I've Got A Feeling - The Beatles: Get Back

And happiest of birthdays to you, dear John.

Image: NME Magazine

Film of the month: The Beatles: Get Back (Peter Jackson, 2021)

Nine hours. NINE HOURS! Nine hours of artistic wonder.

(Okay, technically eight hours and forty-four minutes and nine seconds. But who doesn’t love the number nine?)

For geeks. For artists. For music heads. For fans of slow art and creative process and miracles being born. For those with curiosity of magic and alchemy and emergent masterpieces.

Have you seen it?

My Beloved and I finally forked out $12.99 for a month-long Disney+ subscription in order to access this epic Beatles documentary, which chronicles the recording of their final album, Let It Be, along with many of the tracks that appear on Abbey Road. We watched it over a period of two weeks, chewing a bit at a time.

It is a gift to our world that this footage was captured. You have to be somewhat of a geek entranced by the artistic process in order to let go into the slow-cooked soup here. It’s like witnessing a 21-day paella simmering, or a Bob Ross painting marathon. Except, these are The Beatles, the divine Fab Four, who bestowed us with a sacred body of work that will withstand centuries of generations.

I was immediately blown away by the quality of the film, shot in January 1969 on expensive 16mm tape – oh, how I miss predigital films (do we still call them films even though it’s digital? I suppose so.). The richness of color, the soulful capture of analog. Giving room for the soul to absorb process.

To watch these four individuals deep in it, feels like sacrilegious voyeurism. Jackson’s film exposes the entire process of the musical equivalent to Michelangelo in action; the songs are seeded, downloaded as if from Grace. Here we are, 50+ years later, able to see it come into being. From inspiration to falling in love to consummate union to birth. Transformation. Metamorphosis. Holy.

 Of course, I fell in deeper love to John, Paul, George, and Ringo as individuals, and as a four-headed force of nature. I witnessed Yoko Ono present the whole time, as muse, dark goddess, and helpmate to John – fully misunderstood in her role. The fifth element.

I’m going to limit my analysis and discussion of the film here, as it is a personal journey you may be drawn to yourself. And it will impact everyone uniquely. Please check it out for yourself. You’ll know if you’re called.

Key tracks: “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “Get Back,” “Dig a Pony,” “Let It Be.” Don’t forget George Harrison’s sweet treasures “For You Blue,” “I Me Mine.” Ah, heck, the whole album is genius, of course.

Happy Birthday, John Lennon

Born October 9, 1940 (Libra Sun)

Dreams of John and Yoko. Collage by Erin, 2019.

Let me tell you now

Everybody's talking ‘bout

Revolution, evolution, mass inflation, flagellation

Regulation, integration, meditation, United Nations Congratulations!

All we are saying (Keep talking) Is give peace a chance (Hey! They can't ban this one)

All we are saying (Let’s hear it for the West Coast) Is give peace a chance (Oh let’s! Listen to this. OK!)

- from “Give Peace a Chance,” John Lennon (1969)

Your words ring true now more than ever. Thank you for the love, the music, the vision. You are gone but not forgotten. Happy birthday, dear John.

Lorraine Schneider, War is Not Healthy for Children and Other Living Things poster, 1967 · SFMOMA