The Beatles

I just finished watching a Paul McCartney special on PBS, and found myself weeping through parts of the show, without really knowing why....just spontaneous tears for memories of the 60's, and my childhood, and the Beatles, and John's death, and how much I owed him-and them-for all the good vibes they gave to the world. I was born in '56, so don't know exactly how much of my memory of the 60's was because of the great music and how much was simply the idealistic reverie of my youth, but I can't help thinking that Beatle music has been the Bach and Mozart of my lifetime-probably the century- and will live on long after any of us fortunate enough to have experienced it are gone. My older brother and sister saw them live at JFK stadium, at the height of Beatlemania,('66?) and no doubt have some old black and white photos laying around that they took from the bleachers. I personally can recall waiting for the new singles to come out and singing them with friends of mine as we walked around our town. If nothing else, the 60's were a time when idealism-in civil rights and space flight and music-was genuinely embraced, and people honestly believed that the world could be a better place. In hindsight I can see that all was not rosy in America, but as a kid the Vietnam war and the riots in the major cities and all that did not intrude upon my little world. When the Beatles broke up John advised everyone that the 'dream was over', but it really was a great dream, so I'm glad that their positive music lives on to inspire a whole new generation.