Some 465 years later (1215), an English king named King John signed a Magna Carta at a roost called Runnymede... an act of prodded royalty which liberated barons and bumpkins to roust with a greater degree of carefreedom. Some 561 years later than that (1776), a Virginia gent named Jefferson quilled a Declaration of Independence in, of all places, Philadelphia and shipped it to a king called King George which hypothetically rid a small group of new-world colonies from crimson-flocked enforcers from a faraway land... taxations without representations vanished and the colonies flourished freely under a hero named after the colonies' capital, Washington. (Ruffled feathers on both sides of the sea have since been plucked.) And in 1968 - some 1,218 years anno Beo (A.B); 753 years anno Magna (A.M.); 192 years anno Declaration (A.D.) - bad people (Blue Meanies) still force their wills on good people (Pepperlanders) and demolish the human and physical landscape of beautiful pleasure domes (Pepperland). And Agnes - the inquisitive baby sitter next door in California, United States of America - will be pleased to know that there are still heros around of the calibres of Messrs. Wulf, John and Jefferson... there's John, Paul, George and Ringo and their attending Lonely Hearts Club Band who sail from one place (Liverpool) at the invitation of a benevolent but old leader of another place (the Lord Mayor of Pepperland) to rescue the pleasures of food and music and perpetual celebration and colorful beauty from the villainous hands of less-than-beautiful people (Blue Meanies) who act under the supreme guidance of the most evil spirit (Chief Blue Meanie). The Beatles come by sea (through the Seas of Monsters, Time, Music, Science, Consumer Products, Nowhere, Green Phrenology and Holes - each puddle supporting a lively cast of characters) in a YELLOW SUBMARINE captained by Old Fred (also leader of Sgt. PLHCB) where they prove their heroic metal by outwitting a sea monster (Vacuum Man) and out-swimming competition (School of Whales) even before they reach the shores of the besieged undersea kingdom of Pepperland. Once arrived at target P., they triumph over the Chief Blue Meanie's primary evil-tempered henchmen (par exemple: the lanky Apple Bonker who assaults his prey with Baldwin apples; the corpulent Hidden Persuader with a penchant for underhanded inscrupulence; the abdominal Snapping Turtle Turk who chomps at the slightest bit; the belligerent Butterfly Stompers who perform tasks that any evil butterfly stompers worth their soul would perform with supreme acuity). The good guys win... the hero-Beatles triumph once again and restore the pleasures of color and music and all that's beautiful... a restoration which permits bigger and better glorias to be sung to the reigning god of Pepperland addressed as Love.
The Beatles With Lacan : Rock 'N' Roll As Requiem for the Modern Age (Sociocriticism : Literature, Society and History, Vol 4) The author uses a psychoanalytic approach to explore the nature of the Beatles' cultural significance.. |