Let It Be (Anything But the Fucking Beatles)

every morning, for the last several weeks, i've been getting my coffee and sitting on a bench outside my office, reading my Kindle (currently i'm making my way through Richard Stevenson's Donald Strachey Mysteries series). i usually sit out there from 7:15 till about 7:45 or 8am depending on how engrossed i am in my book. This morning though, i got to Jay Street-Borough Hall and it was just a bit more brisk than usual, so i figured i'd grab a latte at the Starbucks downstairs and sit at one of their tables; something i've never done. Knowing they like to keep their in-store music pretty loud, i took my headphones off rather than compete and blow out my eardrums. i usually like what they're playing anyway, so it didn't seem like it was going to be a big deal. sadly i was wrong.

apparently, it's fucking "Beatles week". In addition to the release of Rock Band Beatles edition, they've re-released a bunch of albums in digitally remastered format, to the delight of retro-rocking-anglophiles everywhere and i sat there for 45 minutes, listening to some sort of Best Of compilation while reading. Naturally, i posted a status update about it on Facebook and was totally deluged by mixed comments from both the Pro-Beatles and Anti-Beatles sects, the latter of which i find myself firmly amongst. FYI: the Pro-Beatles folks are almost as fanatical as the Pro-Lifers and the Anti-Gay Marriage nuts.

i don't get their music. personally, i the Beatles' sound incredibly dated, in a way that just isn't pleasant. i'm a product of the 80's and the 90's; i grew up with Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, New Edition, the Bangles and a veritable phalanx of one-hit wonders whose names could fill a phonebook. Though that music, too is beyond dated, it's a snapshot of my childhood.

also, i just don't get that kind of fanaticism. i love my music, but i'm not militant about it. if you don't like Bjork (and c'mon, how many people really like her), i get that; she's not for everyone; like headcheese, tripe and blood sausage. Ditto Kristine W, Rufus Wainwright, the Pet Shop Boys and Colton Ford, but hey...that's why iPods have headphones and "skip" buttons. i'm not crazy enough to think that every song that falls from Colton Fords sweet sweet lips is magical (half his 1st album is a dud), but i like what i like. i'm not sure i can explain why i like the artists i do; i just do. honestly, though, i don't think their music requires explanation...well Bjork's might require a translator, but that's another story.

Beatles fans (like Stevie Nicks and Prince fans), though, will beat you over the head with why the Beatles are the alpha and omega of music history and how they've influenced every single artist and/or musician ever...including anyone who made music before them and you better nod and smile or else.

So, tomorrow morning when i go in for my latte, hopefully my little java jockies will be playing something else...anything else...'cuz i definitely can't take two days in a row of Beatlemania and the weather isn't supposed to warm up anytime soon.