metal, surprisingly... 311, No Doubt, Mindless Self Indulgence, Butthole Surfers, The Prodigy, knows how to get jiggy to Marilyn Manson, orgy, and NIN.

Tozer: Who Let the Dogs Out, Baby Got Back, Limp Bizkit, Creed....stuff like that. Once was caught singing a Taylor Swift song to an unconscious Heather tho.

Collins: boring stuff like Radiohead, Phoebe Bridgers, Fiona Apple, Chad VanGaalen, Blind Melon, Collective Soul, Pearl Jam, Alex G.

Bridgens/Peglar (they share): Beatles gooners, probably listen on vinyl or something dumb.

Silna: 10hr relaxing music for dogs, Mitski, Fog Lake, Interpol, Boards of Canada, whatever audiobook she's into.

Goodsir: shares with Silna, also Collins got him interested in Radiohead. But mostly classical for studying.

Hickey: The Prodigy, ICP, Chumbawamba... jk its actually beautiful majestic sh*t like The Smiths, Slowdive, and The Cranberries.

[crepesuzette2023]

☕️ What do you think The Beatles legacy would be if George and John had lived and Paul and Ringo hadn’t?

That is an excellent question. And I think much of my answer depends — apologies for being morbid — on the time and circumstance of Paul and Ringo's death...

But that way lies overthinking.

It's tempting to assume that the Beatles legacy as we know it wouldn't exist, had it been up to John and George to tend to it, but I don't agree. They all shared the attitude, to varying degrees, that they themselves had the right to slag off the Beatles, but others did not. John said he was a Beatles fan again after the bitterness of the breakup, but even The Rutles is a love story of a kind—it's hilarious in the way you can only be when you know someone very well. John also greatly admired Paul as a musician and songwriter, and I think it's safe to say neither George nor John carried painful unfinished business for Ringo.

Thus.

With the Anthology material being available...I can imagine John and George doing something with it (or, if Paul had died at around the time John was murdered (*shiver*) the three of them: John, George, and Ringo...and Paul's Avian Aspect).

Depending on 'the critical reception of Paul McCartney (and Wings)' after Paul's early death in this scenario, I can see John and the others go into full defense mode, should critics overstep in downplaying Paul's talent!

I can also see a difference with the Beatles legacy as we know it: I think with John & George setting the tone, there would have been more criticism of the way the Beatles were captives of their fame, the whole 'we gave our nervous system' experience. Don't ask me why, but I don't think there would have been an "army buddies" narrative. Perhaps there would have been a greater focus on their artistic differences in the end (especially George's frustrations), but also, with Paul not present, great fondness for Paul.

I don't know what this says about me, but I spent an hour on this grey and lightless day walking outside listening to the audio of Lennon Remembers (thank you, One Sweet Dream podcast), and one thing I realized was that even then, John was really defensive about the Beatles and especially Paul the second someone else (including Yoko) started to criticize them. That makes me think that the Beatles legacy would have been in *excellent* hands with him! Not the intended effect of the interview, I'm sure, sorry John (said with love).

Thanks for listening if you're still here.

[monkberries]

Which Beatles podcasts are worth listening to? I listened to AKOM a few years ago but haven’t gotten back into it (and idk what happened but the hosts split or something? All that went down after I stopped listening)

I’ve answered these questions a couple times and you can find those answers in my tag #podcast blues, but I’ve also found a new one that just started a couple of weeks ago called Beautiful Possibility. I’m obsessed with it. It’s completely bananapants crazy. It makes ak*m and *sd look like the most mainstream normie shit. I don’t think it’s public on Apple Podcasts, because when I search it there it doesn’t come up, but you can get a link to the rss feed from the authors website, or just listen to it on the website itself. It’s so self-important and self-serious it’s unbelievable. I might be the only person on earth listening to it, I don’t know, but I need to tell people about it because it’s so so so insane. Like when you get to the actual thesis of the podcast it might be the singular most insane thing I’ve ever consumed in Beatle world, and I have consumed A LOT of crazy shit.

[muzaktomyears]

Paul McCartney has revealed the inspiration behind the lyric “I said something wrong” in the Beatles hit Yesterday.

McCartney said the line may have been subconsciously inspired by a moment when he mocked his mother for sounding “posh”.

Many assume the lyric, “I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday”, is about the break-up of a relationship.

McCartney, however, explained on his A Life in Lyrics podcast that the lyric may actually relate to a conversation in which he embarrassed his mother.

He said: “Sometimes it’s only in retrospect you can appreciate it. I remember very clearly one day feeling very embarrassed because I embarrassed my mum.

