It's in a minor key and somewhat dark and brooding but has, at least to my ears, a good, tight harmony presumably with Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It may be among the very songs from the rock genre that captured my ears and I find appealing. So, FReepers (a reliable font of wisdom), what's the real backstory on "Things We Said Today"? I'd really hate to think it came from a drug induced state since it seems like a interesting and catchy tune yet melancholy.
Ping to the “musical youth” who might be able to share their insight on this tune, an oldie to you but a new discovery to me.
Things We Said Today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev_XPaakW9Y
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In before “The Beatles were Overrated.”
Nice vocal harmony leading into the chorus. Otherwise not a super interesting song in my opinion.
Best minor key Beatles dirge is probably the radio classic While My Guitar Gently Weeps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3RYvO2X0Oo
Something sordid no doubt -- it is the Beatles after all.
The allure of the Beatles will always be that they were part of the Baby Boom culture, a demographic of young people that wanted to change the world.
The drugs, cigarettes, alcohol were all backdrop to the culture of the time. The Beatles were not leaders of it although in their effort to imprint a unique art stamp to pop music history they used it to explore new boundaries of musical art.
They were foolish, immature, lovable, funny and naughty. They were like the boys next door except they were extremely talented and handsome to the young girls of the era.
Some of their songs showed a wisdom and maturity well beyond their years and makes one wonder if George Martin had a guiding hand in it. John Lennon’s “In My Life” has been rated as one of the top 3 most beautiful songs ever written and it is hard to imagine the wisdom of the lyrics coming from a 24 year old.
They were used by the progressive left as icons of anti-establishment anti-capitalism but they themselves put the leftists in their place; just listen to the lyrics of “Revolution” and you can imagine conservatives saying “Damn straight John!”.
So they were a bit of an enigma but they mostly stuck to love songs and ballads.
John in his last years is said by many close to him to have come to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s so sad we weren’t able to see him fully grow up into a real great man.
From Wikipedia:
"McCartney wrote the song in May 1964 while cruising the Caribbean aboard a yacht called Happy Days with his then-girlfriend Jane Asher. Music critic Ian MacDonald said, "The sombre lyric—provoked by the frustrating interruptions of a relationship between two career people—matches the lowering gloom of the music.""Things We Said Today" has a reverse nostalgia premise. McCartney said, "I wrote this on acoustic. It was a slightly nostalgic thing already, a future nostalgia. We’ll remember the things we said today, sometime in the future, so the song projects itself into the future."
I was 14 when the Beatles made their debut in New York. I always liked their work, and I thought their earlier music was best. I can remember being stationed at Pearl Harbor in 1970 when they broke up, and there was a lot of upset Beatle fans then.
I wasn’t yet born when The Beatles first became popular. My earliest musical memories are fairly saturated with their music, though. It’s difficult to dislike them and I don’t, but I’ve heard nearly all of it so many times. There’s very little from any of their albums that I couldn’t identify from the first few chords. My parents listened to The Beatles.
So, I’m coming at it from a different perspective. I’d have to say, of the earlier Beatles tunes, the simpler, sweeter more lyrically straightforward songs, “In My Life” has to be the most beautiful and affecting.
The Beatles were brilliant composers.
If you want to listen to a 2 1/2 minute song played on for 3 or 4 hours.
Gets old quick.
I like the early Beatles the best.
In his last tour Paul McCartney included “The Night Before” and “Drive my car” in the line up.
It was great.