The Beatles Sociology

What was it about The Beatles that made them so great? What is it that sets them apart from all the legendary bands of the time? Answering a question like this takes serious consideration and a certain level of knowledge and understanding. But when the research is over and one has come to a well thought out and, most importantly, comprehensive conclusion, that person may realize the answer is much simpler than was made out to be. But to really understand The Beatles – and anyone for that matter — you must first understand their environment, what was going on in their world. To answer really any question about The Beatles we must first dive into the sixties and be able to the fullest of our abilities, at least have an idea of what happened and to a certain extent understand why it happened that way.

Part I

The 1950s in the West was marked by the first of the Baby Boomers, the Korean War, reemergence of the Red Scare, economic prosperity, and most notable the beginning of the Cold War. Europe was on the rise again having very much recovered by the mid 50is from the destruction of WWII. The peoples attitude in the West, particularly England and the U.S., was very business oriented and material driven. This lifestyle worked for the pre-baby boomers, those who lived the woes of the Depression and the travesties of the war. In fact, to them there was no other way because the events that played out in their lives told them “this is it, this is the way to go.” Society in turn was conservative, and with good reason.
This was the environment The Beatles and their contemporaries – artists and fans alike – were raised in. You work to achieve monetary wealth, raise a family, and that’s it; that’s what life is all about. This sort of attitude spilled over into the sixties but didn’t last. With their major commercial success, The Beatles became increasingly unsatisfied and began questioning themselves, as many others of the generation did.
When one observes The Beatles’ musical progression over the decade – 1960-69 – it becomes very apparent their eagerness to try anything new and exotic, a trend you see throughout the decade among that generation. In many ways their eagerness for the new and “strange” was the result of very rapid and early commercial success at such a young age.
Beginning with the album Rubber Soul, released in 1965, as a group, The Beatles took a huge leap forward in the sophistication of their compositions. Songs like “Nowhere Man” and “Day Tripper’s” socially critical lyrics and genius harmonies (Nowhere Man) and “Norwegian Wood’s” excellent use of the sitar are among the early examples in The Beatles reflection of a growing cultural movement with a taste for the eccentric and exotic. Like the movement, The Beatles began to blossom as musicians just as it began taking form.

