Sometimes I Wish I Could Listen to The Beatles for the First Time Again
I was born in the small city of Leon in Nicaragua in 1987; I belong to that generation of kids raised by their grandparents; my mom and dad were always working. My early memories are of me running around and playing in my grandparent’s house, sometimes with my cousin but most of the time on my own.
I clearly remember that day; I was coming back from school, 1993; I was in first grade, my grandfather was cleaning his closet and had a pile of vinal albums laying on the floor. The album on top caught my attention, was full of color, and had all kinds of funny characters.
I asked my grandpa: What kind of music is that? He answered: Los Bitles (that’s how we say it in Spanish). Then he said, come back when you finish your homework.
As instructed, once I finished my homework, I reconvened with my grandfather; we sat down, and he told me: If you want to listen to them, I recommend we start with this album (Abby Road), and the rest is history for me. He was born in 1933, so he was 60 years old, and I was 6. He couldn’t speak a word of English, and I started learning it when I was 12, so non of us understood a word of it, but at that moment, that didn’t matter; that’s the power of music.
After that, we permanently bonded through music; he also showed me the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, among others.
Moving forward to today, I just finished watching the first part of Peter Jackson’s new Beatles documentary; my heart melts just thinking about my grandpa and how much he would have loved to watch it.
Once I finished watching, I rushed to YouTube; I needed some more; I started watching Jackson’s latest interviews about the documentary, one thing led to another, and I found myself watching random people reacting to The Beatles, some of them claiming that this was their first time listing to them.
That got me thinking; I wish I could go back in time, not only to listen to The Beatles again but when life was simple when my grandparents were around, and homework was my only worried.
I’m not complaining, I have a great life, and I’m happily married to a unique and lovely woman.
She also likes The Beatles, and although we agreed not to have kids, something inside of me would love to experience that first time again through the eyes of a little kid.
The Beatles have always been an essential part of my life; I remember how important they were when I started learning English, on my first break up, or coping with the loss of my grandparents, and I dare to say that if it weren’t for them, I would be the person I am today. They are part of that safe place in my life that I like to visit from time to time.