A Matter of Balance

Listen to a Beatles song.  What exactly is so great about it?  Something about it makes us, the fan(atic)s, crazy about it.  It took me a long time to pinpoint that quality that sets the songs of the Beatles apart.

It's not the lyrics. If you're looking for lyrics that are pure poetry, try Bob Dylan. The lyrics of the Beatles' early songs could almost be called laughable. They gained a great deal of complexity by the late sixties, of course, but that still isn't it.

It also isn't the guitar solos and riffs. My personal favorites when it comes to great guitar playing are Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. George Harrison's guitar playing is great, but is still outshone by these masters.

So what's left? The singing wasn't great, but it's definitely pleasurable to listen to. If there is any word for what the Beatles had, it is balance.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney are men of conflicting personalities. John was cynical and witty, with a somewhat pessimistic view of life. He had absolutely no use for what other people thought of him. As a result, people often attacked him verbally for his actions, which were often weird and hard to understand. People loved him for his rebelliousness.

Paul, on the other hand, is optimistic. His sunny personality and big-eyed cuteness endear him to his many fans. Unlike John, he takes great pains to be liked. He hates to be on anyone's bad side.

The songs of John and Paul reflected their personalities. John wrote searing, emotional songs. Paul's were more often polished, sentimental ballads, designed to appeal to fans. During their career as Beatles, any song that John or Paul wrote was released under the joint name Lennon/McCartney, no matter how much input one had on the other's song. In the beginning, almost all of the songs were written jointly.

When we hear these songs, we hear a perfect blending of opposite personalities. Instead of battling against each other, their songs sang in a worldly unison that the rest of the world immediately fell in love with. Listening to their songs is an experience that cannot be matched.

What about later, when friction between their personalities started to drive them apart? Somehow, this flawless marriage of style continued. John may not have had an actual hand in the writing of "Hey Jude", but his influence is there. Perhaps completely inadvertantly, their songs still carried that same balance.

So, were George and Ringo completely useless? Of course not. The Beatles' image was not built completely on their songs. All four personalities came together to create a music group that the world loved above all. Aiming for that same emotional beauty, George began to write songs that matched, if not surpassed, a good many of Lennon/McCartney songs. "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something" are among the best loved of the Beatles' songs. Besides, where would we be without the "Ringoism", such as "A Hard Day's Night" and "Tomorrow Never Knows", and Ringo's wonderful, droll humor?

Listening to the Beatles in order is an experience that is best described as listening to a complex tapestry of sound, concluding with the great Abbey Road.

Abbey Road is the best example of the dynamic balance between the Beatles. The songs fade into one another, until we hardly know exactly which song we're listening to, and we hardly care. Suddenly, it culminates in an exciting drum solo that eventually builds up to one of the Beatles' greatest lines: "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." When the last strains of "The End" fade away, we often find ourselves blinking away tears. Then "Her Majesty" surprises us with its loud opening chord. The Beatles, with their usual playfulness, had to have the last laugh.

And then there are the little things. "The movement you need is on your shoulder," after all. What would have happened to that enigmatic line is John hadn't been there to tell Paul to keep it in the song "Hey Jude"?

Well, is that song over yet? I suppose it depends on the song. Anyway, listen to it again. That's another good thing about the Beatles' songs. You can listen to them again and again and never get tired on them.