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bytheirexperienceswhenundertheinfluenceofLDS.However,thereisagood
caseforclaimingthattheycamefromanothersourcealtogether;thatbeing
aphilosophy,oratleastaphilosophicalposition,thattheyhadbeencommittedto,
albeitonlyhalf-consciously,sincetheverybeginningoftheirrisetofame.
Lovewasalltheyneeded
Inordertoidentifythatsourceitisfirstnecessarytonoteaparticularlyintrigu-
ingfactabouttheBeatles’music.Thisisthat,upuntil1966,Lennonand
McCartneywroteonlyonekindoflyrics–thekindassociatedwiththepopular
romanticsong.Nowonemightimaginethatthereisnothingunremarkableabout
song-writersconcentratingonthethemeofromanticlove,forafterallthishas
alwaysbeenacentralingredientofthepopularsong.Butthisistoforgetthatthe
Beatles,intheirfirstpersona,didnotidentifywiththistradition,butwithrock
‘n’roll,agenreinwhichromanticlovedidnotoccupysuchadominantroleasit
didinmainstreampopularmusic.Theirprincipalinfluencesintheearlyyears
weresuchestablishedrock‘n’rollperformersasElvisPresley,BuddyHolly,
ChuckBerry,andLittleRichard,whiletheycommonlyincludedsuchrock‘n’
rollstandardsas“TwistandShout”,“RollOverBeethoven”,and“KansasCity”
intheiract.YetacomparisonofthelyricsofthesesongswiththosethatJohn
andPaulwrotebetween1960and1966revealsaconsiderabledifference.For
thereisnosingleBeatles’songoutofthetotalofnearlysixtyissuedbetween
October1962andJuly1965thatisconcernedwithanytopicotherthanboy-girl
romance.ThereisnoclassicBeatles’numberdealingwithdance,forexample,
tostandcomparisonwith“TwistandShout”,“RockAroundtheClock”,“Roll
overBeethoven”,or“Shake,RattleandRoll”.Noristhereanythingthat
celebratesthemalepeacockresponsesuchas“BlueSuedeShoes”,ormale
virilityandaggressionsuchasElvisPresley’s“Trouble”and“TigerMan”,or(to
takeanexamplefromafewyearslater)theRollingStones’“StreetFighting
Man”.So,quiteremarkablyforagroupwhoaimedtobethebestrock‘n’roll
bandintheworld,theBeatlesneverwroteasongaboutdancing,malenarcis-
sism,machoposturingoraggression.Indeed,crucially,theiridentityascreative
artists,ratherthansimplyasrock‘n’rollperformers,wasexclusivelylinkedto
lovesongs,somethingthatsuggestshowitwasthattheymanagedtofind
answerstothefundamentalphilosophicalquestionstheyhadbeguntoaskwhen
theystoppedtouring;andhencetoanunderstandingoftheirtransitionfrompop
idolstobohemianartists/musicians;forbasicallywecansaythattheBeatles
alwaysbelievedinthepoweroflove.Inotherwords,theydidn’tjustsingabout
it–andmoresignificantly,writesongsaboutit–justbecauseconvention
dictatedtheyshould.Theywroteandsangaboutlovewithtotalconvictionfor
thesimplereasonthattheyreallydidbelieveinitspowerandsignificance.And
ofcoursethisbeliefprovedtobewellfounded.For“love”hadservedthemvery
wellindeed,giventhatapassionatefeelingforitssensibilities,andanabilityto
