Is there anything left to learn about The Beatles?
The famous band has been amply covered. But analysing one friendship offers new insights
In 1967 Bryan Magee, a British philosopher and author, noted that 40-year-old songs by the likes of George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Jerome Kern still had wide currency. Given an “indifference to melody in favour of rhythm and intriguing new sound mixtures”, he doubted that the songs of the 1960s would fare so well. “Does anyone seriously believe that Beatles music will be an unthinkingly accepted part of daily life all over the world in the 2000s?” he dared to ask.
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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Song of myselves”
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