Sunflowers by MonetThe Oneness of Achievement & Humility in She Loves You, by The Beatles * * * * * [PLAY FIRST CHORUS THROUGH FIRST VERSE] I think this is beautiful! And I love Aesthetic Realism for teaching the grand criterion for what makes any music beautiful--including this song--She Loves You, by John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles. That criterion is this principle by Mr. Siegel: "All beauty is a making one of opposites, and the making one of opposites is what we are going after in ourselves."
1. We Begin with Wildness and Order In a recent semester of the Opposites in Music class, we studied Mr. Siegel's definitive, groundbreaking 1949 lecture, Aesthetic Realism as Beauty: Music. In it, speaking about various critics on music, he says:
[play opening 8 measures] Hear how secure, regular this music is with that very definite statement--She Loves You! But there's a back-beat, and added drumming by Ringo Starr--who is unrestrained and precise in a way I think is great--that holds you back and propels you forward between the surprising chord changes. I was amazed to find that even as this music sounds so definite, Lennon and McCartney actually start away from the key--on an E minor chord, which has uncertainty. [hear the minor chord of the opening) In fact, it's not until the 8 th measure that we actually reach the tonic key--G major. This opening is terrific oneness of wildness and order--opposites everyone wants to put together.
A big danger for a man--one I know intimately--is, when he thinks a woman approves of him, to become conceited and complacent. If a woman smiled at me, I assumed she was mine--signed, sealed, and delivered! This song is anything but complacent--the way achievement and humility are in it, is wonderful. The verse begins "You think you've lost your love. Well, I saw her yesterday." The melody to these words runs almost directly up the scale with the word "saw" on F#, the seventh note of the scale--it doesn't quite get to the tonic; there is something still to strive for. Three more times they sing that F#, before we finally get there--the high G--on the word "She loves you." But even at this point of achievement, there is a humility, as the music then descends more than an octave to a low e, harmonized in the minor. And we feel this humility is proudly affirmed as the guitars now play what the voices sang earlier, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
3. The Oneness of Pain and Pleasure In an Aesthetic Realism Lesson Mr. Siegel gave to a Rock musician which we studied in the Opposites in Music Class, he said:
The words of this song are about a painful situation--a man and woman who cared for each other have quarreled and separated. The man's friend is critical of him, saying: "You know it's up to you. I think it's only fair. Pride can hurt you too, Apologise to her." Then, after this criticism, pain changes to happiness and the song bursts out with the exhilarating "Because she loves you!" [Play middle verse]
There is regret in this song. And the way Aesthetic Realism sees this subject is new and beautiful. Mr. Siegel defined regret as "pain as to the past, or from seeing the past," and he wrote:
As a husband I am so grateful to have learned about this in Aesthetic Realism consultations and now in classes taught by Ellen Reiss, the Class Chairman of Aesthetic Realism. Being the only grandson carrying the Balchin name, and then attending Oxford, I had a very overblown notion of myself--and felt my biting remarks and clever quips were charming. And I was hurt when my wife, Ann Richards, did not see it this way, and in fact, criticized me for being insultingly high-handed. When I spoke about this in a consultation, I was surprised when my consultants asked me: "Do you think you're an instance of male superiority and lack of desire to know?" After a moment, I said with pleasure and relief: "Yes, I think I am!" They said: "Mr. Balchin, you can get to some of your biggest emotions through being honest about your regrets, because you can really feel you're seeing things differently." I came to see it's both a privilege and a good time to be a critic of myself; and what I've learned is making for so much greater feeling for my wife, whom I love very much, and such happiness!
The song "She Loves You," affirms what Aesthetic Realism shows, and how much these four young men needed to know this in their own lives! They sing, "You know you should be glad!" and show such pleasure, with those "Yeah's," and "Ooh's," and gorgeous vocal harmony. That surprising high "Ooh" [CB sings] puts together achievement and humility, pleasure and pain, wildness and order!
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Here are further links about how Aesthetic Realism sees the arts & sciences, urgent cultural and economic matters, ethics, and the life questions of every person:Anthropologist and author Dr. Arnold Perey tells of his field research in New Guinea and the classes he teaches today--and much more--at Aesthetic Realism: A New Perspective for Anthropology For teachers, parents, and others, here are links that will tell you more about the Aesthetic Realism Teaching Method:
What makes a photograph beautiful? How can a photographer improve his or her work? What does the art of photography have to do with justice to people? Find out at Len Bernstein: Photographic Education Based on the Aesthetic Realism of Eli Siegel Some of Eli Siegel's books, essays, lectures, and poems can be read at The Aesthetic Realism Online Library Also, see what critics have said about Aesthetic Realism and Eli Siegel. Aesthetic Realism Associate Lynette Abel tells here about classes she attended taught by Eli Siegel, reports on classes conducted by Ellen Reiss, and reprints some of the newspaper articles she has written: Lynette Abel: Aesthetic Realism and Life What interferes with our expression? Find out at Aesthetic Realism Encourages Self-Expression the website of Miriam Mondlin Read Ellen Reiss's critical observations about the poetry of Robert Burns (one of our favourite poets). She shows how relevant what Burns was writing about 200 years ago is to what is going on today. His poetry has the terrifically just way of seeing people that is needed by government leaders and every one of us. |