The Beatles

"My theory is that when it comes to important subjects, there are only two ways a person can answer. Which way they chose, tells you who that person is. For instance, there are only two kinds of people in the world, Beatles people and Elvis people. Now Beatles people can like Elvis and Elvis people can like the Beatles, but nobody likes them both equally. Somewhere you have to make a choice. And that choice, tells you who you are."  Mia Wallace, from Pulp Fiction

I was raised as neither a Beatles person nor an Elvis person, but I came to know Elvis first in college.  From his Rockabilly start  in Tennessee all the way to his best song, "Suspicious Minds" the famous quote about Elvis Presley sums it up well.  "Before anyone did anything, Elvis did everything."  In late 2000 I took a trip to Memphis and, of course, visited Graceland.  If I didn't love his music before that trip, I instantly came to my senses.  That is why it was so hard for me to come around to the Beatles.

The truth is, I have long held a grudge against the Beatles.  Their popularity in the States was undeniable, and I suppose I blamed them for being British, but when I learned that one of them quipped that they were more popular than Jesus Christ, I was instantly turned off.  That, and I couldn't stand their hair at any point in their American maturation.  Beatles songs aired on the radio and recognizing them, I would switch the station.  Somehow though I came to recognize that their music held something that I believe hasn't been duplicated since.  Whereas Elvis had his "sound" the Beatles seemed to be dynamic, creative, dare I say, influential.  For these reasons I hated them all the more.

Then last year in a cruel trick of fate, my planning period was changed from sixth period (last period of the day) to second period.  Teach one class, chill for an hour, then teach four more classes.  It was a horrible schedule, but it did produce one interesting side note.  When nine o'clock rolled around and my students exited the classroom, I would turn my radio on to the local oldies station in the hopes that they would play some Elvis, Purkle Harem, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, or something else worthy of my time.  But every morning they played what they called a "Beatles Break," two Beatles songs back to back.  Too busy grading essays to get up and change the station, I would let the Beatles play on and saw that their musical creativity was in fact brilliant.  Elvis might have had a hand in inventing Rock and Roll, but the Beatles took it to the extreme.

The haunting guitar riff in "Something" made me drift off into a daydream.  The violins in "Eleanor Rigby" stirred my imagination.  "Hey Jude" had me singing along.  "Naaaaaa, naaa, naaa, na, na, na, naaaaaa.  Na, na, na, naaaaa.  Hey Jude!"

So in a moment of weakness last month when I should have been looking for a new Christmas CD, I grabbed a Beatles best of CD.  It's been hard to take it out of the CD player since.

So am I a Beatles person or an Elvis person?  I like them both now.

After much hard thought, I have decided I am... a Johnny Cash person.

As always, feel free to weigh in.