BEATLES 2

Lately I have been re-listening to the "Let It Be" album by the Beatles. I listened to it a lot when it came out, over playdates with my friend Beth. It's a tough record for them to have ended on, released last even though it was recorded prior to "Abbey Road." There is so much sadness and dissipation there, the sound of things falling apart. It had to happen; there was no chance any four people could've continued on as a working creative unit with that kind of astonishing pressure and the changes they went through. I was brokenhearted the day their "official" breakup was on the evening news, truly so sad, I think I may have even cried. In retrospect, they gave us everything they had, I think, maybe more than what they had. "Let It Be" in all its untuned hippie sloppiness, its indulgence, grimness, is still the Beatles making an effort, making something of struggle, trying to connect with each other, and with us.

The song in particular I have been playing is "Dig A Pony."

I dig a pony
Well you can celebrate anything you want
Well you can celebrate anything you want
Ohhh.
I do a road hog
Well you can penetrate any place you go
Yes you can penetrate any place you go
I told you, all I want is you.
Ev'rything has got to be just like you want it to
Because--

I pick a moon dog
Well you can radiate ev'rything you are
Yes you can radiate ev'rything you are--
Ohhh.
I roll a stoney
Well you can imitate ev'ryone you know
Yes you can imitate ev'ryone you know
I told you, all I want is you.
Ev'rything has got to be just like you want it to
Because--

I feel the wind blow
Well you can indicate ev'rything you see
Yes you can indicate ev'rything you see--
Ohhh.
I dug a pony
Well you can syndicate any boat you row
Yes you can syndicate any boat you row
I told you, all I want is you.
Ev'rything has got to be just like you want it to
Because--

It occurred to me, nearly 40 years on, that this song exists for one reason, one line:

All I want is you.

Beatles pundits can and have and will keep trying to figure the rest of the lyrics forever, but they are just Lennon word babble, as he was wont to do. Those are just words that fit the music, for all I know pretty much made up on the spot. They wrote things like that sometimes, just to fill up records or because they knew we would listen to it anyway or because they were goofy sometimes. But listen to the song, how everything builds to this one line. It stands out, and it is the only thing Lennon wanted to be heard. Even the next line -- "Ev'rything has got to be just like you want it to" -- feels more like syllables that fit the syncopation of the music, rather than a continuation of the previous line's message.



All. I want. Is you.

I hear him, and I think I know where he was then. He had everything, and it still made no sense. He was ready to give up the Beatles, something he created and wanted so badly, give up so much, done with it. Yoko was "you." For whatever I or the world thinks of her, hear the power and the longing in his voice. He meant it.

I dig "Dig A Pony," and marvel that I can still find new in these songs that have lived in my heart and mind for so long. The best.