Yesterday (2019): Why Erasing The Beatles Is The Best Way To Celebrate Their Legacy

Age 13-15 was a puzzling period for me, music-wise. You see, my childhood days were filled with classic rock tunes ranging from head-banging Iron Maiden jams played from the car radio to Creedence Clearwater Revival tunes that my dad would frequently belt out on his rugged acoustic guitar. However, beginning secondary school was ostensibly the death of those nostalgic music influences in me. It didn’t have to be, but as a wide-eyed 13-year-old kid scanning my school environment to find my musical tastes wildly unpopular compared to the modern pop music of the time that got almost everyone else hooked, I shuttered myself from revealing my “outdated” tastes in music in fear of being misunderstood or even reviled.

I was even attending music classes during this period of musical nihilism. Can you imagine going to guitar classes while running dry of any musical inclination to infuse into the instrument I was trying to master?

I was having a sort of music “identity crisis” – repressing the music I loved while refusing to adhere to the pop hits I personally considered dull (not to put down anyone else’s musical tastes, to each their own after all). It was a senseless balancing act that teenage me tried so hard not to falter in.

And then The Beatles showed up.

Tunes like “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and of course “Hey Jude” became little life anthems constantly swirling in my head

Maybe it was on YouTube although it’s hard to recall now, but I remember listening to “Hey Jude” playing, and something dormant lit up inside me again – an emotional spark that electrified every fibre of my being. I’ve casually listened to The Beatles before this and I even learnt “Let It Be” and “Yesterday” on the guitar, but hearing this beautifully drawn-out classic rock anthem about consoling the tears of negative circumstances with a light of optimism and compassion was something… more.

I dug deeper into more of The Beatles’ vast discography to discover a huge array of songs that just spoke to me. Tunes like “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and of course “Hey Jude” became little life anthems constantly swirling in my head as I started to gradually unearth my long-buried rock music influences that I now wholeheartedly embrace today.

It was one of the primary reasons I thoroughly adored Danny Boyle’s ‘Yesterday’ (2019) film that, to me, is one of the best films to celebrate The Beatles’ legacy… by purposefully erasing them from existence with only the protagonist Jack remembering them! It’s a wild premise that, while disappointingly under-explored, does just enough to set up a truly poignant tale about the universality and significance of the classic influences that gave birth to our modern pleasures.

Yesterday reminded me about the idea of embracing something you truly believe in as though it’s in the present, even if it hails from the past, to truly let its worth manifest within you. Whether it’s music, art or anything else, never let your influences die out; wear them like armour and allow them to be a part of your own legacy.

Image Credits: Imdb.com, Letterboxd.com

Light Of Day (1987) Review: Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett’s Underrated Rock & Roll Caper

To all hardcore Back To The Future fans in the ether, ever wanted to see how’d it be if the film’s titular time-travelling hero Marty McFly became a fully-fledged rockstar, jamming with an electric guitar in a band performing on the road? Then 1987’s Light Of Day is just for you!

It stars Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett (the established frontwoman of revered rock groups like Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and The Runaways) as brother-sister duo Joey and Patti Rasnick who’re gunning for their big music break with their band, The Barbusters.

Light Of Day is as much about the rockstar life on stage in front of cheering crowds as it is about the rocky reality away from the spotlight.

The heart of the film stems from the conflict of family ties; ties that seem to repel as much as it binds, in Patti’s case. Distancing herself from her family, especially from her mother Jeanette Rasnick (buoyed by a wonderfully heart-breaking performance from television stalwart Gena Rowlands), Patti tries to bury herself in the rock & roll scene – finding a solace fuelled by her discord with her mother due to a heated past spat.

A mature tale about the difficulty of reconciling with the past and how leaving it unattended just serves to emotionally tear people apart, Light Of Day is as much about the rockstar life on stage in front of cheering crowds as it is about the rocky reality away from the spotlight. Patti’s stumbling path towards reconciling these two aspects of herself is worth exploring as it’s something we all can ultimately relate to.

As an ardent fan of all things rock, particularly from the 70s and 80s, I was highly entertained by the film’s musical setlist. This Means War and the titular single Light Of Day (penned by Bruce Springsteen himself!) are standout moments for audiences and for Fox and Jett too. Their electrifying chemistry on stage is palpable, as Jett’s untamed wildness and Fox’s signature enthusiasm grabs you from the film’s beginning and never lets go even after the credits begin to roll!

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