{"id":7051,"date":"2017-06-26T19:04:33","date_gmt":"2017-06-27T00:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thefest.com\/kdstaging2\/?p=7051"},"modified":"2017-06-26T19:04:33","modified_gmt":"2017-06-27T00:04:33","slug":"an-injured-poem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/injured-poem-beatles","title":{"rendered":"An Injured Poem?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cA song is an injured poem<\/em><\/p>\n

Which leans on music for its strength.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anonymous<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Or worded in plain-speak: \u201cSongs are mostly appreciated based on the accompanying music.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

This is the standard English teachers\u2019 rule to which The Beatles hold myriad exceptions. In fact, literally hundreds of lines from Beatles\u2019 tunes \u2013 throughout the span of their career \u2013 stand alone as poignant, memorable poetry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Take for example, the haunting warning, \u201cOne day, you\u2019ll look to see I\u2019m gone. But tomorrow many rain, so\u2026I\u2019ll follow the sun.\u201d<\/em> Poetry! Tune, or no tune to back it up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Or consider:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s only love and that is all.<\/em><\/p>\n

Why should I feel the way I do?<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s only love\u2026and that is all.<\/em><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s so hard \u2013 loving you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read that verse aloud, without the music, and what you will find is the complete helplessness of the writer \u2013 the frustration and pain of loss \u2013 a loss made even more <\/em>evident in the tuneless void. Spoken without the magical music behind the words, there is nothing to soften the blow. What you discover is a lover desperately trying to shrug off the intensity of his feelings and forebodings \u2013 and failing miserably. Utterly. You witness a very private moment and an unforgettable one. And that, my friend, is poetry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Beatles were, indeed, poets whose music only enhanced<\/strong> the strength of their compositions. Their lyrics are works of art, and \u201cin their own write,\u201d they succeed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My favorite line from the immense Beatles catalog is, surprisingly, not a Lennon line. But I like to think that Paul was addressing his words to John \u2013 that he was reminding his old friend of the lifelong connection the two of them shared, despite the difficulties they were encountering in the moment. That image, in itself, injects the words with raw emotion. But the couplet also has a second level of meaning as my husband, Rande, and I prepare to celebrate our 40th<\/sup> Wedding Anniversary on 23 June.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You and I have memories<\/em><\/p>\n

Longer than the road that stretches out ahead.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sad, but true, I think. Although (who knows?) we may be lucky. My parents celebrated 72 years together. Dare we hope for 80? Perhaps. Though reality nudges me to admit that Paul\u2019s affectionate and haunting line is probably closer to the truth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first time I heard these words, I was sitting in the lobby of the Gibson Guitar Factory in Memphis, Tennessee, waiting to take the tour. The invisible powers-that-be behind the scenes were playing The Beatles \u2013 as it should be \u2013 and the quiet group listened. I had heard \u201cTwo of Us\u201d countless times, I\u2019m sure. But I\u2019d never really absorbed <\/em>the words until they filtered into that immense room\u2026until the poetry swirled over and around the atrium, washing every patron in deep emotion. Instantly, my eyes filled with tears\u2026for my parents who were in their early 90\u2019s and sitting with us that afternoon, for my husband and me \u2013 and yes, for Paul and John. It was a tender moment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Beatlesongs. So many of the lyrics could stand alone without any music to lean on \u2013 mature, complete in themselves, needing nothing more. But why should they stand alone? When the poetry inherent in \u201cIn My Life\u201d can be accompanied by the perfect melody, why not have the best of both worlds? Why not enjoy the whole package? We can be selfish, Beatles fans! We are blessed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But <\/em><\/strong>if you had to<\/em> pare down their songs to the lyrics alone\u2026pare them down to the poetry \u2013 the most memorable words \u2013 which lines have touched your heart the most? Which lines from a song by John, Paul, George, or Ringo have stayed with you throughout the years? And why?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Please take a moment and share your thoughts with us here at The Fest\u2026and you could win a collector\u2019s tin of Beatles coasters! Just respond in our Comments section and in two weeks, we\u2019ll draw a winner from the responses we receive. We truly love hearing from you, and we hope you enjoy taking a moment from the hectic, work-a-day world to revel in the music and poetry of The Fab Four.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk Beatles. Let\u2019s talk poetry.<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> http:\/\/www.differencebetween.net\/miscellaneous\/difference-between-poetry-and-song\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series:\u00a0www.johnlennonseries.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations —\u00a0@910PubRel<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter and\u00a0910 Public Relations<\/a>\u00a0on Facebook.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cA song is an injured poem Which leans on music for its strength.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anonymous \u00a0 Or worded in plain-speak: \u201cSongs are mostly appreciated based on the accompanying music.\u201d[1] \u00a0 This is the standard English teachers\u2019 rule to which The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":7053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[98,126,117,30],"class_list":["post-7051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-jude-southerland-kessler","tag-poetry","tag-the-beatles","tag-the-fest-for-beatles-fans"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7051"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7052,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7051\/revisions\/7052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}