“We were out in the backyard and she talked posh. She was of Irish origin and she was a nurse, so she was above street level.

“So she had something sort of going for her, and she would talk what we thought was a little bit posh. And it was a little bit Welshy as well – she had connections, her auntie Dilys was Welsh.

“I know that she said something like ‘Paul, will you ask him if he’s going … ’

“I went ‘Arsk! Arsk! It’s ask mum.’ And she got a little bit embarrassed. I remember later thinking ‘God, I wish I’d never said that’. And it stuck with me. After she died I thought ‘Oh fuck, I really wish … ’”

McCartney wrote the song when he was 24, almost a decade after his mother, Mary, died of cancer.

Yesterday was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1997 and voted the number one pop song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine and MTV in 2000.

The song is also one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded music with 2,200 versions.

McCartney has previously said the death of his mother helped him express his sense of loss.

He said: “It may be that there is so much tumbled into your youth and your formative years that you can’t appreciate it all.

“I’ve got a couple of those little things that I know that people would forgive me, because they’re not big things – they’re little things – but they’re little things that I just think, ‘If I could just take a rubber, just rub that moment out it would be better’.

“And when she died, I wonder, ‘I said something wrong’, are we harking back to that crazy little thing.

“So I don’t know. Does this happen? Do you find yourself unconsciously putting songs into girl lyrics [about a lost lover] that are really your dead mother? I suspect it might be true. It sort of fits, if you look at the lyrics.”

McCartney’s podcast explores the inspiration behind the singer’s songwriting with the poet Paul Muldoon over two seasons and 24 episodes.

(source)

[thewalrusespublicist]

hi! really enjoying reading your blog. i've listened to the beatles all my life but only now have i started looking into the more fandom side of things, and reading your interpretations/insights into a huge variety of beatles topics has been super interesting and informative!

as for my question, i've only recently learned how much paul is still like, actively grieving john. (obviously i knew he mourned his death, but john's now been dead longer than he was alive and paul seems just as grief-stricken as he was decades ago.) and something i've been wondering is if he's ever performed his songs that were obviously/highly suspected of being critical of john live since his death? based on much of what i've seen, i imagine he'd have a hard time even looking the fact that he was ever publicly reproachful of john in its face, so to speak. (when considering how wistful and rose-tinted he seems re: john, etc., if that makes sense?)

Hi anon!,

Thank you so much!

I would honestly have to look back at his set lists but to my knowledge, no. I really don't think he'd want to and, to be fair, I don't think there are many songs about John that are that critical and the small pool that are, aren't really suitable for live performances compared to others. Edit: I was wrong, Paul did perform Too Many People in 2005 as part of the setlist and briefly in 2008.

On the slight contrary though, as per the mention of 'mixed feelings' about John in the Lyrics book and other things, I think Paul's grief is intensely complex and that the public only get to see some of it. I don't think he is that upset or regretful about being critical, if you listen to the Salewicz tape closer to the time of John's death Paul says that he could have said an awful lot worse about John and Yoko but he hasn't because he loved John. In the context of the absolute tidal wave of garbage John threw at him, Paul arguably had the sense to not do or say anything really unforgivable so I think his conscious is pretty clear aside from not making up properly. I am not saying that Paul doesn't mean the nice things he says about John publicly (and if any of the anecdotes and stories about him in private are true, these stories are potentially more frequent and intense than you'd expect), but judging from various places and comments he seems to also hold some very difficult feelings about the last ten years of John's life too.

On the grief being so raw, sorry to go on a bit of a tangent but I've been listening to a podcast on grief recently with Anderson Cooper, and it's made me realise that Paul's presentation of grief is a realistic reflection of how intense grief for a loved one actually is compared to how it gets portrayed in the media and how Western culture likes to see it (ie you get like three years and it's done, moving on). A lot of people on that show talk in similar ways to how Paul talks about John (I see signs of them, they talk to me, they're a part of me, the grief can hit me randomly no matter how long its been, I keep things of theirs etc.) With Paul, the level of grief is I suspect how a lot of people actually feel when they lose someone who was extremely dear to them, but his is more on a public stage and so more visible than the standard person's. I do think his grief for John is complicated however by so much: the horror and senselessness of what happened, their unresolved issues, Paul's tendency to bury things deep, deep down, the intensity of his love for people and inability to process the death as 'it's too much' as well as the intense public attention. It's no wonder that the grief still feels so raw and unprocessed.

Paul is also an excellent example of how one's relationship with the deceased continues and evolves over time. Paul hasn't stayed in one place over John's death, his grief has evolved and transformed and I suspect intensified again in the wake of Get Back. I'm glad that by the sounds of it he is coming to a much happier place about it, even if it's potentially more rose-tinted than the reality. But hey, he's in his eighties, if he's going to have this weight of grief forever and if it gives him comfort he may as well focus on all the happy and sunny moments. More than power to him.

