When I heard the Beatles song ‘Now and Then’ and watched the video, I had tears in my eyes by the end. For those of us fortunate enough to have been alive when they were at their peak, Beatles music formed the soundtrack of our lives; their songs continue to elicit specific memories that were formed when each new single or album was released. I was a child in the 1960’s so my personal recollections are biased by the idealism of youth, but I recall walking the roads with my friend singing the latest songs, and ‘Now and Then’ made clear the bittersweet certainty that the past is gone forever. By the time of their breakup in 1970 John Lennon said “the dream is over”, and he spoke for all of them that the Beatlemania craze had gotten ridiculous; it was time for the world to move on.
In my estimation the Beatles were the Mozart of the 20th century, and as I witness new generations of people discover their music, it is clear that we were not wrong in our adulation and respect for them so many years ago. As a group, the Beatles always possessed charisma and humility whereby they never took themselves too seriously; the world was going mad but they always seemed to get the joke and stay one step ahead of the rest of us. Their music was the most important thing to them until it wasn’t, and growing up reminded them that there were more important things in life than fame.
