McCartney got it right

The story goes that after being repeatedly criticized by many music critics, and John Lennon for that matter as well, for writing too many "light weight" songs, Paul McCartney wrote "Silly Love Songs" as kind of not so subtle response.  As much as I am a huge fan of John's - really, all the Beatles (yes, even Ringo- Ringo is a true visionary as far as I am concerned) - I have always found this particular story very informing as a writer.

On many levels the message to me is, "stick to your guns," to say nothing of the notion of what's wrong with writing about love, anyway?  In point of fact Lennon wrote countless classic love songs himself, and the reality is that there are far more hit love songs than anything else.  Love works.  On so many levels, it just works.

There is even a compelling argument to be made that all music is about love - and I genuinely believe that to be the case. Even protest songs can easily be viewed, without losing even the slightest bit of their potency, as love songs: in simplest terms, love of humanity.  In point of fact, my strong feeling is that there is a very real and direct connection through music - all music - to a, forgive the cliche, higher power.  At the risk of being too melodramatic, that really is the heart of all of it for me, and I suppose it manifests itself in all I do. Everything.  Or at least I hope it does. Music is love.  It's Godly.  Pure.  I make this point seriously, despite its obvious self-righteous tone.  But in the end, what else could possibly be the point of music?

As I have been writing more and more, for what seems to be a never to be completed CD at this rate, I keep coming back to this notion of music, and love songs and all of it.  In fact, it reminds me of a former associate of mine who used to take what seemed to be great joy in endlessly mocking me over the fact I write so many love songs.  He liked to present himself as very erudite - regarding music and pretty much everything else - I lost track of the number of times he would lecture me about how I should be living my life and such - likely a strong reason why that association eventually unraveled; but I digress.

The point is that in the end, I felt only sorry for him.  Imagine someone so very smart but so very myopic as to be unable to appreciate something as simple as the sentiment of a love song.  I don't just mean my songs - one could certainly claim they are at best mediocre.  I mean the concept itself seemed less than worthy to him.  And as I look back at his behavior with other people, even his own family, everything seemed so trivialized all the time.  So impure.

Now I realize the hypocrisy of judging him in one breath while complaining of his judging of me in the other, but the difference to me is intent.  To not see the point in love songs.  To not feel they had anything new or viable to say, as he would tell me, seems, well, sad.  I am grateful to know what real love is.  I hope my former associate finds it within himself to someday seek it out and reciprocate it.

As I said at the start, McCartney got it right, and I, for one, intend to follow his lead.  So in the interest of full disclosure I thought I would include one of my favorite photos - one that I find inspiring beyond words:

 

If you cannot see the true essence of love and why it matters in that image, well, I don't even know what to say.  And OK, while that photo of my parents is truly inspiring to me, so is this one, even if it is more predicable that I would post it in this context (yes, I am ridiculously lucky):