Vatican Makes Peace with the Beatles

by leavingwt 9 Replies latest social current

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  leavingwt

  For the first time in decades, I'll be able to sleep soundly. . .

  Vatican makes peace with the Beatles

  The Vatican has finally made peace with the Beatles , saying their drug use, "dissolute" lives and even the claim that the band was bigger than Jesus are all in the past — while their music lives on.

  Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano paid tribute to the Fab Four in its weekend editions , with two articles and a front-page cartoon reproducing the crosswalk immortalized on the cover of the band's album " Abbey Road ."

  The tribute marked the 40th anniversary of the band's breakup.

  "It's true, they took drugs; swept up by their success, they lived dissolute and uninhibited lives," said the paper. "They even said they were more famous than Jesus," it said, recalling John Lennon 's 1966 comment that outraged many Catholics and others.

  "But, listening to their songs, all of this seems distant and meaningless," L'Osservatore said. "Their beautiful melodies, which changed forever pop music and still give us emotions, live on like precious jewels."

  It is not the first time the Vatican has praised the legendary band from Liverpool.

  Two years ago, Vatican media hailed the Beatles' musical legacy on the 40th anniversary of the " White Album ." And last month the Vatican paper included "Revolver" in its semiserious list of top-10 albums.

  Now, L'Osservatore says that the Beatles' songs have stood the test of time, and that the band remains "the longest-lasting, most consistent and representative phenomenon in the history of pop music."

  Giovanni Maria Vian , the editor in chief of L'Osservatore Romano, said Monday that he loves the Beatles.

  He said that at the time of Lennon's sensational statement, Osservatore "commented that in reality it wasn't that scandalous, because the fascination with Jesus was so great that it attracted these new heroes of the time."

  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100412/ap_en_mu/eu_vatican_beatles
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  leavingwt

  Please Keep Off the Grass

  
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  minimus

  I'm sooo happy (for you, Paul).
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  Terry

  I'm going to sound like the grumpy old man here.

  I personally think the Beatles made drugs seem like a really cool thing and alot of lives were damaged due to their influence.

  Does that absolve people from personal responsibility? No.

  Sometimes the Catholic Church, like a stopped clock, can be right for a minute.
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  leavingwt

  I personally think the Beatles made drugs seem like a really cool thing and alot of lives were damaged due to their influence.

  Well, it's my thread, so I'm giving everyone permission to go off-topic. (Can I do that?)

  I wasn't alive, then, so I must take your word for it. We should note that Bob Dylan turned the Beatles on to marijuana, giving them their very first joint in NYC. Dylan had assumed they were already using pot, as he had mistakenly thought the lyric in 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' was, "I get high! I get high!" (The lyric is actually, "it's such a feeling that, my love, I can't hide! I can't hide!")

  Terry, drugs almost ruined John's life, IMHO. You may recall the portion of 'Imagine' in which John is telling a guy that, "the only way to be free is to be clean". Which is to say, evidently, John got clean and later recognized what a negatively influence some of the drugs had on his life.

  Specifically, John almost "lost his identity" due to LSD use, according to one author I read. (In other words, he almost fried his brain.)
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  undercover

  It's a smokescreen...

  The Pope's adviser, Father Guido Sarducci: "Heya, Pope-a....letsa forgive-a da Beadles and mebbe da crowd, deya forgeda da child abuse-a, eh?"
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  minimus

  UC, good one!
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  JeffT

  John's remark about being bigger than Jesus may have been true, in that they had more followers/fans at the time.

  Sure they took drugs. So did everybody else circa 1967. I was sixteen that year. The Beatles were still VERY popular, but there were a lot of other bands contributing to the soundtrack.

  The Pope might also wish to speak to whoever invented the "folk mass" about that time. They were singing Bob Dylan and Donovan in church.
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  Wasanelder Once

  As you may or may not know, the Beatles did not get convicted of drug use till the 1970's. They denied drug use during the sixties though they clearly were doing some after 1967 as evidenced in thier music. They didn't advocate drug use explicitly till much later. Jimmy Morrison, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin and others were in the forefront of the drug culture. No doubt not as many people were taking drugs then as are now. It was big news then because it was illegal and in your face by the protesting few. As a kid I remember that marijauana was a SERIOUS drug then and considered mind altering and evil. Many may have been smoking weed but not so many actually took acid. Its was another media and religious poopfest of the 1960s. W.Once
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  Think About It

  It's a smokescreen...

  The Pope's adviser, Father Guido Sarducci: "Heya, Pope-a....letsa forgive-a da Beadles and mebbe da crowd, deya forgeda da child abuse-a, eh?"

  Excellent.

  Think About It