Sunshine and Butterflies

Seeing the “Dance Tonight” iTunes commercial stirred up a well of girlish “Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaul” squeals from the depths of my gut, and for the past two weeks, I’ve been reminiscing about just how much the Beatles – and particularly Paul McCartney – influenced my tastes, and, to a certain extent, my outlook on life.

I mean, all in all, they were pretty optimistic guys, those Beatles: Ringo was the one who was always busy making friends; George was busy harekrishna-ing ; John was only occasionally vexed; and Paul – well, we all know what happened to Paul. He went on to write “Silly Love Songs.”

I’ve never understood why Paul gets a bad rap for being sunny. From personal experience, (I’ve met him twice now), I can say I really believe he is just a happy guy. Contemplative and complex, too. And, as the song says, “What’s wrong with that?”

It’s never made sense to me that people can love the Beatles but hate Paul. I definitely have a preference for Paul over John, but no way would I forsake John. He was the yin to Paul’s yang, and what would music history be without their partnership?

That’s why the iTunes commercial is so brilliant – it captures the essence of Paul’s music (the wide-eyed optimism, the Vaudevillian melodies, the Eleanor Rigbys, Uncle Alberts et al) and the spirit of who he is as a person.

Finally, he has become one of his own whimsical, colorful, semi-transparent creations.