Give it a Chance

“If you could put together any two songwriters, which two would you pair up?”

The question was posed to me in all seriousness, but the answer came to me in a flash. Perfection had already been achieved and I saw no reason to look further.

The love you take is equal to the love you make.

Those words ended the songwriting partnership of Lennon/McCartney.

That is the last line in the last song the Beatles ever sang together. Even at the end of it all, when they were bitter and fueding and disillusioned with fame, they sang about love and karma. They sang with all the hope of youth, the belief that we could change the world. All four Beatles had a solo on this song, including Ringo’s ONLY drum solo with the Beatles. The take in which he performed the solo originally had guitar and tambourine accompaniment, but the other instruments were muted during mixing giving the effect of a drum solo. The additional instruments were restored for a remix on the Anthology 3 compilation album.

McCartney, Harrison, and Lennon perform a rotating sequence of three, two-bar guitar solos.

The Beatles recorded a one-minute, 20-second master take that was extended via overdubs to two minutes and five seconds.

John Mendelsohn of Rolling Stone said it was "a perfect epitaph for our visit to the world of Beatle daydreams: "The love you take is equal to the love you make ...”

Next year ‘THE END’ will be forty years old.

While the song was supposed to replicate the jam sessions of other artist in the 60’s the Beatles recorded ‘THE END’ with the tightness and economy that continually made them stand out from the crowd. tThe lyrics are basic and nearly nonexistent, and yet have a resonance that has lasted nearly my entire life.

You could say, in your jaded voice, your mouth turned up into a sarcastic sneer, that The Beatles’ belief in peace was a gimmick, a public image to sell records, and you may be right. But probably not. If they had been a flash in the pan, you could dismiss all they said and did in the sixties. But if you look at the lives they lived, look at the karma they floated out there, look at the very essence of everything they said, and you just might see that they were the real deal. They believed in peace and love far beyond the break-up of the Beatles.

Consider this:

After going solo McCartney wrote,

All round the world little children being born to the world
Got to give them all we can till the war is won:
Then will the work be done.

Help them to learn songs of joy instead of burn baby burn

Let us show them how to play the pipes of peace

After going solo Lennon wrote:

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

After going solo Harrison wrote:

Give me love
Give me love
Give me peace on earth

After going solo Starr wrote:

Well if it's love that you want
I got love I can give
I'll give you love, love, love

Ringo seemed to be the weak link here. I searched dozens of songs from his solo career before I found one that fit. And that, my friends is too much Ringo for anyone.

In conclusion, let me go on record as saying, the sixties was about change and proved that peace could work, peace has the power to change the world, but it also proved that people have to truly believe in the concept. At least three out of the four Beatles believed it.

But it seems we as a people believe in the almighty dollar and the wielding of power just a little bit more. I remain ever hopeful that things will turn around. I believe in peace.