Part II

In 1966, The Beatles did their last tour of Britain after which they would have the most down time since1962. Each member began experimenting on their own, learning different disciplines of music and indulging themselves in culture by means of reading and traveling. Paul began studying classical music, Lennon began exploring his inner consciousness through LSD, while George on the other hand began studying Indian music and culture. George’s infatuation with Indian culture began on the set of the movie Help! when a Hindu devotee gave all the members of the band a book on reincarnation. In 1965 fellow musician and friend David Crosby of The Byrds would introduce him to Indian musician and Sitar guru Ravi Shankar whom would inspire George to buy his first Sitar; this being the first step towards his spiritual/cultural awakening. The catalyst would be Harrison’s trip to Indian in 1966 to study the sitar under Ravi Shankar. During this trip he would visit various shrines and holy places which only deepened his affection for the culture. From then on he was devoted to Indian culture.
Around this time, Harrison became in a sense the group’s spiritual leader. He didn’t necessarily introduce Eastern philosophy to the rest of the band members but he certainly cultivated it among them. The Beatles all had tremendous influence on each other. What one thought or said about something directly affected what the others thought about it too. For example, in an interview with Paul McCartney about changing attitudes in the late 60ies, he says, “Even though everyone is sort of getting on very well in this society we've got, it's a bit too controlled, you know. Because you suddenly, you want to go and do something and somebody says: 'Oh, no!! Subsection B, Clause A!! You can't do that, you know!!.......' (http://beatlesinterviews.org/db1967.0118.beatles.html) This is directly related to Harrison’s interest in Eastern philosophy because Paul is basically asking for people to be more open and not assume things are a certain way without any information or experience to back their assumption. Traditionally Europeans have looked down on anything not Christian and white. Now you have this British fellow from Liverpool getting into Meditation and Indian culture – which is the “inferior” colonized culture to the British I might add – it doesn’t set well with an overly-proud and ethno-centric society.
This journey of Spirituality began with George’s experiences with LSD. Through his trips he had the realization of God which is what sent him looking for the answers in meditation and transcendentalism. George would be the first of the group to admit that LSD has powerful spiritual effects and can help one see things that aren’t necessarily visible or perceivable at first, but it isn’t an answer. Many of the victims of the middle sixties drug explosion would agree that psychedelics do have profound consequences on one’s outlook on life but they aren’t the answer. Hunter S. Thompson, author, doctor of journalism, and victim of the middles sixties drug explosion, shot the whole scene down in one paragraph. He said, “That was the fatal flaw in Tim Leary's trip. He crashed around America selling consciousness expansion, without ever giving a thought to the grim meat hook realities that were lying in wait for all those peoples who took him seriously. All those pathetically eager acid freaks who thought they could buy peace and understanding for three bucks a hit. But their loss, and failure, is ours too. What Leary took down with him was that the central illusion of a whole lifestyle that he helped create... a generation of permanent cripples, failed seekers, who never understood the essential old mystic fallacy of the acid culture. The desperate assumption that somebody, or at least some force, is tending the light at the end of the tunnel.” (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) Nothing could be further from the truth, and George quickly recognized the fallacy of the trip. He realized that acid could only take you so far, from there on you would have to do it yourself. This is what led him to transcendental meditation. To George that was the final step, that level of consciousness between being awake, asleep, and dreaming, obtainable only through an unaltered head and deep concentration. Though he realized this early on there were, others like band mate John Lennon, who took it more seriously and were more naïve toward the acid culture. Coincidentally, it would be Indian culture and transcendental meditation that George introduced to the group that John would be weaned from his psychological addiction to LSD.
With the release of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” George only gets one song on the album: “Within You, Without You” and is easily the most profound and beautiful of the album; or any Beatles song for that matter. Demonstrating his study of Indian music and culture he combines the two in a sublime composition of musicianship and lyric. Though the music of the song is genius to say the least, the real genius lies in the lyrics and its profound message. Highly critical of society, the song demonstrates Harrison’s passive nature and great social awareness in lines like: “We were talking-about the space between us all,
And the people-who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion, Never glimpse the truth-then it's far too late-when they pass away,” or “Try to realize it's all within yourself, No-one else can make you change ,And to see you're really only very small, And life flows on within you and without you.” George like many of his contemporary artists felt the energy of the generation and saw the potential that could be. This acute social awareness is demonstrated in lines “With our love-we could save the world-if they only knew” and, “We were talking-about the love that's gone so cold and the people, Who gain the world and lose their soul-They don't know-they can't see.” Widely disregarded as nothing more than a pleasant filler song on the album by most people, this is definitely the most sophisticated in terms of musicianship and lyric on Sgt. Peppers. Within You Without You is George Harrison’s masterpiece, truly capturing the spiritual essence and social discontent of the counter culture. No other Beatles song truly represents the sixties counter culture in all its glory than Within You Without You.
“Being in The Beatles did help speed up the process of God-realization, but it also hindered it as there were more impressions and more entanglements to get out of.” (George Harrison, The Beatles Anthology) The Beatles are so iconic because of the numerous parallels of social change over the decade happening to coincide with the changes happening in the band itself; in particular, George Harrison’s experience as the group Guitarist and youngest member. By the age of 23 George had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life and had no real reason to stop making money. But he grew dissatisfied with his social status of rich and famous and began wondering what it was all about, if that was all there was to life? “When you’ve had all these experiences – met all the famous people, made some money, toured the world and got all the acclaim – you still think: ‘Is that it?’” (George Harrison, The Beatles Anthology) Like many people growing up or already grown up in the sixties, they saw their parents slaving away, day by day, doing a job they hated and thought is that really what life is? Doing something you hate to reach a goal that society says is the right way? Many bought into their parents lifestyles but George and many others of the generation chose different path. Those paths were all about not weighing success or happiness in monetary terms. They were about bettering of oneself in a different way than just how much material you owned.

