Love, Love, Love

Sermon | February 7, 2021 |Rev. Julie Lombard

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Kurt Vonnegut said, “I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, ‘The Beatles did’.”  

I whole heartedly agree, Kurt and I would like to add that the Beatles had a distinct through line in many of their songs – you could say it lived on beyond them and well into their individual musical careers. Love was at the heart of their message.  

Many hits that followed the break-up of the Fab Four were some of my favorites. Harrison’s What is Life without your Love, McCartney’s Baby, I’m Amazed at the way you love me all the time, and Lennon’s Love is Real.  

But I am not here to make a case that the Beatles sang about love, I don’t have to… just look at the titles of their songs or listen and you will hear it.  

They sang of love whether they were lamenting songs of the challenges love can bring- remember the Ballad of John and Yoko or nonsensical lyrics like Oh bla di, oh bla dah. They sung of love and how it motivates every action in life. They didn’t always return to the idea of romantic love, they also sang of love that touches a soul – the love of a parent, the love of a higher power, and the love that is foundational to happiness. In songs like Don’t Let Me Down they even sang about the worry of losing love.  

So what made these kids from Liverpool, England such experts on this theme? And why would they return to this particular muse throughout their lives whether together or apart?  

Love is a foundation for all human growth- you do not need to lose your mother as a child as Lennon and McCartney did to know that. Their grief, however, was not what showed up in their songs; rather it was an idea of coming or being together and finding comfort in that. There was a completeness found in that togetherness.  

The Beatles are most known for the music that they made in the 1960’s however they were a band before that and individually they produced plenty of music afterward. George Harrison left the group and produced a double album of songs which hints that his bank of songs was full when they broke up. But back in 1958, when they were a new band and teenagers, they started composing their own songs like, Love Me Do.  

Imagine a love struck 16 year old Paul McCartney writing it to his then girl friend, Iris Caldwell. What do you think Iris thought after that song took off in the charts years later?  

If we were to look behind how this song came about, we might find that the composers were influenced by their literary super hero Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The phrase, “Love, love me do” is from the Lewis Carroll’s era, such as “Alice, Stop Daydreaming, do!” Lennon’s obsession with Carroll continued to materialize through his Beatles songwriting career, such as in later works like “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and “I am The Walrus.”¹http://www.beatlesebooks.com/love-me-do, 2/6/2021

One could say that the love we hear in their music was the actual long and winding road they sang about. It was a path that never disappeared- a never ending road that led them to your door. Always leading them back. They knew it had the power to renew the spirit.  

Even in their songs that were not about a love for a person or higher power, you can feel the love as you hear them sing about the places where they were from- Penny Lane for Paul and Strawberry Fields for John. Most of the Beatles’ songs were written by these two, together. Even when clearly some songs were more penned by one than the other, they signed their compositions Lennon/McCartney. John Lennon reported that he really only wrote a small bit of Love Me Do and none of Yesterday- he claimed that they were Paul’s songs.  

This partnership in their composing was a subtle clue that love could even be found in the way they created. They combined their names as they layered their harmonic voices in a blend that was intoxicating and hard to resist. I always felt it was an invitation to sing along.  

Maybe you aren’t a Beatles fan, but you know that Paul was the handsome one, Ringo the silly one, George the mystical one, and John, the leader, who didn’t mind questioning authority- you could say, he was the dangerous one. John was dangerous because he was known to be flip with his words- “ Christ, you know it not easy. You know how hard it can be. They way things are going, they’re going to crucify me”. Those lines sure got him in a boat load of trouble.  

If we look at John Lennon’s perspective on love, it will lead us to two songs that are often seen as part 1 and 2. The first song is The Word and the second song is All You Need Is Love.  

The Word sings, “Say the word and you’ll be free, Say the word and be like me, Say the word I’m thinking of, have you heard the word is love?  

Then Lennon admits that, “In the beginning I misunderstood. But now I’ve got it, the word is good. Spread the word and you’ll be free. Everywhere I go I hear it said. In the good and bad books that I have read. Now that I know what I feel must be right. I’m here to show everybody the light.”  

He wanted to share the light and it doesn’t matter how many times he asks us to say the word in the song, love, we didn’t get his message. So, off he set out to make an unmistakable message of love titled All You Need Is Love.  

This second song really needed to get everyone’s attention, Lennon meant business. He wanted our awareness so George Martin suggested they begin the song with a familiar, catchy tune- a battle cry used in the French Revolution. As soon as the march gets going the band surrounded by their friends sing loudly a simple chant- Love, love, love- Love, love, love -Love, love, love.  

All that was followed by John’s wisdom on the subject:

There's nothing you can do that can't be done. 
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung. 
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game. 
Nothing you can make that can't be made. 
No one you can save that can't be saved. 
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time. 
Nothing you can know that isn't known.  
Nothing you can see that isn't shown. 
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be. 
It's easy. All you need is love. Love is all you need.   

And if you didn’t get the message, he repeats himself a dozen times in some sort of meditative manner that UU’s totally dig. He was talking to us! He repeats it until we’ve memorized it. He’s inspiring us live it out in every action we do. All you need is love. Love is all you need.  

So I ask again, what makes these kids from Liverpool the experts on love? And why have we spent an entire worship service talking about love and singing their music?  

The Beatles sang about Rocky Racoon, and a Meter Maid, they sang about Mean Mr. Mustard, and an Octopus’ Gardens in the shade. Not everything they sang about was steeped with the meaning or of love. Blackbird was the part they played in the Civil Rights Movement and Across the Universe was their push for the world to try Transcendental Meditation. The power of mantras such as “Jai guru deva om” which is a Sanskrit phrase that literally means “glory to shining remover of darkness”. With this kind of love, John sang, nothing’s going to change my world.  

Love was a constant theme in the Beatles’ music. Being born in 1971, I never knew the Beatles being together, but I also never knew them to not be the greatest and most influential rock band of the modern era. I was raised on their music. As a preschooler, I cut my teeth on “All Together Now”. One, two, three, four, Can I have a little more? Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, I love you. A, B, C, D. Can I bring my friend to tea? E, F, G, H, I, J, I love you.  

I paid it forward, cutting my children’s teeth on their music. In my kids’ preschool years, there was always Beatles music playing in the car. Now, I cannot take credit for Annie’s Music Teacher Major status and her Bassoon ability. I never forced her to play an instrument or practice the many hours she does. I cannot take credit for Ash’s terrific rhythm on the drums that earned them a spot in the NH All State Band or how they picked up the guitar so easily or for having a pure sounding voice, but I do think the Beatles played a big part of their love for music, both listening and playing.  

So, you could say I raised my kids right- on love and through music. There’s nothing more amazing than hearing a four year old sing Nowhere Man top to bottom or hearing a six year old Bhutanese Refugee sing with her thick accent a Beatles song as she learned how to speak English. It was love that inspired them and it is now what they share with the world.  

This day, let us be grateful for the love we have found in the music we have sung. May it inspire us to be curious about how love makes us act. Let this love brighten any darkness we face as it pulses through our souls- All You Need Is Love.  

May it be so. Amen.