Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Tunesday: Eleanor Rigby


The Beatles! It's a Beatles Tunesday today. It's pretty much impossible to pick a favorite Beatles tune. For me it changes with almost every single listen. I can hardly pick a favorite Beatles record. Right now it might be "Revolver." But I don't know, so I've decided that I'll try to pick a favorite from each record. At least the later records.

Ah ah ah...tut tut. Patience, fancied friends. One at a time! I will not disclose them all in one sitting!

I've heard it said that once you've caught the Beatles bug, there's no stopping the rave listening frenzy. It's true, very true indeed. I didn't grow up listening to them. I would hear avid Beatles-lovers go on and on, but I didn't get it. Seth kept saying, "Oh just wait, Fancy. Just wait till it hits you at the perfect time." I thought...eh, whatever.

But lo and behold, it hit me! And in the strangest of circumstances. A high school show choir production of all places. Now before you go getting all huffy puffy about how a show choir singing Beatles is lame (and OK, you might have a point), hear me out.

I choregraphed the show, which as you can imagine, is very difficult. You just shouldn't choregraph The Beatles, but if I wanted to get paid, which I assure you, I did, I had to persevere, attempting to creatively rework various Brit pop rock tunes into musical theater madness.

In the midst of it all, I sat down, exhausted, in one of the auditorium seats as the students worked on stage. They finished a choreographed, cheeky, rhubarb-filled "When I'm Sixty Four," (which actually ended up working, amazingly enough) and assembled into what the musical theater buffs call a "picture," which is just a nicer way of saying "a staged arrangement of bodies." They began to rehearse an acapella version of "Long and Winding Road," and as I sat and listened to these lyrics fitting perfectly into this beautiful melodic line, I was in awe. I HAD to hear more Beatles. REAL Beatles.

Then this kid got up with his guitar and played "Revolution" with the band. That was it. I was sold. I thought, this is INCREDIBLE. Why don't I know this music? And so into Beatles land I went, where you find me now.

This is Eleanor Rigby
Band: The Beatles
Album: Revolver

4 comments:

kddub said...

My mom was obsessed with the beatles growing up, she saw them first on American bandstand. She even had her hair cut in that sort of bowl cut, so she could shake her head and say "woooo" like they do.
I do love the beatles too. (maybe not as much as her though)

truevyne said...

Hey Jude is my fav Beatle tune.

Seth Ward said...

Hey Jude is a good one. I am always a sucker for A Day in the Life, Happiness is a Warm Gun, Blackbird, Good Day Sunshine or I am the Walrus.

FancyPants said...

I need to laugh...(doo doot doo doo) and when the sun is out....I've got somethin' I can..laugh about.

Love it.