Liverpool

Based on my experience of the Beatles museum, the Magical Mystery Bus Tour, the Cavern Club, along with many other sites in Liverpool, I feel much more engaged in the early lives of the Beatles. It’s one thing to listen to the Beatles’ music and talk about their lives and careers in class, but walking in their footsteps, seeing where they grew up, and getting to see actual bits and pieces of their lives is a completely different experience. Since the beginning of this trip, I have been learning who they all were as individual people and how they both impacted the world as well as were impacted by it. For me, Liverpool was definitely a helpful way of tying together all that I’ve learned so far.

To understand the Beatles as a group, I first wanted to be able to learn their individual stories.  The Beatles museum was the first Beatles site we toured and from the second I stepped foot inside, I was overcome with information, pictures, stories, and displays which held their old instruments and other things. The museum was set up so that you walked through their early lives first, then worked your way through to their deaths and present day lives.

The first display I saw, the family album, gave a brief intro of each Beatles childhood, parents, and schooling. I learned how Paul’s father had his own jazz band and his mother was a midwife, although he lost her to cancer at the age of 14 and was raised by his father with the help of his sisters. I was surprised to read that George was very rebellious throughout school and dropped out at the age of 16 as he hated it so much. I learned how at the age of 3, Ringo’s father walked out on him and his mother. Maybe this played into Ringo’s  struggles in his early schooling where he missed quite a bit due to skipping and frequently being ill. I also learned about how John’s father lost his job and abandoned both John and his mother. After John’s mother found a new love, she left her son to live with and be raised by his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George. After Uncle George’s death, when John began trying to rekindle his relationship with his mother, she was hit by an off duty police officer while crossing the street and was killed. Learning about their early lives, families, and childhoods gives you a better idea of the people they were individually and how these things influenced them as a group.

It makes you wonder if the Beatles would have become the group that they did if they hadn’t had the experiences and early years that they did. For example, although George and John attended the same school, they didn’t know each other due to the age difference. If they had not been introduced through a mutual friend, Paul, they may not have ever met.

We got to visit strawberry fields, a place where John could visit both literally and mentally to surpass the judgment and negativity he felt throughout his life. This was one of my favorite Beatles spots we visited in Liverpool not only because I love the song and I’ve always wanted to visit it in person but also because it had so much meaning to John Lennon.  I feel like everyone can relate to having a place where they feel like they can escape to, whether mentally or physically, where no one will judge them, they can do, say, think whatever they want. I certainly can relate so this was very cool to be able to see where he was referring to.

Besides Strawberry Fields, my favorite Beatles spot we visited while in Liverpool was The Cavern Club. This was not only an amazing experience as far as getting to hang out where they played regularly but also such a thrill to see the wall of fame where other amazing bands have played. On top of that, Susan, Katie and I were even allowed to come up on stage to accompany local musician, Tim Shaw, in singing Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. I felt like I was actually getting to be a part of a bit of Beatles history. HOW COOL! J

All in all, I learned so much about the Beatles before they became the sensation that we remember them as today. Liverpool was a great experience and I feel very privileged to have been able to see the early lives of one of my all time favorite bands!