Yesterday

What I’d like to do here is share semi-hidden nuggets in the movie that Beatles fans will enjoy. My son and I caught one that made us laugh, and I’m sure there were others I missed. 

Please skip this thread if you haven’t seen the movie and plan to. There be spoilers ahead.


The one that made us laugh:

One of the Post-Its of song titles that Jack was resurrecting said Revolution 9.


Did you enjoy the movie? I've been ambivalent about seeing it. 


Yes, my family and I enjoyed it. Himesh Patel and Lily James are a winning pair, and even Ed Sheeran does a nice job. The spirit is fun. There’s a subplot that takes a delightful turn. The Easter eggs I noticed made me smile. The songs have potential. Imagine what George Martin could do with them.

That said: (1) It’s really a rom-com, and you’ve seen this road before. (2) A side trip risks ruining the whole thing for certain viewers, maybe the type who’s ambivalent about seeing the movie to begin with. (3) None of the plot bears up against the slightest bit of logical scrutiny, so there’s that to get over.

I went in just glad to spend two hours with a film that loves the Beatles. It’s a couple of notches below “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” in my book, but it stays in the book.


Y'know the first time I saw the Fab Faux, I was ready to hate them. How dare they mess with my Beatles?

But during the first number, I started to cry. It was an amazing show, full of love and grace and wit and charm and an enthusiastic appreciation of our boys that I identified with. I've now seen them twice again and it is always a super duper treat.

If you haven't, do.

In that spirit, I'll go see this film, as dumb as it sounds.


A laugh that only my family would share: I’m with George on the merits of Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, and my scorn is a running gag. Of all the songs in the catalog to make the cut for a cover or a quote in the movie, that had to be one of them.


What happens when James Taylor, who may have gone undiscovered, hears Something?


DaveSchmidt said:
A laugh that only my family would share: I’m with George on the merits of Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, and my scorn is a running gag. Of all the songs in the catalog to make the cut for a cover or a quote in the movie, that had to be one of them.

 There was a thread on here quite a few years ago about picking the worst Beatles song. My vote was for The Word. (Now keep in mind that the worst Beatles song is often better than the best of other groups.)

Maxwell's Silver Hammer ain't the greatest but it has a jaunty lilt and was creative in that it's a non-rock, children's song sorta style.



I think Maxwell is a great little song.


I saw Yesterday tonight and I thought it was stupid and lame. Even a fantasy needs a wee bit of logic. This was a free-for-all of idiotic mishmash with no reason or logic. And who or what was that "John" character at the end?  Explanations welcome. Stupid. Very disappointing. Cigarettes? Harry Potter? And a yellow submarine? Whoopee! So what? Was that meant to be somehow profound?

My response had nothing to do with Beatles or no Beatles.  It was just dumb. I should have gone to see "Maiden."


The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

Whoopee! So what? Was that meant to be somehow profound?

No.

Any nuggets to share? I liked the glimpse of the feet on the James Corden show.


DaveSchmidt said:


The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

Whoopee! So what? Was that meant to be somehow profound?
No.
Any nuggets to share? I liked the glimpse of the feet on the James Corden show.

 Yes, there were a [very] few cute moments. Overall, a fail as far as I’m concerned.  


Instead of showing his feet, they should have showed Paul's hand with a cigarette in it and asked what it was.


Good one. Then he could have sat down and sung a snippet of A Day in the Life and explained to everybody (except Jack and Ringo) what “had a smoke” meant. And possibly “comb.”

And what about all the songs by other artists that mention cigarettes (and possibly combs)? Did those songs just disappear? Was Paul not talented enough to have a solo career? (Denny Laine, the Macca craves another collaborator.) What toy company would have ever made a yellow submarine? Nobody said boo about the blackout and wondered what had caused it? The interruption in life-sustaining medical equipment, for instance, didn’t bother anyone? What did Ed Sheeran ever see in that manager, and vice versa? Why didn’t Jack make The Word his first single?

Just no logic at all.


A nicely realistic touch: the struggle to remember all the lyrics. As familiar as the songs are, it can be a lot easier to sing along to them than to call up the words in your head from scratch.


Did Mike Nesmith indeed beat Gram Parsons to the punch? Did Manson become a Beach Boy? Is “a hard day’s night” really so confusing on its own? How were the rules of the songwriting showdown (nothing you worked on before) enforced? How does a roadie living outside the concept of time get a job in the first place? Who was on my first-grade lunch box?


Depending on whether you believe it...


Did everyone whose life was impacted by the use of a CT Scan to identify health issues,  take a turn for the worse?


The_Soulful_Mr_T said:
I saw Yesterday tonight and I thought it was stupid and lame. Even a fantasy needs a wee bit of logic. This was a free-for-all of idiotic mishmash with no reason or logic. And who or what was that "John" character at the end?  Explanations welcome. Stupid. Very disappointing. Cigarettes? Harry Potter? And a yellow submarine? Whoopee! So what? Was that meant to be somehow profound?

My response had nothing to do with Beatles or no Beatles.  It was just dumb. I should have gone to see "Maiden."

 I forgot to add: Pretty good tunes, though....


The_Soulful_Mr_T said:


The_Soulful_Mr_T said:
I saw Yesterday tonight and I thought it was stupid and lame. Even a fantasy needs a wee bit of logic. This was a free-for-all of idiotic mishmash with no reason or logic. And who or what was that "John" character at the end?  Explanations welcome. Stupid. Very disappointing. Cigarettes? Harry Potter? And a yellow submarine? Whoopee! So what? Was that meant to be somehow profound?

My response had nothing to do with Beatles or no Beatles.  It was just dumb. I should have gone to see "Maiden."
 I forgot to add: Pretty good tunes, though....

 Especially "Summer Song."


DaveSchmidt said:
A laugh that only my family would share: I’m with George on the merits of Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, and my scorn is a running gag. Of all the songs in the catalog to make the cut for a cover or a quote in the movie, that had to be one of them.

 One of the funniest books I ever read is Al Murrray's "Great british Pub Quiz Book". Question 4 from the "Music" section is "Deapite Ringo's efforts, Paul McCarney's song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is by far and away the worst song the Beatles ever released. It's embarrassing for everyone nvolved and is often blamed for splitting the band up. On what album does it feature?"


Here's a later question picked at random

"In the Bible - which is in English, never forget that, which makes it all the more remarkable given that it was written 2000 years ago in the Middle East by people who spoke Hebrew - What are the first five word of Psalm 23?"


jonesey said:

Here's a later question picked at random
"In the Bible - which is in English, never forget that, which makes it all the more remarkable given that it was written 2000 years ago in the Middle East by people who spoke Hebrew - What are the first five word of Psalm 23?"

“Our father high in heaven.”

Whoops. That’s Hymn 43.



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