Part III

With The Beatles officially not touring anymore, Lennon – as all the other Beatles did – had lots of free time for himself. John became interested in exploring his psyche through the use of LSD. With no established LSD scene in England at the time, Lennon had no teacher or anything to model after. He took to the “authority” of Timothy Leary with his book The Psychedelic Experience which would serve as the modal for his experiment. This would be the beginning of a phase in Lennon’s life where LSD became an increasingly important element in his life. So much so that he would trip for days on end with little rest between the next binge. Under Leary’s guidance John became an acid fiend which almost left his mind obliterated, narrowly escaping the near fate of the unfortunate “acid casualty”.
With the release of The Beatle’s 7th studio album Revolver we see the full effects that this spare time has had on the sound of The Beatles. George with his sitar and Indian music and John with his LSD inspired lyrics. John’s Tomorrow Never Knows really sets the tone for what is to come from him on the later albums. The song was actually conceived from one of John’s early acid trips and really shows John’s innocence towards the drug and what was really happening in regards to Leary and his “cultural revolution”. At this time in 1966 Leary was at the height of his influence and it had clearly rubbed off on John. Much of the lyrics of the song are actually taken directly from Leary’s book The Psychedelic Experience – which was based on Buddhist script The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Though John would go on to write numerous LSD driven songs, this one is most directly about the drug than any other.
Though musically exhilarating and sophisticated the most important concept to take away from this song is its cultural impact. For one, it introduced LSD and Leary’s “revolution” to the youth of Western world. For the next four to five years LSD and Leary were in the spot light. Anything The Beatles did almost certainly became a fad or at least popular with the youth. For example, Paul McCartney’s interview about LSD and Journalism on 6/19/1967 (http://beatlesinterviews.org/db1967.0619.beatles.html) – In the interview, the journalist asks Paul if he had taken LSD and how many times. Paul answers truthfully about having taken and goes onto explain that just because he took acid doesn’t mean he’s promoting it among the youth or that just because he took it his fans are going to take it. Musically it changed everything; this song’s influence alone resonates in many other modern genres. For instance, the many sub-genres of rave and dance music and in modern styles of rock through the loud and aggressive drum lines. George’s influence of Indian music brought into Western music sounds that hadn’t been heard in since the 1200s. The reintroduction of drone and the psychedelic lyrics, harmonies, and drum sounds had a direct influence on modern psychedelic genres today including rave music and drone rock. (Revolution in The Head)
Lennon for the next two years would be an avid adherer to Leary’s revolution, living in a chemically altered state for the better part of that time. For a time he lost contact with who he was, chasing this mythical state of ego-death and eternal joy. He never found it and unlike many of his fabled contemporaries, made it out in one piece; still functioning and for the most part mentally unaltered. Once he realized the fallacy in the acid culture, especially the culture being sold by Leary, Lennon began distancing himself from Leary, slowly but surely that phase was coming to an end. Though acid did many positive things for him, it very nearly left him on the brink of psychological collapse and John was very aware of this. “If we had met Maharishi before we had taken acid, we wouldn’t have needed to take it.” (John Lennon, The Beatles Anthology) Like many others of the generation, John was a seeker. He sought the meaning of all this which is why George and John had such a close but distinct relationship; a mutual understanding. Both were after what most people were and as they matured realized there were no shortcuts, the answer was inside of them. It was there, it was just a matter of finding it.

Part IV

So what was it? Why The Beatles? Apart from their excellent musicianship The Beatles had this acute social awareness that really made them able to capture the energy that was the sixties. They changed with the times but most importantly they did it sub-consciously, unplanned, and effortlessly. They moved to the same beat as the generation. It is clear that as the sixties progressed and moved further away from that post war insecurity and into a more aware and open society you see it in their music. If you knew nothing of the sixties but the music of The Beatles, based on the phenomenal change in the sound of their music and the sophistication of their lyrics, the turmoil of the time becomes obvious. Each album can almost be interpreted as a reaction in itself to an external event. The Beatles embodied the energy of the sixties and when that energy ran out so did The Beatles. By 1970 it was clear that the potential of the age was lost and with that The Beatles were over. An entity like The Beatles cannot exist without the energy of a generation fueling them. No surprise that a musical group as popular and influential as The Beatles hasn’t existed since, just as a generation like theirs hasn’t either.