As I sit in my bedroom, with my wife asleep next to me and my two young boys and pet dog slumbering in the next room, I often strum my guitar and wonder about the nature of Reality. I have spent several decades attempting to decode myself, my history, my Identity. Will I always be a Prisoner? LX1664? I am a Good Father. I love my children. I have learnt a lot from them. A lot about the nature of human development. Because when you’re a parent you find out that you’re children are becoming conscious. They are learning to exist. So one of your roles is to be a guide and a warden and a safe place, your role is to love and nurture. I understand the influence I have on my children. I understand, and see, that they are learning from their environment; talking like me; thinking like me. But also challenging me, questioning me, testing their boundaries. Boundaries are important – because to respect others is important and if we teach our children to believe that they can have everything they want whenever they want it – then they will always want everything, expect everything.
Children learn from their friends, they learns from their nursery, their schools. They learn from each other and from trying things themselves. As do we all. There are a multitude of variable inputs that make us what we are. And the question raises it’s head once again – how can anyone be held solely responsible for their actions if other people help to shape us make? Make us the way we are? And, if we decide that the importance of this fact is enough to change the way we do things and Individual Responsibility disappears to be replaced by the interwoven network of Social Responsibility what are the consequences of that?
“I’m looking through you, where did you go
I thought I knew you, what did I know?
You don’t look different, but you have changed
I’m looking through you
You’re not the same.”
‘I’m looking through you’
The Beatles
Let’s talk about the most Influential Band Ever:
The Beatles.
The Beatles existed during a pivotal point in musical history. The second world war was over, flower power and free love were heading our way, ‘give peace a chance’. The Blues was evolving into Rock ‘n’ Roll, harmonies all over the place. The Beatles began as a boy band, four working class lads from Liverpool donned suits to entertain the crowd. The songs were tight, beautifully written and they worked hard. In 1963 they became ridiculously famous, bigger than Michael Jackson, One Direction or Taylor Swift, there was a word for it – Beatlemania. After three years of screaming girls and press and live gigs they were exhausted, jaded, done with touring by 1966.
The Beatles were the first progressive band.
Jon Anderson, Yes
The albums they produced around this period are phenomenal. Rubber Soul – 1965, Revolver – 1966, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – 1967, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine! These albums contain a massive array of near perfect songs, exciting and interesting even by today’s standards. Executed by a band that were a family, knew each other intimately and had the musical ability to experiment successfully regardless of genre. They had commercial pop and Rock ‘n’ Roll under their belts, they definitely knew how to craft a song, now the Beatles would go on to make, what we would think of today as, Progressive Rock, Heavy Metal, Indie and Experimental Art Music. Thousands of bands, millions, perhaps billions, of individuals have been influenced one way or another. Without the Beatles influence music would be something other than it is today. And You would be too. For that alone we owe them some respect, so if you want a ticket to ride you better get on board – check out our Beatles Spotify Playlist.
If we acknowledge that influence exists, cause and effect, then we acknowledge our responsibility towards others, and their responsibility to us, in that every interaction we have leaves an impression, one way or another. And our even attempting to ignore the concept is a reaction in of itself.
To remove the influence of The Beatles we would have to go back in time and set those four young lads on different paths – we would have to influence them. To change our social structure would require a National shift in the way we raise and teach our children; the way we view crime; our ability to communicate openly and honestly with each other and a doing away with Labelling, Stereotypes and Prejudice.
Some of us wish we could go back and change the influences around us when we were younger, less acquainted with the harsh realities of existence, but we cannot. All we can do is exist as we are, try to become better, experiment with positivity.
Are there any bands out there still experimenting? Where are the perfect albums? Have we lost track of the qualities that we used to desire? Have they been replaced? I hope not, and here at Red Tangent we’re always looking for you. Who knows, we may even introduce you to the next great band! (Or even a societal revolution).