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articulatethese–especiallyasexperiencedbyteenagers–wasacrucialfactorin
theirrisetofame.Soitwasthatnow,halfconsciously,halfsub-consciously,
theyturnedtoloveonceagain,butthistimenotsimplyasameanstoachieve
worldlysuccess,butratherasthebasisforatotalandsatisfyingphilosophyof
life.Andinsodoingtheyremainedtruetothemselves,merelyextrapolatingthis
faithfromitsrestrictedbasisinthecontextofboy-girlattachmentstoits
elaboratedformasacompletephilosophyoflife.Thatistosay,theywentfrom
believingin“boy-meets-girllove”to“peace-and-harmonylove”,ormore
precisely,fromromancetoromanticism.
ThelyricsoftheBeatles’earlysongsdealtwithallthevariousnuancesofthe
primaryromanticismofboy-girlrelationships,atleastasfarastheseare
perceivedfromthemalestandpoint.Manyinvolvedexpressionsofalover’s
entreatiestothelovedone(e.g.“LoveMeDo”,“PleasePleaseMe”),orofdec-
larationsofloveanddevotion(e.g.“FromMetoYou”,“AllMyLoving”),while
othersexpressedgratitudeforthelovereceived(“ThankYouGirl”,“I’llCry
Instead”),orsimplycelebratedthejoyofbeinginlove(“IShouldHaveKnown
Better”,“I’mHappyJusttoDancewithYou”).Equallynumeroushowever,
althoughinterestinglynotbyanymeansaspopularwiththepublicatthetime,
weresongsthatdealtwiththedarkersideofromance.Thereisthefearthatlove
willnotbereturned(“IfIFell”),togetherwiththetotaldejectionofthespurned
lover(“I’mDown”,“I’maLoser”),andthemiseryofaloverbetrayed(“TellMe
Why”,“WhatYou’reDoing”).Finally,thereisthebitterness,andeventhe
hatred,thatjealousycanbring(“YouCan’tDoThat”,“RunforYourLife”).
Whatissignificant,however,isthatanexaminationofthesesongswiththe
benefitofhindsightrevealsthattheycontain,inembryoasitwere,manyofthe
themesthatarecentraltothelaterromanticism.Indeed,therearefewsubjects
treatedintheearliersongsthatdonothavetheircounterpart–inamore
developedform–inthephilosophyofromanticismthattheBeatlescometo
adoptintheirlaterpersonaasbohemianartists/musicians.
Extrapolation1:anti-materialism
Oneofthemoreobviousexamplesofthisextrapolationcanbeseenintheanti-
materialismandrejectionofconsumerismthatbecomessuchafeatureofthe
1960scounter-culture.Thehippieswere,afterall,individualswhohadchosento
“dropout”ofthe“ratrace”,andputtingpersonaldevelopmentandenlighten-
mentbeforecareersuccessandmaterialwealth,chosetorejecttheconsumer
society
3
.Thisgeneralattitudeis,however,presentinembryoasitwerewithin
thestandardideologyofromanticlove,whichhasalwaysincludedtheassump-
tionthatlovewasmorepreciousthanwealth/materialpossessions(thesetwo
3
Forthematerialonthecountercultureofthe1960sseeWesthues1972;Mills,1973;
Musgrove1974andMarwick1998).
