Looking back on my childhood, there are so many memories that make me feel warm inside and make me smile. I feel so grateful, specifically, for the music I was brought up on, and it is definite that it has affected my life and who I am as a person. The Beatles have been a constant in my life ever since I was born, and I have so many fond childhood memories of listening to them. Whether it was playing “family room gymnastics” using pillow cushions and listening to a burned CD in the big black boombox playing “I Feel Fine,” or feeling the breeze while the living room curtains flowed and a large vertical speaker played “Yellow Submarine”, The Beatles have made such an imprint on me. 

I believe it was because of them that I have an appreciation for music, especially the “classics,” and have taken such an interest in singing and playing an instrument (bass guitar). As I write this, I am listening to 1969’s Abbey Road, and am feeling such a variety of emotions. I feel like I have known them for so long, and that they are a part of me. I am definitely not a historian of the band, although I have done my fair share of research and consumption of Beatles books, articles, and movies, but I feel such a unique and special connection to them. 

For some reason, they feel like summer. They feel like lemonade, warm breezes, sitting in the backyard, and dancing on the porch during a barbeque waiting for the food to be done. They also feel like lullabies, like comfort, like parental love, like the transcendence of generations. Having a grandmother who went to their famous Shea Stadium concert in 1965, and who collected Beatles memorabilia and passed it down to me also helps with my connection with the band. But it was first passed down to my Dad who finally realized, at some point in his life before me, that this band was special and should be appreciated. My parents’ wedding song was “Oh! Darling,” which is such a beautiful symbol of their mutual love of each other and appreciation and love of the band. 

One of my favorite movies to this day is “A Hard Day’s Night,” and I remember watching it as well as their other movie “Help!” from a young age. I also remember watching the cartoon movie “Yellow Submarine,” and reveling in all of the weird shapes and bright colors, and knowing all the songs on the soundtrack. My whole family loves The Beatles, and this isn’t even really the beginning of me explaining how much they mean to me. I find the band and their history so intriguing, especially the beginning, and I have never gotten sick of their music. They expanded over so many styles of music and are so complex that there is so much to explore and experience. 

Singing the John and Paul harmonies with my Dad, answering “What song is this?” in the car, and eventually knowing which one of the members is singing each song (a surprisingly hard skill), are all pieces of me, pieces that are so ingrained in my history, and pieces that carry such nostalgia. As they sing in “Because,” “Love is old, love is new/Love is all, love is you.” What a beautiful phrase, one that carries so much love. And one that carries so much history, as it was those lyrics and my baby handprints that were given to my Dad by my Mom on his first Father’s Day. The Beatles hold a special place in my heart, and it’s amazing how much nostalgia can come from the music you were brought up on.