The Beatles Will Never Die

What is it about The Beatles that is so pervasive? This weekend got me thinking about it after sitting in the scorching South Carolina sun to watch a tribute band.

Somehow, a 4 man band from Liverpool has managed to achieve what so few have in the history of pop culture: eternal, untouchable coolness.

When I was in high school, my best friend and I would drive home every day singing along (with assigned harmonization) to One, a compilation album of The Beatles' #1 hits. We were really good, particularly on "Eight Days a Week."

My 12 year-old brother has recently become a huge Beatles fan after I suggested that he learn "Let It Be" for a piano recital. Now the Fab Four take up his iPod. He listens to them every night. Yesterday he referenced "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" while we were watching Indiana Jones. Tonight, I heard him singing "When I'm 64" in the shower.

What the heck is going on here? How does a kid that was born in 1998 get so much enjoyment out of a musical group that broke up in 1970?

Somehow, some way, The Beatles are timeless. I once chided a roommate when she told me that she stopped listening to their music after a bad break-up, because they were her boyfriend's favorite band. Infuriated, I told her, "The Beatles are bigger than love!" What a strange sentiment, but it doesn't feel false.

Now, I'm not going to analyze why The Beatles are important musically. There are 33 million Google entries that could probably do a better job of that. I'm sure it's pretty apparent that The Beatles made largely accessible, evolving, innovative music. It's not surprising that people still love it. What is amazing about The Beatles is the collective decision that we made, consciously or not, that they were impeachably cool for all eternity.

Now certainly, the death of John Lennon played a role in this. The best thing you can do for your career in entertainment is die young and unexpectedly. However, Paul McCartney lived on, as did Ringo and George, for the time being. The heart was dead, but the soul lived on.

I think, in the end, it's a combination of factors, beginning with an insane rise to fame (what would be called Bieberesque today), an unprecedented consistency of artistic relevancy, a break-up that left the world wanting more, a villain to blame in Yoko, and finally a tragic death.

Somehow, this all led to The Beatles taking #1 on everybody's all-time lists of everything great. Seriously, have you ever met anyone who would admit to not liking The Beatles. All I know is that, even when we've lost Paul and Ringo, even when the music is 100 years old, people will still love it and listen to it.

All you need is love, and The Beatles are bigger than love.