[live-laugh-legolas]

What type of music the fellowship listens to (modern)

Aragorn:

-Country man

-Idk if he even actually listens to it, but I swear every guy on tinder has country music in their interests and I think it is just a go to answer

-“what kind of music do you like?” “Idk, country I guess”

-Likes the depressed indie artists

-✨John Mayer✨

Legolas:

-Idk if anyone is going to agree with me on this but I think he’s into metal music

-I also think he would love Eminem

-He knows every lyric

-Not the type to dance or even show that he’s listening to music, but he actually has music blasting in his ears

-Ik elves have like sensitive ears or whatever but let me have this one

-Wannabe emo kid

Boromir:

-I think he likes pop music but listens almost purely to covers

-“I knew them before they were famous” vibes

-Loves artists like Elton John, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, etc

-Also side note, this man cannot sing but absolutely goes hard at karaoke

Gimli:

-He’s a T-Swift fan

-Also Celine Dion

-I just think he likes the girl bosses

-P!nk, Halsey, and Shawn Mendez because I just thought of it so he must be a girl boss too

-Gets emotional listening to music; like totally matches the energy of the song

-Sometimes I just cry because an artist just sounds so good, and I think he would do the same

Frodo:

-The “aesthetic” music

-You know the ones that kinda go hard but also sound kinda bad if you actually listen to them?

-I was just listening to “Butch 4 Butch” by Rio Romeo and I just got the vibe that Frodo would vibe

Sam:

-I just feel like he likes rap music

-Not aggressive rap, but when songs have rap in them

-Post-Malone sort of vibes

-Also “TikTok songs” but just the part that’s played in the few seconds of the video

Merry:

-Classical music

-But like the classical music that goes hard

-Like “O Fortuna” maybe

-But he also sings JoJo Siwa and no one knows if it’s satire or genuine

-“KARMAS A BITCH!”

Pippin:

-Hozier boy

-The girls, the gays, and the Pippin ya know?

-But also K-Pop

-I don’t know anything about the genre but I have a friend who literally know every dance to every song from Black Pink and I think that’s how Pip would be

-He will have me watch him do the dances and I can just imagine Pippin doing the same thing; putting on little recitals and you just can’t say no

Gandalf:

-Joe Rogan podcasts

-Ok that’s a joke

-But definitely listens to podcasts, maybe ones about science

-Enjoys some good smooth jazz

-Gets real groovy when a saxophone starts playing

*Bonus Faramir and/or Eomer:

-I’ll be honest I don’t know these characters as well as I should

-but

-Recently my sister has had her earbuds in 24/7 and I asked her about it and she has apparently been listening to Dr Who audio dramas

-She is trying to convince me to listen too but frankly I’m too scared

-There was something about a sentient puddle?

-I just feel like one of the characters would do this and these are the two I decided on but lmk if I’m totally wrong

[franklyimissparis]

wait i'm new here why does everyone think something happened in india

hi! welcome! everyone is mostly speculating but there’s a few things we know abt the india trip/specifically the aftermath of it that leads us to know that something went down (regardless of whether or not there were romantic/sexual undertones to it):

long story short, paul left india early with jane asher, his fiancé at the time, and john stayed. john was notably deeply depressed and suicidal at the time of the trip as well. and things were reportedly never the same between them.

there are quotations from geoff emerick about how the lads were fundamentally different after india and, though they wouldn’t speak about it, he got the idea that something had happened that changed things within the group and made those relationships icy.

there’s also a scene in get back where john and paul are speaking about india when john mentions “what were we doing… who was writing all those songs in your room” and then mimes fellatio to a microphone 😭

michael gerber wrote at hey dullblog this which i think summarises fans’ questions/theories about what happened between them nicely:

“Sometimes I think the inciting incident was something external, something private that happened in the world—John and Paul started having sex, or stopped, or talked about it, or stopped talking about it; perhaps something powerful happened inside the friendship at the core of the Beatles. One of them said or did something, and the other guy got mad, or felt betrayed, or something.”

honestly i can’t do all the elements at play justice as well as other people can but i would HIGHLY recommend listening to another kind of mind’s pizza and fairytales series which focuses on john and paul’s relationship in the 70s and what led up to all of this, as well as their sexualities and john’s mental health issues. episode 4 discusses the india trip and theorises what went down in a very thoughtful and comprehensive way :))

(and this is the article that quotation comes from, it’s just one opinion tbh but it’s an interesting take)