All the Lonely People

The Beatles 'Revolver' 1966

In the August of 1966 The Beatles released their seventh studio album 'Revolver'. It was the album where the musical experimentation and a technological innovation created a surreal experience for the listeners. My favourite track from the album is 'Yellow Submarine'. A song, if I could go back in 60's, I would like to sing with my friends. The lines describe an idyllic setting with all the friends aboard and many more of them live next door! I would live a life of ease and everyone has all they need. With an eternal blue sky and vast stretch of green sea, life couldn't be merrier (Haha!). That is the 'Yellow Submarine' John, Paul, George and Ringo imagined for themselves and their friends. I wish I could be aboard and sail away to the sun till we found sea green.

Alas, life is no 'Yellow Submarine'. But life is about hard day's night and work that keeps us busy round the clock like a dog. No offense to the four-legged friends of the humankind but life of a street dog is tough. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. An endless struggle for survival on a daily basis with death as the only 'visible' alleviation from the misery for some. Each and every piece of food is in under the keenly observant eyes of thousands of other dogs. The Marmadukes of the world would find it dystopian and heartbreaking. The apparent inequity in the world can aptly be summarized in this line from the stranger than fiction novella by George Orwell, 'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others'. (Animal Farm, Chapter 10) Yet when I am home everything seems to be right and even a ratatouille would feel like a King's meal.

The Fisher King

Most of you would be wondering where am I going with all this? Okay, the first intention was to quote a lot of lines from my favourite Beatles song and to get a kick out of lines from another of my favourite 'Hard Day's Night'. And of course to write a bizarrely convoluted paragraph on life with references to a few books and movies that I like! Hope the second paragraph left you nauseated and wondering if I have gone nuts. If yes, my aim was accomplished. Because as a human being you can let go of the horses and just enjoy the places your mind ends up in. In the words of Jack Lucas, 'It's important to think, it's what separates us from lentils'. Oops, here I go again! I would like to hold my horses but as the chic Eames would say, 'You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling'. 

Back on Mars, I meant Earth. The lines from a Beatles song that refuse to budge from their dwelling are from 'Eleanor Rigby'. A song hauntingly surreal in words and equally cathartic in its emotion. A song that feels so unlike Beatles yet a song they would always be remembered for. Ah, look at all the lonely people. The line sets a tone for a world where lives are in a state of despair with an endless misery enshrouding us like ominous black skies. It is difficult to get rid of Eleanor Rigby, who lives in a dream and picks rice in the church where a newly weds have begun their journey. The vultures who feed on sadness are ready to pounce upon you and shred your mind, if they even smell a drop of despair. Perhaps that is why Eleanor Rigby wears a face and keeps it on the window of her house. Does the house signify a sanctum wherein she can hide away from these vultures? Ah, all the lonely people.

Eleanor Rigby

Further down the darker alleys of the song is Father McKenzie in his church. Writing the words of a sermon that nobody will hear. A sentiment shared by thousands of fellow writers. I am writing these words yet a possibility exists I would be the only person in this mess of over six billions to read it from head to toe! However if I am serious about writing I should take it as a 'holy calling' (courtesy Elizabeth Gilbert's Thoughts on Writing). Moving on, the death of Eleanor Rigby was an equally lonely affair. She was buried with her name, a forgotten name that goes down in some public records as a set of some tax returns, fines, notices and in the modern age as a breathless Facebook profile page & some email IDs which would never be 'available' again. Father McKenzie buried her and went along with his life, perhaps with a lonely thought lingering in the corner of mind. 

Ah, all the lonely people. Where do they all come from? Where do they all belong? A question unlikely to be answered until we just believe 'All you need is love, love is all you need!' The search is your own pill you've to find. I would leave you here with a few more lines from another Beatles song 'Life is very short, and there's no time, for fussing and fighting, my friend'.