"Peace and love" for Ringo's birthday, July 7!

Universally loved

You think July 4 is special? Today is July 7, Thursday, and it's super special as it is Ringo Starr's birthday! Ringo wants all of us to share a "peace and love" message at noon today. I guess that's noon for whatever time zone you're in. So please drop what you're doing and share the loving, pacifist message at noon. 

Remind everyone to tamp down whatever conflicts they might have. Seems an easy thing to grasp in principle, right? In practice I would suggest it's quite daunting for a lot of us. 

It has been suggested that Ringo is an example of "reverse-aging." This isn't literally true of course, but it suggests that Ringo is, to use the popular term, "well-preserved." What a blessing that is. Someone my age, 67, appreciates this sort of attribute more and more. 

When you get to be around 70 years of age, you appreciate human frailties more and more. By "appreciate" I mean understand, of course. We tend to appreciate natural human weaknesses more. That includes our insecurities. 

I remember when Fr. Jerry Dalseth, a Morris native, wrote a column for the Morris newspaper. He was in fact one of several clergy who were arranged to do that. He wrote about how we approach our high school reunions as the years go by. His column stuck in my head, made me think. It is logical that clergy people would be good op-ed writers. Communicating and arguing ought to be their stock in trade. Are the Catholic clergy currently high-fiving each other and their congregants over the reversal of Roe vs. Wade? Is it that simple for them? Will contraception be the next domino? Gay marriage? 

Anyway, Fr. Dalseth wrote in sage fashion how, at our ten-year class reunion, it does not matter what you are doing, "it sounds impressive." Well, most anything would sound impressive compared to our years of total submissiveness as "students." 

What struck me the most about Dalseth's piece was what he wrote about our perceptions later in life. As we plod along to our advanced reunions, as we are getting long of tooth, we are not so cocky or self-assured, he reminded us. He pointedly noted "we are not nearly so successful as we thought we were." We are more inclined to open up about our failures, he added. 

Sounds negative or discouraging but I knew exactly where he was coming from. This was many years ago so my own age was not that advanced yet. But my impulse told me his wisdom was profound on this. I just knew. 

So now I'm getting close to 70 and I realize that Ringo Starr and his bandmates were vulnerable and insecure human beings like the rest of us. They had human failings like the rest of us all. They really were not so much different at all. They simply adopted an art form at a time in our history when a particular sound was going to grip young people. The Beatles perfected a form called "The Mersey Sound." They were trying to become a successful band. It happens all over. They began to realize they were finding success, to achieve their goals - fine and dandy - but could they have imagined the explosive popularity they got vaulted into, in such short order? 

It wasn't just because of their own talent, impressive as it was. There are always lots of talented musicians in pop music. Serendipity comes into play in conjunction with corporate or financial forces. When the momentum got built up, the four guys had to show they had the resilience to handle it. It was difficult, but they did. They needed a wall of management to protect them from the forces unleashed by worldwide popularity. They retreated to the recording studio because it became to difficult for them to continue performing live. 

I have seen videos of some of their last live performances, where the commentators would observe that the Beatles seemed worn out or dispirited. Wrong! Absolutely wrong! I learned that the Beatles had some difficulty performing at the end because their newest work in the studio was not tailored for live performances. We're talking about songs from "Revolver" and henceforth. A good example: "Paperback Writer." 

Stress did cause problems for the guys as time went on. I felt John Lennon struggled particularly hard. I felt he was puzzled and disturbed by his own fame. I felt Paul McCartney understood and handled fame better. George Harrison seemed to develop a sad image. He never should have felt dissatisfied contributing just a small number of tunes for the albums. That was his best role and he still supplied boffo stuff. 

And then, "Ringo." Universally loved, to be sure. He's the charming, reliable drummer, never a deep thinker but a loving one. "Peace and love." That says it all. Please share that at noon today, Thursday, July 7, 2022. Happy birthday, Ringo Starr, on your 82nd. Many more birthdays to come, we hope.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com