It’s no secret that the Beatles are my favorite band. I saw Yellow Submarine as a toddler.(I was sick and my mom found it on TV, looking for some sort of cartoon for sick kid – back in the days of three, maybe 4 channels and zero control over media…) Apparently, I was mesmerized. Just add music – I was told that, as a toddler, I would stand in front of the TV for an hour when Lawrence Welk was on, rocking back and forth on his feet. One of the few comments in my baby book is “seems to respond well to music.”

After Yellow Submarine, my mom looked at me and said that she had some records that were done by the same people who did the music for Yellow Submarine and would I be interested in them? One furiously emphatic nod later, a life-long love and passion was born. The connections between the Beatles’ music (together and solo) and my life experiences are irrevocably intertwined, despite being born more than a year after they broke up. I’m among the first wave of 2nd generation fans. The power of their music is such that many individuals in each subsequent generation has had discovery experiences like mine.

They thrived in a world filled with political turmoil and attempted, in their own way to make it better.

The one thing I hope comes out of the politically tense and fractured time we are currently living in is better music. There seems to be a connection there – the creative people seem to be compelled to create more beauty as the world gets uglier.

Watch the video of this (formerly live) TV broadcast. The diversity of the audience is striking, 50 years later, as some of the political xenophobia inherent in humanity is showing again. I’m sure it was done intentionally at the time and probably would be done that way again now. There is beauty in the music, joy and hope in the message, and a cross section of humanity, multiple colors and creeds, in the audience.