ACK! Forty years since the amazing Sgt. Pepper album was officially released. Where does the time go? Back then the media and pop music reminded us constantly of all the amazing doings out in San Francisco, over in Central Park, and all over the world as people celebrated what quickly became known as the summer of love. Search for lots of articles about it today! Several use the title "It was 40 years ago today!".
Younger folks don't realize how stifling it was to be a woman in the early 1960s. Those dozens of Beatle concerts where hundreds of thousands of screaming women threw off years of repression probably gave a good boost to the new “womens' lib.” John, Paul, George and Ringo not only helped us loosen our rage at our restrictions, but pointed the way towards liberation, even as they themselves evolved from "good boys" to rebel leaders seeking spiritual enlightenment.
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In 1964, at sixteen years, I had three experiences which helped me leave the constrictions of the Catholic faith. I read most of Ayn Rand’s novels, which raved against religion of any kind. I had my first spontaneous experience of the universe as being one connected consciousness and of my being part of that consciousness. And finally at the end of the summer of 1964 I saw the Beatles twice in person, August 30 in Atlantic City, New Jersey and September 20 in New York City. (Yes, I am one of the anointed ones!)
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Before the latter concert four of us went exploring through the upstairs halls. We separated at a staircase when a guard appeared. Our friends who went down the staircase ended up at the entrance to the Beatles' reception room! They saw two live Beatles! My sister and I ran the other way and ended up in the lobby. I've always seen that as the great symbol of the many missed opportunities in my life.
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However, by 1967 as I eagerly awaited the release of Sgt. Pepper, I was a psychological wreck. I had dropped out of college because of my own inner conflicts and alienation. I rebelled with anger against the "good girl's get married and have kids" straight jacket imposed by the conservative Ohio college I'd foolishly picked -- even as part of me wanted to be accepted and happy within that paradigm. It would take another year, and reading Abraham Maslow's magnificent book MOTIVATION AND PERSONALITY, before I discovered that self-actualization and not "being a good girl" were the purpose of life. So in the summer of 1967 all that love and peace and liberation were just a distant and confusing dream to me, but one that Beatles music helped nurture and keep alive through my anger and conflicts and one last attempt at "fitting in."
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Lennon, of course, was the first (and greatest) "Rock and Roll Messiah." He started early boasting that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus and explaining that it was Jesus disciples' twisting his message that bothered "the Beatle." Lennon had, and told us he had, feelings that bringing a great messianic message was his "job." He sang: "I am you and you are me and we are all together...You just got to be free. Come together, right now, over me." And then there were his constant complaints "they're gonna crucify me." (And of course he was murdered by a Christian fanatic convinced he was undermining Christianity.)
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Lennon "resigned" his job around 1973 with his song "GOD." "God is a concept, by which we measure our pain, yeah, pain, yeah, pain." The song liists all the things he doesn't believe in--Bible, tarot, Buddha, Jesus, i-ching, etc. He sings: "I just believe in me, Yoko and me. That's reality. I was the Walrus, but now I'm John. And so my friends, you'll just have to carry on. The dream is over."
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Despite his "resignation," can we ever forget the great line: IMAGINE THERE'S NO COUNTRIES AND NO RELIGION, TOO?? Gosh, that's what this blog is about!! Well, just added it to my header description!
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For decades millions believed that when the Beatles got back together (i.e., were "resurrected") it would be the beginning of a "new age." Even when Lennon died, some dreamed his sons would replace him. Of course, now that the other great spiritual seeker, George Harrison, also has passed, that dream of physical reunion definitely is over.
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Nevertheless, the spirit lives on. I always say that the Beatles were the FOUR HORSEMAN OF THE APOCALYPSE OF LOVE. There is an APOCALYPSE OF FIRE coming, with 20,000 nuclear weapons ready to destroy most of the large cities in the northern hemisphere and at least half of humanity. It is humanity's choice which apocalypse it wants to actualize. If listening to Beatles songs and reading their lyrics and believing that they present a fairly coherent message and guidance for the future helps humanity somehow rise to a higher level of consciousness in time to stop the apocalypse of fire, I'll be real happy.
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That's what I'm working on this summer. What are you working on??
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