This was a parlor game i liked to play with my advertising clients. Something that is fairly easy for most people to play. Yes, there was the occasional, "i'm not into music" client who didn't want to play my reindeer games. But your favorite Beatle, c'mon - the easy out was to answer John Lennon. Especially since it's a great, great answer. How can you not respect that answer because how can you not think he was a musical genius. He defied the narrow classification of musician. He was a titan. A god amongst men. He imagined a better world for us and helped us get there.
i was always very anti-Paul.
Me, full of judgement if you responded Paul. Mind you, i can't tell you off the top of my head which are Paul's songs or lyrics or particular moments of solo shine on any compositions. i just thought he was the person you said if you were trying to not state the obvious and/or sound smart. It clued me into your personality.
"I don't work at being ordinary" - Paul McCartney
i came across this quote of Paul's the other day. And everything changed. Here is somebody owning their power. Not that it made me like Paul anymore. From him, it comes off as brash and egotistical. It's an elitist viewpoint from somebody heralded as a 20th century elite musician. This viewpoint has paid dividends for him. Look at all that he's been part of. Some music is the background music to people's lives. He has helped craft the background music to humanity if you ask me. NASA has beamed Beatle music into space for god's (or somebody's) sake.
What an extraordinary life he has lived. Think about his level of self-esteem. It would be amazing to know if this was his mindset before the fame or after it - i'd bet money that you'd find traces of it in him as a kid, well-before he rocketed into mythic stature. What a privilege to come wade into that ethos as a child. That's what enables extraordinary. To be extraordinary requires work at exactly that.
Problem as i see it:
It made me realize that i do an inordinate amount of work to be ordinary. A lot of mindshare and physical energy goes into fitting in. To not be thought of an odd-ball. To not be seen as "other". Only when your (white) friends become your friends, do they admonish you with what they perceive as the compliment of, 'i don't even think of you as black." You've managed to mesh into the ordinary tableau of the world as they see it.
And i can't help but think that's the true burden of being black in America. You do have to work to be ordinary cause you've been coded as not ordinary by the enduringly white culture and structure. You start on the outside and have to work like hell to get on the inside. Everyday. Every visit to the store, every walk down the street at night, every traffic stop.
Solve as i see it:
For me. it's to simply stop working at being ordinary. I'm a weird human. Aren't i lucky. i don't see the world like you do. Aren't i blessed. I have wild thoughts. I have awkward moments. I have suave moves. I have insecurities. I have all of the above sometimes at once. Celebrating diversity isn't about changing the percentages of black and brown faces in the room by a few points. It's about celebrating all the ways were different as well as the all the ways we are the same. the solve for me is to get busy being extraordinary and to stop giving a damn about ordinary.
George Harrison was always my answer. My favorite Beatle. He was the soulful, thoughtful, cool one. The quiet, reserved one. The Beatle who had the rich interior life and wasn't worried about what it looked like on the outside. And he wrote "Here Comes The Sun". Best Song Ever.
In May 1970, shortly after the Beatles broke up, George gave an interview about what it was like to be a songwriter in the group given that Lennon and McCarthy had penned a slew of the biggest hits the world has ever seen. He intimates in that interview that he and Paul were musically conflicted. And then goes on to say, "I can be Lennon-McCartney too, but i'd rather be Harrison."
My man. George.
(You can also always answer Ringo is your favorite. Unfortunately, then i'd code you as completely off your rocker. And if you actually meant it - you'd undoubtedly be the most interesting person at dinner.)