I Want You (She's So Heavy)

when i was about 13, i discovered my uncle's Beatles albums. original vinyl. i'm talking GOLD here, people! anyway, he lived right next door to us and every weekend i'd walk over and borrow them. i'd spend hours and hours listening to them on my record player. i'd also spend hours making mixed tapes full of my favorite Beatles songs.

when i was 14, the mix tape i'd be most likely to make would contain songs from Beatles For Sale, A Hard Day's Night, Help!, and With The Beatles. Maybe a song or two from Rubber Soul, but i was really into the early Beatles when i was that age. i also liked Abbey Road a lot, but i was mostly into the early stuff.

then, when i turned 15, or maybe 16 (yeah, i had to have been 16), i became obsessed with the White Album and Magical Mystery Tour. something just clicked in me and i could not stop listening to them. i loved Sgt. Pepper's as well, but the White Album became by favorite. i played that record so much it's a wonder it's not all played out. i would "borrow" it from my uncle for months at a time. i would tape it and play the tape in my walkman on the bus till it snapped and i had to throw it out.

then i got obsessed with Let It Be. it replaced the White Album as my favorite. why? because of the song I've Got A Feeling

All these years I've been wandering around,
Wondering how come nobody told me
All that I was looking for was somebody
Who looked like you.

that was, for the longest time, my favorite song lyric. i'd listen to it over and over and over again. the last part of the song is kind of sad and kind of sexy at the same time. i don't know, but it got me, deep in the bottom of my belly. every time i'd listen to it, i'd either feel like crying or laughing, frowning or smiling. always two polar emotions, which kind of fucks up a teenage mind for a while, that's for sure.

after a while, i snapped out of my classic rock phase, only to be thrust back into it when i did my internship at a classic rock station in NY in college. what i learned is that 1) i don't like radio 2) it's important to know what you're talking about during the all important drive-time or angry listeners will call up and complain and 3) no matter what i say or what i do, i'll always like some classic rock. maybe more than i'd like to admit, but i'm not ashamed. and if it wasn't for my uncle, i would have been raised on a strict diet of Linda Rondstat, Kenny Rodgers, and John Denver. the only cool records my mom listened to were Neil Diamond, but i only recognized the awesomeness that is Neil when i was in my mid 20's. so thanks, unlce joe, for letting me borrow all those classic rock albums when i was a kid.

i was reminded of my love for the Beatles when i snapped on the radio at work this morning. somone had changed it to the classic rock station and they were doing Breakfast with the Beatles. they didn't play I've Got A Feeling, but they did play One After 909, which comes right after it on the album. man, i'd love to listen to that album right now. but surpisingly, i don't own Let It Be on CD. i should ask for it for Christmas.