What “Yesterday” Got Wrong About The Beatles
Yesterday is one of those movies that feels as though it was thought up by a child in a daydream. “What would the world be like without the most famous band of the 20th century?”, this kid muses to themselves as they look through the window during a particular boring class. This movie is the fruition of that thought and much like a child’s story, with all its sweetness and innocence also comes the blurry trappings of unconscious storytelling.
Yesterday asked a lot of questions but did not follow through with many answers.
Let’s explore some of these unanswered questions.
THE BEATLES — WOULD THEY WORK NOWADAYS ?
The thing Yesterday missed about the Beatles is that they were a product of their time. They were the breath of fresh air English teens needed in post-war Britain. They changed the game for rock music and paved the way for UK artists to be taken seriously overseas.
Their songs are undeniably great, and that’s why they’ve stood the test of time. But the reason they shot to superstardom was also a result of the band’s aura and the era they were in. Equally, the later drug albums worked because it became more acceptable to do drugs in the late 1960s and the psychedelic phase was in full effect.
How would the music industry treat The Beatles like musicians nowadays?
Now THAT would have been an interesting exploration. Sadly that avenue was not pursued much. If this movie were a little more curious about the inner-workings of the music industry, the thought process behind marketing the band like todays artist could have served up some moments of humor. A teaser for “Eleanor Rigby” on an Instagram story, perhaps? What a thought.
WHY IS JACK SO POPULAR?
One thing that bothered me is that it doesn’t look like our protagonist is having fun performing the songs. A big reason the Beatles became so popular was their personalities. Offstage they were cheeky in interviews, their legendary “roles” were cemented in movies like “A Hard Days Night”, (Paul was romantic, John was a rebel, George was quiet and Ringo was always down to party) and onstage it just seemed they were having fun! Many subsequent musicians claimed the main reason they chose that career path was because of seeing the Fab Four making music fun. The oohs and aahs went a long way and without the fun of the whole band our lone protagonist seems a little bereft of enthusiasm.
Furthermore, I did not get to hear some of my favorite Beatles tracks like “All my Loving” “Here, There, Everywhere” “Blackbird” and the list goes on …. but they played “Back in the USSR” twice. Did they not have the rights to the whole catalog??
Why would “Back in the USSR” work in modern times? It cleverly lampoons 60s era Beach Boys surf songs with the California sound bass line and the back up harmonies. Mixing American sounds with Soviet Union references (see: “Georgia on my my my my mind” refers to the Ray Charles song and Georgia the country). And all this in the midst of the cold war. It was very much a product of its time and I don’t think people would relate so much to it now.
Also, the Beatles evolved. To my understanding, Jack is releasing old Beatles song and new Beatles songs mixed together on a double album which is at most, what, 50 songs? What happened to other 150? Not worth saving?
I don’t think mixing old and new material would work
but I would’ve loved to see an explanation for him trying to justify “Revolution 9”, “Lovely Rita” or “Happiness is a Warm Gun” to studio execs, along with the other more experimental or controversial songs.
Though it’s not a fan favorite, “Why don’t we do it in the road” is just as much the Beatles as “Here Comes the Sun” is.
The Beatles could get away with a lot in their later years because they were already iconic musicians by the time they did more experimental songs trading in live shows for studio exploration. Whereas Jack is barely breaking onto the international scene in this alternate world, which in itself is also quite confusing.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!
WHAT ARE THE RULES OF THE ALTERNATE REALITY?
One thing that is nice is seeing what an old John Lennon would would like. It actually made me emotional. Thinking of all the life experiences he would’ve had if had hadn’t been tragically murdered and also all the music we would have enjoyed.
However, the old John Lennon did not seem to be quite musical. It seems that in this other world the Beatles members still lived, just didn’t make music. We don’t see why they didn’t get together. Did they try and fail? Did Johnny and the Moondogs or the Silver Beatles never happen? It’s hard to believe some of the most accomplished pop songwriters of the 20th century wouldn’t have had an aching to create music in this alternate universe.
For music nerds:
Would someone else have introduced the stuff Beatles introduced to pop music? Would bands borrow from the parallel minor key, a Beatles staple very clearly heard in songs like “I’ll Be back” or tried unusual time signatures like the 7/8 of “All you need is Love”? Or going to 3/8 in “Here Comes the Sun”?
Yesterday does not answer any of the above questions above and makes it hard for fans to enjoy the film when no Beatles song is played in full. Instead, we get a rushed punk rock cover of “Help” with Jack screaming through the pensive lyrics. Now that we know more about the Beatles, it might have been interesting to show the songs how the artists wanted to them to be played. Lennon famously stated he wanted “Help” to be a ballad but was pressured into making it a faster pop tune. Jack had the power to fulfill the wishes of the song’s creator, but alas did not use any of this future knowledge.
Despite all these things Yesterday got wrong about the Beatles, one thing I can agree with is that I really wouldn’t want to live in a world without the Beatles.
Originally published at http://filmreviewsblog.food.blog on July 10, 2019.
