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[Keri]

Is there a limit to what we can get out of the Beatles? Have they been analysed to death? Will future listeners have genuinely new things to say about their music?

John and George are not going to make new music and I don't know if Paul and Ringo will do anything wildly surprising?

So is there more to say?

I know I haven't exhausted the pleasure of listening to Beatles music both together and solo, there is plenty more joy there for me, but having emerged from that joy, will I have something new to say about it?

[2 of 3]

It's funny that I was thinking the exact thing the other day. I keep wanting to  start threads here for people to discuss things, but I have a difficult time coming up with new topics.

My question right now is.... Are musicians like athletes? They just can't do the things they used to do when they were younger? Is Paul where he should be at this point in his musical life? Does it depend on the person?

I want to know what that stretch of magic is that a lot of people find. Why does it seem like there is a 5-10-year time period where some people just can't do anything wrong. Where does that go?

[Mervap]

The beauty of a topic such as the Beatles is that there are always new fans "discovering" them.....if we can just find them! :-)

[Keri]

My question right now is.... Are musicians like athletes? They just can't do the things they used to do when they were younger? Is Paul where he should be at this point in his musical life? Does it depend on the person?

Paul has done amazingly well, the amount of talent he has shown across a very long musical career. I think it's good that he's done stuff like Firemen and his classical works that have stretched his talents.

I think there is still room for more, if he has done long form classical works why couldn't he do something that puts long form rock pop and elements of classical and even techno. A continuation of where Sgt Pepper and Side two of Abby Road were going. Don't expect it will happen, but he has the talent for it, but maybe not the ambition or the will.

My expectation though is Paul won't do anything else that really reshapes his legacy or strikes out notably from what he has done before, it'd be nice to be proved wrong. But as I said he's got an amazing and varied body of work anyway.

[Keri]

By the way, I was posing a question so I would be more than happy for someone to make a convincing case for the endless richness of meaning that can yet flow from contemplation of Beatle art. I don't think we should wait for young blood to revitalise the discussion, we are a small but nice and intelligent group of Beatle nerds, who should be able to sit around virtually wagging our chins about the amazing delights we have experienced from those four guys from Liverpool.

[Mervap]

As a Beatle nerd, I have to say that what really interests me about the Lads is getting to know what sort of instruments they used, how they came to use them, the recording techniques used to capture the magic....the nuts and bolts of it all. I love the rest of it, for sure, but the hardware makes my noggin thump.

[2 of 3]

It's the creation part that gets my noggin going. Of course, the instruments and technical side is a part of creation, but holy moly...sometimes when I hear a lick just sort of stuck into a song as fill, I wonder how they did that over and over again. Something from nothing is a beautiful thing. 

[Keri]

It's the creation part that gets my noggin going...

Me too, not being a musician,I do see the music is made with instruments, chords, notes, but it is those things coming together with words, with connotations and images to form an amazing whole and it is what it does for my imagination and heart that really gets to me.

[Greg]

Great topic.

I suppose they are still talking about Shakespeare.  The Beatles are like Shakespeare to me.

[Keri]

I suppose they are still talking about Shakespeare.  The Beatles are like Shakespeare to me.

Thanks, that's what i wanted to hear.

[kylenz]

Great topic, is there a limit to discussion? I guess we find these things out here. I'd be happy just to talk about the old albums over and over.. and there's plenty of tidbits of news too about things going on in their lives - Macca, Sean Lennon etc.

Like Mervap, it's their recording techniques that continue to arouse my interest. How did they create that magic? That's what I like to read.

[Greg]

I have some books on obscure topics that kind of help answer this interesting question.

The Quarrymen.  The Beatles in Cleveland.  A book by the president of the George Harrison fan club about what it was like to be the president of that fan club.  Body Count by Francie Schwartz.   The Day John Met Paul by Jim ODonnell.  Pete Shotton's book is fantastic. Uncle to a Beatle by John's uncle.  Several books that are just about their financial history.  One book that's just about the financial history of Northern Songs. 

Then there are the Paul Is Dead books.  I think I have three of those. (And...by the way...isn't there a limit of discussion on that topic?  3 Books?!  Apparently even that doesn't have a limit.)

These books alone could be discussed for quite a long time.  For instance, I don't think we've ever discussed the tragedy of them signing that contract for Northern Songs that essentially was them signing their rights to those songs away forever.

I wouldn't be surprised if we started talking about something that we've already discussed but forgot we'd already talked about it.

[Keri]

I have some books on obscure topics that kind of help answer this interesting question.

The Quarrymen.  The Beatles in Cleveland.  A book by the president of the George Harrison fan club about what it was like to be the president of that fan club.  Body Count by Francie Schwartz.   The Day John Met Paul by Jim ODonnell.  Pete Shotton's book is fantastic. Uncle to a Beatle by John's uncle.  Several books that are just about their financial history.  One book that's just about the financial history of Northern Songs. 

Then there are the Paul Is Dead books.  I think I have three of those. (And...by the way...isn't there a limit of discussion on that topic?  3 Books?!  Apparently even that doesn't have a limit.)

These books alone could be discussed for quite a long time.  For instance, I don't think we've ever discussed the tragedy of them signing that contract for Northern Songs that essentially was them signing their rights to those songs away forever.

I wouldn't be surprised if we started talking about something that we've already discussed but forgot we'd already talked about it.

To me when starting into the "Paul is Dead" stuff is jumping the shark. It's probably better to discuss music by another group than concentrating on the Beatles at that level. I find it the equivalent of the authorship debate with Shakespeare, it doesn't bring you closer to the art, it's more a modern obsession.

[Keri]

... I'd be happy just to talk about the old albums over and over.. .

Like Mervap, it's their recording techniques that continue to arouse my interest. How did they create that magic? That's what I like to read.

Yes our relationship to the albums can keep changing and surely we are able verbalise that so there should be an evolving discussion that can keep going on, the recording techniques are interesting, I also find the cultural aspect interesting, what influence did they have on the modern mind, how much did the times shape the Beatles works. That kind of thing is nebulous, I suppose the important thing is that whatever the discussion we are finding Joy there.

[Greg]

Then there are the Paul Is Dead books.  I think I have three of those. (And...by the way...isn't there a limit of discussion on that topic?  3 Books?!  Apparently even that doesn't have a limit.)

To me when starting into the "Paul is Dead" stuff is jumping the shark. It's probably better to discuss music by another group than concentrating on the Beatles at that level. I find it the equivalent of the authorship debate with Shakespeare, it doesn't bring you closer to the art, it's more a modern obsession.

Good points.  The angle that one of these books took is worth noting.  And, to your point, the angle was not really about The Beatles.  They analyzed other phenomena like the Paul Is Dead thing throughout history.  Like...similar instances have happened for 1000s of years. It turns out it takes the right factors in a society to create something this big.  I have too few memories of this book, but it was fascinating from a sociological point of view as opposed to a Beatle-o-logical point of view. (Put that word in the dictionary with a dash by my name.  I want to be dashed.)

EDIT:  I always wanted to make a meme.