Helter Skelter

I had a really, really good blog for today. It was shaping up to possibly be one of the best I’d ever done. I was super excited about it; ideas where shooting out of my head like fireworks and I was typing like a madman, probably close to 90 words a minute. The thoughts were taking shape, morphing, becoming more perfect and coming out even better than I had originally thought possible. My fingers were on fire and there was no stopping me and then I heard a voice say that today is Paul McCartney’s birthday and I stopped typing to listen to the story. When the story finished I went back to my keyboard and everything, the thoughts, the ideas, the flashes of brilliance, had all fled. Gone. Like the wind. In sixty seconds. Gone Too Soon. Gone, Baby, Gone. The blog of the millennium was, you guessed it . . . gone.

So today is Paul McCartney’s 70th birthday. Thinking about Paul being 70 makes me feel sort of old. It also makes me feel a little sad because when Paul wasn’t 70, when he was only, say, 27 or 28, I was also quite a bit younger and it was, in retrospect, a much better time.

Everyone had a favorite Beatle and I was no different. As a kid Paul was my favorite Beatle because he was so animated and he looked like he was always having so much fun. Also, Paul’s first instrument was the trumpet and I, too, used to play the trumpet. From a non-musical standpoint, from an emotional and intellectual standpoint, John was my favorite and as I grew up and started appreciating music a bit more I began to recognize the talent and musicianship of George and that respect grew even more with his post-Beatles projects and continues to this day. I couldn’t care less about Ringo.

I can’t really name a favorite Beatles song because there are just too many. Hey Jude is one of many favorites because I won a slow dancing contest at a party dancing to that song sometime in the summer of 1969.

Who was your favorite Beatle and do you have a favorite Beatles song?

Here’s a song I like. Like I said, musically, George was my favorite and while he didn’t sing or write this particular song, he did organize the event where it was played. Check out that organ introduction, it’ll give you chills.