Written by Sabrina Cusumano
From the moment I was born, I believe it was my dad’s mission to raise a Beatles fan. I have so many childhood memories of playing Beatles Top 100 at top volume on family road trips. And sitting in the living room watching A Hard Day’s Night, and Help!, on snow-days with my family. The Beatles have changed my love and appreciation for music and I have alway been fascinated by their talent of crafting and perfecting songs. I’ve spent endless hours listening to their music, watching documentaries, and studying their lyrics; therefore, I would consider myself an expert of analyzing the work of the band. Especially on days like today where we get to celebrate the longevity of their work and how it has been so impactful decades later.
It's been 56 years since the release of arguably one of the most renowned Beatles albums, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. This album made its debut on record store shelves in the UK on June 1, 1967. A time when the Vietnam War was brewing and Space Exploration was still in trial. The Beatles. A psychedelic 60s rock-pop band consisting of the four most influential music artists of all time, John Lennon, Paul Mcartney, George Harisson, and Ringo Starr. The British Invasion conquered the hearts of everyone in the country, specifically in this album ranging from avangard circus music, to an orchestrated classical style, along with Indian music, all compiled together giving us what we know today as, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club” Band. Joe Cusumano, an avid Beatles fan, was asked about his own personal thoughts on the album and what it means to him. Cusumano states, “this is the Beatles basically telling the world, “meet the new Beatles, we dare you to ignore us” and then proceed to kick the door down right from beginning to end.”
In my own opinion, the album cover of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” is one of my personal favorites out
of all the album covers. At first glance, the viewer is welcomed by the eye-catching and flamboyant colors that the four men are wearing. They even illustrate the juxtaposition between old and new as their younger selves are standing beside each other. The old Beatle manikins are depicted on the left hand side of the album dressed in their famous dark suits. Surrounding them are their band heroes and influences as a sign of support and validation of these new phases in their lives. Some of these celebrities and notable people include Edgar Allan Poe, Bob Dylan, Marilyn Monroe, Karl Marx, Oscar Wilde, Shirley Temple, Albert Einstein.
It is important to note that this album is supposed to be listened to in its entirety to gain the full experience of what this album has to offer. Starting with the song “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” and ending with “A Day in a Life”. But by far my favorite song on the album and perhaps one of my top ten Beatles songs ever is “A Day in the Life”, originally a Lennon song, it was inspired by the death of Tara Browne, a 21 year old friend of the Beatles and heir to the Guinness company who died in a car accident which Lennon had read about in the Daily Mail newspaper. Lennon, an
avid newspaper reader, would often turn to periodicals for inspiration. John turned to Paul for help with fleshing out the middle or “bridge” of the song and Paul responded by adding the “woke up, fell out of bed” section, which is also in a quicker beat to speed things up a bit. Finally the song ends in an amazing 40 piece orchestral crescendo where the musicians were instructed to play their individual instruments from the lowest possible register to the loudest they could possibly play creating an explosive ending with the final piano chord continuing into infinity. “A Day in the Life”; truly a masterpiece of pop music and a fine example of the fabled Lennon- McCartney collaboration. I feel that this piece perfectly embodies and ties and ends the entire album pretty well.
Another favorite song of mine is, “When I’m Sixty-Four” written by Paul Mcartney wrote this song at age 14 in 1956. Another Beatles fan, Bryanna Ackerman shared her opinion on this song as well, ““When I’m Sixty-Four” perfectly encapsulates the “older” Beatles styles compared to the other songs within the album, this songs is orchestrated so perfectly with instrumentals of the clarinets, pianos, and bells.” Fun Fact, this song was on a part of the early days of the Beatles if the electricity went down or their amps would break. This song shares such a beautiful story of a young man singing to his lover of the long-lasting life they will live together. In 1966, it was speculated during the recording of this album that Mcartney wanted to add this song because his father turned 64 that year. Lennon made his contribution to Mcartney’s lyrics by adding, “Grandchildren on your knee, Vera, Chuck, and Dave” and “Digging the garden, doing the weeds.” This song was also sped-up and in a different key compared to the original song to make Mcartney’s voice appear younger. This song really emphasizes the diversity of the album going from pop, to Indian classical, all the way to music hall. If one were to listen to the album in its entirety, this piece breaks up the album and shares such a calming and loving story.
Today’s artists often struggled with being defined under one umbrella genre for all of their music; however, The Beatles were the blueprint for breaking genre barriers while exposing themselves to all styles of music which is what essentially led to their success. Especially the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album ultimately changed the status of the Beatles. They defined themselves as a band who was capable of composing songs of more than one genre and perfecting every single second of it. It's captivating that 56 years and many generations later fans are still able to recognize the Beatles as a ground breaking band who changed the music industry for the better.
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