I wonder if I'm the only reader who spent mush of this read with a mash-up of Beatles' tunes running through my head? Nah, no way. That initially unconscious reaction speaks to the power of their music. It was fascinating to go back in time and see them evolve from just another bunch of kids with rock'n'roll dreams into one of, if not the ultimate musical entities ever. It was also intriguing to be reminded how each of the individuals thought of the group as a separate entity, almost a different identity from themselves. It was an image they were never able to shake, no matter how hard they tried. As the author reminds us, being caught up in the middle of the hysteria of their frequently mob-like fans had to be absolutely terrifying at times, too. Their last nightmarish tour sounds like the tour from, uh, heck, to be polite.
While the book focuses on the band's music, these two songs in particular, it is important to remember the big picture, so to speak, of life as they were living it and constantly reevaluating themselves and where they were going next musically. In a sense, this is two books combined, maybe three if you count the non-author revelations of reactions and ways of looking at the music from others at the end. Thus, it's part bio, part Cott's individual take on the music, and finally other ways of reacting to these two songs and taking them into oneself.
There's a wealth of information shared as suggested ways to think about these two songs in particular. Given the personal nature of how the same song can impact various individuals in different ways, often even changing over time, I'll leave it to readers to decide their main take-away. Jonathan Cott has done an admirable job of taking us from his first, youthful contact with Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields and shares that and others' takes on the same songs. My thanks to him as well as #NetGalley and #UniversityOfMinnesotaPress for letting me tag along. The in-my-head mash-up of the songs was an unexpected bonus.
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