Love is...

ever a prevailing mystery.

Recently, I had my mom watch John and I's new favorite flick "Across the Universe".

I knew my mother would like it because she's familiar with all of their songs and so was my father. This was the kind of music they grew up with, and the kind of songs they fell in love to. If you're not at all familiar with The Beatles, their songs, or 60's history, then you will probably not get much of the allusions and innuendos in the songs. Like the fact that all of the characters' names are based on the Beatles' songs.

Anyway, getting back on subject, a personal favorite of mine in the whole songbook is the same favorite of my mom's. The song evokes the feelings of someone who's heart has been broken before and is hoping for the real thing before she let's herself fall for this new love. It's a common fear that most people have when faced with the possibility of being in a new relationship. There's insufficient words to describe what heartbreak feels like, but the same can be said about the excitement that a new love brings.

The song appeared in the UK album "A Hard Day's Night" and the US compilation "Something New" back in 1964. It was written primarily by John Lennon with help from Paul McCartney. The song is notable for its unusual structure, which includes an unrepeated introductory section followed by sequential verse sections, each having a slightly expanded form, but with no obvious chorus or bridge section. The song also features a two-part harmony, sung by Lennon and McCartney together into a single microphone at their suggestion, and intricate chord changes. There is a version of this song where you can hear McCartney's voice crack (Love Songs album)used in the stereo version, but in the mono version of the song he strains but doesn't crack. The mistake in making the "cracked" version for the box set and consequently "master set" was completely an archivist's error when placing the masters back into the Capitol Records' vault. There are several renditions of the song out, most notably the one recently done by Maroon Five, one by Sammy Kershaw, and a merengue version by Caña Brava. The one I'm using for this blog is heard in the movie performed by one of the lead stars in the film and Marilyn Manson's girlfriend, Evan Rachel Wood of "Thirteen" fame. I chose her version aside from the obvious reference to the movie, because not only can you hear the raw emotion in her voice when she sings it, but if chance you saw her singing in the film you couldn't help but sympathize with her predicament. The arrangement was wonderfully simple and uncluttered in it's acoustic style.

I can relate to the song whole-heartedly because I've been the kind who's fallen a few times and is in constant fear of messing up and be on the losing end, that or be cheated by love. Regardless of all these cautions and apprehensions, I manage to bring my guard down and let myself just be lost in the embrace and affections of my beau John. And as for mom, she gets teary hearing the song for she believes that dad had never let her down when she decided to be his; for he had loved her unfailingly and completely.

So dedicated to love and my parents, here's "If I Fell".