McClatchy Tribune

Two weeks ago the opinion page of The Collegian featured a thumbs-down to The Beatles. If you missed it, this is how it read:

“
Thumbs down
The Beatles
Come on guys, The Beatles changed music forever!… By being the first band ever to have a whole ton of generic-sounding songs about wanting to hold hands and needing help that everyone in the world sort of likes or at least can tolerate. Without them we’d never have Hootie and the Blowfish or Coldplay. And then where would we be?!”

For the record, I love The Beatles. They are my all-time favorite band, as shown by the yellow submarine hanging on my keychain, the play count on my iPod and The Beatles socks found frequently within my Converse shoes. So clearly, this installment of the One-Finger Salute hurt a bit.

I couldn’t disagree more that The Beatles’ only contribution to music history are songs people either sort of like or at least can tolerate. This, to me, could not be further from the truth and I don’t think I’m alone in that stance.

Spanning the release of “Please Please Me” in March 1963 and The Beatles’ last album, “Let It Be” in May 1970, the band wrote, sang and performed 12 studio albums and a soundtrack to their television film “Magical Mystery Tour.” That is quite a feat for a band that was professionally active for only about seven years.

The transformation of the band and thus their songs is what makes The Beatles so great in my opinion. The revolution in song writing from the innocent “I Want to Hold your Hand” to the whimsical sadness of “Strawberry Fields Forever” and the disturbing sexuality of “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” amazes me.

This discography landed four tracks by The Beatles in the top 20 of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (one of which happens to be about wanting to hold hands) and five albums in the top 15 of the magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” released in 1967, is number one on the list.

None of which was factored into the thumbs-down rating.

I understand not everyone is a fan of The Beatles, that’s not the issue I have with what was printed. My feeling is that the fans of John, Paul, George and Ringo deserve more of an explanation of the thumbs-down rating than 60 words can offer.

I get the stigma that accompanies a “changed music forever” label and the knee-jerk reaction to dispute the claim if one doesn’t agree. But to make a valid judgment, especially one that deems their entire catalog a “whole ton of generic-sounding songs,” shouldn’t more than a couple of tracks from the first three years in a band’s history be examined?

I will say it again, I love The Beatles. I love what the members stood for and the music they created. I love that instead of cashing in on Beatlemania and the madness of girls screaming their names, they chose to focus on the tunes and quit touring completely. I love that all four members actually played instruments and wrote and sang songs.

I just don’t feel they were given a fair chance at a thumbs-up.