saturday 9: a day in the life

Saturday 9: A Day in the Life (1967)

1) According to Rolling Stone, this is the greatest Beatle song of all. What’s your favorite Beatle song?
there are quite a few. my dad used to play them quite a bit–not as often as his favorite band, the rolling stones, but often enough that i know the words to most of the songs. i like the earlier stuff like “love me do” and “i saw her standing there” and, of course, “twist and shout.” i just love that raspy, gritty sound of john’s voice in that one.

2) “A Day in the Life” took 5 days to record. Looking back on the last five days, what did you accomplish?
made it through a week of long meetings and lots of office drama. *sigh* also turned another year older. *double sigh* but i think the biggest thing is i started monday with an awful back pain and only just this morning woke up with it gone. took 5 days for it to go away! used to be before if i had a muscle strain, i could go to sleep, and wake up the next morning with it gone. now it takes 5 days to heal. ugh being older!

3) This song is the highlight of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band, the first album released after the Beatles gave up touring. Critics predicted that, when they abandoned live concerts, their creativity would wane. Obviously this wasn’t the case. When has someone underestimated you?
i had a dream last night where there was this big observation that was happening and they were coming to my room but then at the last minute the leadership team decided not to send them to my room because they feared i wouldn’t be able to talk to them due to my nervousness but i was feeling that i could have done it. ha, see, i’m only underestimated in my dreams because usually i live up to their underestimations.

4) The song says our hero “woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head.” How is your hair right now? Are you prepared to go out and face the world?
it’s actually quite fine and presentable. it has that good feeling of a second day. after the first day my hair is still damp and heavy feeling but the second day it has that light, carefree feeling and moves easily and i like it. i was also enjoying my new, shorter chop, but have been regretting it this past month because it’s been so darn hot and i can’t make my hair into a bun anymore, nor can i braid it up. 😦

5) The lyrics tell us he had to hurry to catch the bus to work. When is the last time you rode public transportation?
i’d have to say it was back in college, when i used to have to catch the bus every day to school and back. i’m not even sure what the fare is nowadays! i am actually going to in a couple of weeks though because i am going to teach my son how to catch the bus to my mom’s house from his school. it was the same route i took all throughout my intermediate & high school years, and i want him to know how to do it so if ever he’s supposed to go to my mom’s and my sister can’t pick him up, he’d be able to go there on his own. so we’ll see how we do! heehee

6) “A Day in the Life” was a true Lennon-McCartney collaboration. Conventional wisdom is that Paul is easy going while John was edgy. Is your temperament more Lennon or McCartney?
i’m more mccartney. i mean, i can get anxious, but overall i think i’m pretty laid-back. which is why that dream i mentioned above was kinda weird.

7) “A Day in the Life” came out five years after the Beatles replaced their drummer. Taking over for Pete Best was undoubtedly the biggest break of Ringo Starr’s career. Tell us about a time when fortune smiled on you.
i have a lovely son whom i am very fortunate to have. i was told i probably might not ever be able to conceive and carry a child to term so the fact that he made it and is a generally nice person all around makes me feel very fortunate.

8) It would be hard to overestimate the Beatles’ impact on popular culture. Their story and music have inspired a Broadway musical, a Las Vegas show, two movies and, according to Amazon, 900+ books. What’s the most recent biography you read?
do the little articles on wikipedia count? 😛 otherwise it’s been a while. but i’m always looking up stuff about people on wikipedia and reading all about their lives.

9) The Beatles are an ongoing boon to England’s tourism industry. Fans from all over the world visit Liverpool each year to see where the Beatles grew up and got their start. If you won a trip to England, tell us what you’d like to see.
i think i would like to just see the regular touristy sites–picadilly circus, trafalgar square, the london eye, buckingham palace…all those places. i used to hang out A LOT on a mud based in london so i would like to see firsthand all those places i read about in the descriptions of the mud. one of the creators of that mud had promised to take me around to see all those places but i never got there. oh well.