This past Saturday, I turned on the TV for a rerun of Saturday Night Live. The broadcast first aired before the holidays, and Paul McCartney was the musical guest.
That was my interest in the rerun… Paul McCartney.
And so I busied myself while the show was on, waiting for his appearances.
As for those moments in time, he was awesome. No, he doesn’t quite have the voice he once had, but it’s in damn fine shape. And he will always remain not only the prettiest Beatle, but quite possibly the prettiest rock star to emerge from that era.
Oh, Paul.
If only I had known.
If only I had known that I was not too young for you…
During the SNL broadcast, he did four sets, the third of which began with A Day in the Life. It was beautifully performed. And, after some instrumental riffing, Paul parlayed that haunting ballad from the Sgt. Pepper album into an audience participation event of Give Peace a Chance.
Initially, Paul and his band sang the lyrics, but ultimately, the audience was given the responsibility of owning the chant.
Give peace a chance.
There was something very touching and special about the experience.
And so goddamn innocent.
It stopped me in my tracks, and it made me think about the basic good in Lennon’s plea.
Give peace a chance.
With everything that is happening in the Middle East – and with our own country’s uprisings in the Midwest – I’m wondering these days about the chance of peace.
Which leads to my dictionary…
This time, I’m grabbing the off-line tome.
…No surprises, actually. Per Webster’s, the definition of peace (n.) is “the condition that exists when nations or other groups are not fighting.”
I realize it may seem odd that I felt compelled to find and share a definition, but when I came away from that SNL rerun – when I had witnessed an audience sharing the lyrics of Give Peace a Chance – I don’t know, I just thought that maybe peace could be given a chance.
I thought that maybe I was missing something…
Maybe I needed to revisit the definition of peace…
I mean, if these audience members could sing with such conviction...
But, no… I do understand the definition of peace.
I understood it all along.
And so I return to what I said a moment ago.
It’s innocent.
According to Webster’s, innocent (n.) means “free from guilt.”
It’s understandable that one who is free from guilt might believe that peace is possible.
But… the world is run (mostly) by those who are not innocent.
And peace will never serve those people.
I wish it were different.
I truly do.
… I also wish that I were married to Paul McCartney.
Cause if I were? No lie, I’d buy peace for all of us and then we’d have a big party!
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12 comments:
Katie, how strange that this particular post, out of the hundreds of different blogs I've read in the past couple of years since I've been blogging, out of all the ones that were potentially tear-causing-goose bump-making...THIS ONE did it to me. I feel the same way you do. If we "normal" peace loving, happy, confident, caring about others, kind of people ran the world...there would be peace. Thank you for this. I'm so glad yours was one of three blogs I chose to read today!
This made me chuckle. I don't even thing peace could be bought. Humans will always find something to fight over.
Great post. Peace...what a concept.
Paul was my fave, too. My cousin and I used to argue over which of us would marry him. I think we were all of 6 at the time. LOL
I'll have to go look at that SLN online.
I love Paul, too. And the message of peace. Although my growing cynicism makes it difficult to believe in its possibility anymore.
Tears in the eyes from over here too. Lovely piece. For what it's worth, Dad would have teared up too, his chin would have wobbled and it would be one of those unspoken, "I'm so proud of you, kid" moments. x
I would have been fighting you for Paul, and that's the truth! Peace would have to wait. :-)
This is a wonderful post, Katie. As always, I agree with your view. I think we can only be peace ourselves, and if enough of us are, maybe we can tip the balance somehow.
Isn't he single? There's always hope for Paul and Peace (and a piece of Paul.) I'm rooting for you--you seem to have connections!
Not trying to start a fight, but I always thought Lennon was cuter. :)
Great post, and I love, love, love that song!
You couldn't possibly know how timely this post is for me in my own life, Katie. But it is. Thank you.
Katie, I always thought Paul had 'the boy next door'look more than any of the others. Maybe that made him seem more attainable.
Peace would surely be a wonderful gift to bestow.I believe it starts from within and sadly, there are some people, as you say, who it seems it will never serve. We just have to do our part. Lovely post as always.
For the record, I always had a thing for Ringo since he was always the dark horse in the group.
Peace cannot be bought because it doesn't have a price tag, and everything today has been tagged with some kind of monetary value. Only and until we can find that in ourselves as a people will this be the party line. I do not believe that the majority of the populations want peace, or we would have it. But if that does happen, the big boys would surely find another way to ensure chaos. However, maybe by that time, the haters/rabblerousers would be lifted to the Mother Ship and whisked away, and we would surely celebrate world peace, maybe even inter-galactic peace. Let's keep working on personal peace, and this world will be an awesome dwelling! Great post!
Oh, Katie, I love this so much. Paul was always my favorite Beatle, with Ringo coming in a close second. Peace? Have we ever had peace on this planet? There is always conflict somewhere, so it must be part of the human condition to go to war with one another. Shame, a real shame.
Namaste..........cj
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