I want to hold your hand! Your mother should know! Good day sunshine! Do you want to know a secret? We can work it out!
This isn’t a crazy, cryptic message, it’s a (very short) list of some of the best songs from The Beatles, my favorite musical group of all time (and many others both old and young to this day).
On a cold February day while you were living with us, I introduced you to the world of music, as seen through the eyes of your Papa, a music nut since he was 10 years old.
You were fascinated when I showed you how people used to listen to music. First there were vinyl albums (also known as LPs which is short for long playing records… they held a lot of songs)… then the small 45 rpm records with two songs, one on side A and the other on side B. Then came cassette tapes, then mini discs, then CDs.
At one point I showed you a double album from the Beatles – the “White album” – which contained a poster and two LPs. We talked about how it was fun buying and holding an album – giant album artwork, liner notes, lyric sheets — plenty to hold onto, read and think about while the album was turning on the turntable and filling the room with rich musical sounds. The cardboard and paper had a special, comforting smell I can still remember to this day. It was a very tactile, personal, memorable experience, so different from today’s “invisible” Mp3 music” bought over the Internet.
I showed you one of the most famous album covers of all time by a group called “Santana” which became famous playing at the Woodstock music festival in 1969. The drawing looks like a lion, but it has many hidden images and words within the overall image. So cool. I’ve got a poster as well:
At one point you turned to Ben who walked by and said:
Ben! Come see this! It’s really old, it’s history. It’s how they used to listen to music a long time ago!
Here’s a photo of the first 45 I ever bought. It was the first reggae hit in America – way back in 1963 – and it reached # 2 on the charts.
Your favorite thing was a music playing device that lets you listen to a cassette, mini disc, CD or the radio! It was made in Japan and all the knobs and instructions are in Japanese – so it took us a while to figure out how to make things open, close, move forward and stop. Here you are with it:
When we were through we read a book about the Beatles in my office, just you and me. You sat next to me on my big brown comfortable office chair as I turned the pages and described what the various photos were about. It was timely because 50 years ago this month the Beatles landed in America for the first time, appeared on the Ed Sullivan variety show, and became famous, launching “Beatlemania” and long-haired rock and roll that changed the world, and my life.
Do you want to know a secret?
One of the ways you’re different from other kids is your curiosity. You’re aware of what’s going around you… listening to conversations, always interested in helping out, remembering, externally focused. Most kids aren’t as tuned-in; they focus on their world, what they’re thinking about and what they want to do. Not you. You’re an excellent listener, curious about the world around you. While others are busy with phones and games, you much prefer being in the moment, joining a conversation.
Because of this, our discussion about the Beatles – and music – was super special to me. You were genuinely interested in learning something new, open to exploring a different (in this case older) world, and getting a kick about the whole experience.
Don’t ever change Emma – your curiosity and outwardness will serve you well and make you very unique – and much loved – all the days of your life. I love you lots.
