George & John
My next single is for anyone who’s never gotten over the dissolution of the Beatles. Or more understandably the idea that half of them no longer exist. I promise…this one’s for you.
For the longest time I had this vision — I wanted to write a song that compared the agony of losing half my heart in a breakup with the pain of losing half of the Beatles. In my mind the concept seemed brilliant. I just could never figure out how to execute it effectively. No melody, lyric or cello lived up to the vision.
And then a few years ago while on a writing trip to London I described this song-in-my-mind to colleague, writer/producer/artist-in-his-own-right/fellow Uber Beatles Enthusiast — Phil Thornalley. He totally got it. So much so that he offered to write me a piece of music that could inspire the right words to this emotional analogy.
I was skeptical. There was no way anyone could capture the magnitude and character of that loss. A few weeks later, after returning home to L.A., there was an mp3 in my email queue. Silly Phil, I thought. He’s just wasting his time. Curious though, I reluctantly pressed play. My jaw dropped.
The words started pouring out and I they wouldn’t stop. In fact I didn’t get out of my chair until they were all written. One fell swoop. I swear they channelled themselves. I hardly did a thing. I was simply the vessel.
The Beatles were my first love. I was a small child when I fell. At the first sight of those skinny pants and dangling cigarettes, all I wanted to do was get close enough to smell them, to hold their hand, close my eyes and let them kiss me. Especially Paul.
I know I’m not alone. There are millions of us. Over the course of 8 short years The Beatles pulled us into a place we didn’t know existed — a world of uncontrived, un-calculated delicious madness...of minor to major to minor again, of dropped measures and bizarre segues. The absence of logic never made so much sense. Anything was possible. They cooked with spices we never tasted. We were all virgins and we shall never get that flower back. I miss them. I miss something having that much power over me. We all do!
The idea that Paul, George, John and Ringo were all born within a few years of each other, in such close proximity, that their stars collided and they actually found each other is an absolute seismic wonder.
Thankfully Paul and Ringo are still with us. But it’s the magical combination of the four of them together that’s left an indelible imprint on my DNA and a gash in my heart where they once existed as a whole.
In honor of these feelings I returned to London to revisit and fine-tune the original demo with Phil. I can’t thank him enough for sharing the desire to turn this loss into art. They were one of the greatest gifts the Universe ever gave us. I don’t think it was an accident.
Please share this blog with someone who feels the same.
And so from my forthcoming album 2.0 etc…click here to hear a taste and PRE-SAVE “George & John”* — a sonic love letter to the Beatles. Next week when it drops you’ll be (one of) the first to hear it in full.
Phil
*Full song written and realized by Shelly Peiken, Phil Thornalley and David Munday
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