My Dad, the Beatles, and Thankfulness

I'm sitting on my parent's sofa, sipping tea, staring at the squirrels running along the fence, and listening to the Beatles while the rest of the family is out participating in the extravagant commercial over-consumption that has become just as traditional for this holiday as pumpkin pie. There are layers of contraversy in this scene, but I'd like to reflect on perhaps the less pronounced radical behavior: listening to the Beatles on my own perogative.

To my father this would be considered a glorious and miraculous phenomenon since as a child and teenager he loved, I mean LOVED, to torture my siblings and I by playing nothing but Beatles albums on road trips. And to give some perspective, these road trips were often of the 14 hour variety as we are among the great Texan travelling families who consider 3 hour drives to be comparable to trips to the grocery store. My siblings and I tried every tactic imaginable to entice Dad into listening to some of 'our music' or anything else. We'd have taken Dylan or the Stones or even some CCR, but rational arguments, bargaining, masterly planned sales pitches, and begging could not break this man. Beatles it was, and Beatles it would be.

Today, I recognise that a good bit of my ever-evolving personality and principles continually resonate with the lyrics of which I desperately tried to limit my intake during my youth. The irony.

For instance, Hey Jude says a lot about internal peace-making despite external conflict. You've gotta let the crazy world deeply impact you, but you can't let it dissolve your hope and peace.

Another good one is Rocky Racoon. You never know how or when God's going to foil your grandious plans just as Rocky had no idea he'd leave his attempt to murder in the name of love grasping the Book that tells us to surrender unto death in the name of Love. Rocky and Paul (not the Beatle) bear some resemblance.

And my all-time favorite Beatles song: I am the Walrus. My love for this song has to do with my love for symbols, silliness, and scintillating wordplay. It's just such a clever song, a real piece of art.

So during this Thanksgiving holiday, I'd like to thank my Dad for his obnoxious yet contagious love of the Beatles. And I'd like to thank the Beatles for being revolutionaries. In tribute to both parties and for the sake of educating all 3 of my readers, here's I am the Walrus!

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly.
I’m crying.

Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.
Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody tuesday.
Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob.

Mister city policeman sitting
Pretty little policemen in a row.
See how they fly like lucy in the sky, see how they run.
I’m crying, I’m crying.
I’m crying, I’m crying.

Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog’s eye.
Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess,
Boy, you been a naughty girl you let your knickers down.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob.

Sitting in an english garden waiting for the sun.
If the sun don’t come, you get a tan
From standing in the english rain.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob g’goo goo g’joob.

Expert textpert choking smokers,
Don’t you thing the joker laughs at you?
See how they smile like pigs in a sty,
See how they snied.
I’m crying.

Semolina pilchard, climbing up the eiffel tower.
Elementary penguin singing hari krishna.
Man, you should have seen them kicking edgar allan poe.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob g’goo goo g’joob.
Goo goo g’joob g’goo goo g’joob g’goo.