Speaking Words of Wisdom
eBook - PDF

Speaking Words of Wisdom

The Beatles and Religion

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Speaking Words of Wisdom

The Beatles and Religion

About this book

"More popular than Jesus."

Despite the uproar it caused in America in 1966, John Lennon's famous assessment of the Beatles vis-à-vis religion was not far off. The Beatles did mean more to kids than the religions in which they were raised, not only in America but everywhere in the world.

By all accounts, the Beatles were the most significant musical group of the twentieth century. Their albums sold in the hundreds of millions, and the press was always eager to document their activities and perspectives. And when fan appreciation morphed into worship, Beatlemania took on religious significance. Many young people around the world began to look to the Beatles—their music, their commentary, their art—for meaning in a turbulent decade.

Speaking Words of Wisdom is a deep dive into the Beatles' relationship to religion through the lenses of philosophy, cultural studies, music history, and religious studies. Chapters explore topics such as religious life in Liverpool, faith among individual band members, why and how India entered the Beatles' story, fan worship/deification, and the Beatles' long-lasting legacy.

In the 1960s, the Beatles facilitated a reevaluation of our deepest values. The story of how the Beatles became modern-day sages is an important case study for the ways in which consumers make culturally and religiously significant meaning from music, people, and events.

In addition to the editor, the contributors to this book include David Bedford, Kenneth Campbell, John Covach, Melissa Davis, Anthony DeCurtis, Mark Duffett, Scott Freer, Murray Leeder, Sean MacLeod, Grant Maxwell, Christiane Meiser, and Eyal Regev.

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Yes, you can access Speaking Words of Wisdom by Michael McGowan in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Médias et arts de la scène & Musique. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. COVER Front
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Introduction
  6. Chapter 1 Religion inthe Liverpool of the Beatles’Childhoods
  7. Chapter 2: Born Taking Sides Religion in the Beatles’ Liverpool
  8. Chapter 3: The Religious Sensibility of Paul McCartney
  9. Chapter 4: John Lennon, Jesusas a Moral Model, and Imagine No Religion
  10. Chapter 5: George Harrison’s Road to India
  11. Chapter 6: Don’t Pass Me ByTo Hell and Back with Ringo Starr
  12. Chapter 7: Songs of Self-Emptying in the Beatles
  13. Chapter 8: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah Beatlemania and the Cult of Dionysus—The Resurrection of a New Consciousness
  14. Chapter 9: A Religion in Fact The Beatles as Religious Phenomenon Hidden in Plain Sight
  15. Chapter 10: Helter Skelter Charles Manson’s (Supposed) Apocalyptic Reading of the White Album
  16. Chapter 11: Sanctum or Artifact ? The Beatles’ Music in Yesterday
  17. Chapter 12: Necrolennonolatry The Postmortem Adventures of John Lennon
  18. Index