Part Two: The Condition Of The Human Heart

The human heart is lost in a wandering, aimless void of purpose, and is desperate—desperate for the peace of heart and peace of mind that can only be found in the depths of genuine love.

John Lennon had lost his father in his early days, and his mother was simply incapable of caring for a child. He was shuffled to his Aunt’s home where he spent most of his growing up years. And, though he would years later be reconciled with his mother, she was killed in a car crash shortly thereafter. The emptiness of a young life without the grounding of a solid home with caring parents marked Lennon in a dramatic way.

The others faced trials and struggles as well. Paul McCartney grew up in a relatively happy home—but that happiness was shattered when, at age 13, his mother Mary (the actual “mother Mary” mentioned repeatedly in the song, “Let It Be”) passed away of cancer.  Ringo Starr (aka Richard Starkey) was sickly as a boy and spent very little time in school, leaving him largely unprepared for life. George Harrison was a boy in a man’s word when he joined the Quarrymen (John’s first band), and the older, streetwise young men became his dominant early influence.

In each case, there was the sense that something was absent. And that missing piece became a part of the search in their musical pursuits as well.  Years after the Beatles broke up, in a famous  interview in Rolling Stone magazine, John was asked to name the most important song he had ever written. Expecting to hear “All You Need Is Love”, “Give Peace a Chance,” or perhaps “Imagine,” the reporter was shocked when Lennon answered, “Help.” A musically up-tempo and fun piece that was the title song of the band’s second movie, John went on the explain that, at a time when he was battling with depression, the song had been a cry for help (“Help me if you can I’m feeling down…”), but no one answered that cry for help. In “Norwegian Wood” he struggled with the reality of a marriage that was failing, and in  “Nowhere Man” Lennon openly pondered the pointlessness of life at a time when the band was just beginning to reach the pinnacle of its success, influence, and creative powers. As the years wore on, McCartney, normally the more upbeat and optimistic of the songwriting duo, likewise expressed his own observations about the purpose of life (or lack thereof) with songs like “Eleanor Rigby”, “Let It Be,” and “The Long and Winding Road.”

At the end of the day, the Beatles, primarily under Lennon’s deeply introspective influence, went where popular music had never gone before—into a contemplative examination of life that felt valueless. In their music, they were asking questions that attempted to explore the purpose and meaning of life.