Knowing what I know now...

... makes it weird to sing along to the songs. 

But I do because they're embedded in my head. 

As well as the threat from Tay of "keep singing that and I'll force you to learn it on guitar" because he knows the entire discography and history of the group I'm going to talk about. I kept joking with him about one of the songs ("Do You Want To Know A Secret?" track 11 off Please Please Me, for reference) and he'd tell me he'd make me learn it (Tay's an awesome guitar player). He also is the one who told me about the book I'm going to talk about below. 

I have a three month trial of SiriusXM Radio because I got some service done on my car. They have a deal together where you get three months free after completing certain services at the dealership. I ended up taking the offer and have my 2013 radio assigned the freebie until mid April.

Honestly, for me, it's not worth downloading the Sirius app because it's only three months and I don't intend on subscribing due to the fact I have an iPhone 11 and use the stock podcast app to listen to everything. I'm currently halfway through a "Spotify / Parcast original" series called Mythology. It got cancelled a couple years ago, but I'm just finding it. I've delayed way too many shows I usually listen to because I've found way too many other interesting series (you're still on my list, Rach! Trust me!!). 

Squirrel!

On my way to the gym this morning, I had on the Beatles station and the song playing was "Hey Jude" (track 21 off the 1 album, for reference). I started softly singing with the song, fully knowing the windows of my car were down (it's still nice out - no humidity) and this wasn't the real Macca telling Julian to "play it cool". It's a ruse. 

Okay. Rewind a minute. For context. 

Last year I wrote about listening to the audiobook version of the The Memoirs of Billy Shears: The Nine After 9-09 Edition. The informative "let's let as much out on the table as we can; it's almost time" story of the conspiracy theory of Paul really dying in a car crash in September of 1966. This is also the theory that there's been one guy (William "Bill" Shepherd aka Billy Shears) who has been the replacement of Paul all the days since.

The writer - Thomas E. Uharriet (or writers if you believe the single anagram, like someone has stated) with the help of said Billy Shears (not of the anagram but of another name or two) mix a fictional yet factual account of the rumor we all have heard at some point in our lives and they layer on the truths behind this, with information pulled from real sources (i.e. Billy's recollection of everything including lyrics of the Beatles work plus sound comparisons, places to look through the band's history to see where it was a little rough and edgy, etc). 

Both men don't mince words when Billy has to point out that his lawyers strongly advised him not to put all the aces on the table at once, since it jeopardizes more than he wants or cares to get off his chest. So he has to sprinkle some magic dust in the story to make it sound unbelievably fake but believable at the same time. He is still under "contract" to perform as one of the two remaining Liverpudlians. 

Therefore, he has to be very careful how he describes certain circumstances of how he came to be one of the most famous faces and voices in pop music history. 

He makes light of a lot of instances, and throws in some suggestions for those who aren't fans of the Beatles, but fans of music. How vocalists need to train themselves in singing specifics or they ruin their vocal cords. He had gone through that in the early days of being Paul and had to adapt the way he was going about it, as he said he'd have lost his voice before the end of the 1960s. 

"Sing from the diaphragm and not from the throat", he'd say, with context to the way Original Paul would sing (throat) and the way he would sing (diaphragm). Which is true; I remember when I was in middle school chorus, learning that. Tay would mention it as well because he's a musician. Taking that information, I compared it to other artists out there because you wonder how they can reach the levels they can; it's due to how they're pushing air through their body and not just in one section. 

So singing along to tunes in my car, I'm subconsciously cognizant of these things. I'm not any type of the world's best singer, by any means, but I understand the concept (thus going back to singing along to Hey Jude). 

I remember in middle school taking a music class where we had to bring in a song every week and break it down in front of everyone. If you want to know what I chose, I specifically remember bringing in "Kiss From A Rose" by Seal, off the Batman Forever soundtrack [track 4 for reference]. It was on audio cassette to boot. If you must say it, yes, I just aged myself.

Double yes for seeing as much of the Batman movies as I can, up to the most recent Sparkly Vampire 2022 version - I've yet to see that one, but I have tried to see most of live action movies starting with 1989 and going forward. I've seen part of the Adam West series as well. I've got a Joker duckie I call "Cesar Romero" because it's definitely that version's Joker and not the Nicholson or Ledger version. I've also seen some of the outliers - Joker and Suicide Squad [if that counts]. I haven't seen Justice League or Batman vs Superman. It's on my list. 

I guess as far as the movies are concerned, I could be more of a DCEU (DC Extended Universe) fan than an MCU / MCEU (Marvel Comics Universe / Marvel Comics Extended Universe - for the outliers) fan, although I'm not against any MCU stuff. I've read my fair share of X-Men comics (and saw some of the movies) as well as the iterations of the Hulk films (I remember sneaking into the theater to watch the Jennifer Connelly version because I had ended my shift at the time and didn't want to go home. So I stayed for Hulk. I'm a horrible person; haha). I've also seen the Iron Man films and Deadpool movies (including the new Deadpool and Wolverine movie) and at least 2 of the 3 Guardians of the Galaxy movies. I know the Howard the Duck reference in Guardians (spoiler alert) because that was one of the first introductions to the MCEU for me.

Again, I aged myself with that 1986 "gem". 

Squirrel! 

Anyway, we had to explain where certain breaks in the sound come from or what we think the chords are for each instrument, how the melody might shift / change or what the artist's range is. This was before we all had internet at our fingertips or in our homes, so you were really needing to pay attention and figure things out. I'm old enough to remember what it was like before we ran to an internet search bar for these things. 

Maybe this is why I majored in communications and went into radio (and still want to work in audio. I've free if anyone wants to chat! I've certainly shared enough videos.. so you've seen my work)... it evolved from music being on in my house (along with NPR) and taking music classes all through my  school years. 

My, how we grow... and overshare. Haha. 

But yeah, little things we randomly remember and try to piece together to make other connections. This is probably also why I've got too much "pub trivia" because I just ingest way too many "out there" facts. I've said things / made comments / references to people in conversation, and they're like "where in left field did you pull that from?". I don't know; it's something I stumbled on eons ago and kept it locked away in my brain. I can't do math or be on Pop Culture Jeopardy, but I can still kind of follow along to the normal one. It might take me a minute because it's so hidden in my head, but I get it. If I don't, the answer pings something relevant and I'm like "oh yeah. That was also when...". It's weird like that - how we all work in our own ways. 

If this all makes sense, thanks for following along and getting this far. If it doesn't, well, welcome to my blog. Sometimes I get so unfocused with everything, at some point it'll gel. I promise. 

Until the truth comes out in full force, turn the knobs up to 11 and remember "[a]lthough what you are about to see is a work of fiction, it should nonetheless be played at maximum volume".

Cheers;