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My Gen X Playlist: In My Life – The Beatles

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Daily writing prompt
Write a letter to your 100-year-old self.
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Hey. You made it. The big one oh oh. I know we agreed to write this letter as somewhat of a joke, but there was a part of me that secretly hoped you would actually read this. So here we are.

My biggest hope is that your years have been full. You know what I mean. I don’t need to elaborate. We’ve had this conversation many times before. Remember:

You don’t choose a life, you live one.

We’ve repeated this line through the years. I’m hoping you took it to heart and followed through with the promises made.

Congratulations. One hundred years. That’s a hell of a long time. Look back fondly. No regrets.

______________________________

In My Life is one of the most famous Beatles songs. It’s origins sprouted from a book.

The story of “In My Life” started in 1964, when Lennon released the nonsense book “In His Own Write”. . . Despite the positive reviews, some critics criticized Lennon’s writing as far more personal than his music.

During the promotion of the book . . . author Kenneth Allsop confronted Lennon on the critique. “Why don’t you put some of the way you write in the book, as it were, in the songs?” He said. “Or why don’t you put something about your childhood into the songs?”

Allsop’s remarks became the catalyst behind “In My Life”. The original draft contained memories and recollections of Lennon’s childhood in Liverpool.

“In My Life’ started out as a bus journey from my house on 250 Menlove Avenue to town, mentioning every place I could remember. And it was ridiculous,” Lennon said. “. . . it wasn’t working at all.”

Only once Lennon gave up trying to write clever words for “In My Life”, the lyrics came to him. “Letting it go is the whole game”, he’d later said.

– songstoriesmatter

John Lennon’s writing of In My Life took shape when he stopped trying to choose the right lyrics and started letting go. Stop choosing. Start living. Sounds familiar.

–

For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

20 thoughts on “My Gen X Playlist: In My Life – The Beatles”

  3. Great post!

    I happen to be one of those people that put the Beatles on another level when comparing them to any other musician of the last 100 years or so.

    At my wedding, a lifetime ago, we had our DJ play “in my life” as he introduced the bridesmaids and groomsmen.

    Liked by 2 people

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  4. Interesting backstory to the song, thanks for sharing that! A succinct letter to yourself. Makes me wonder what 100 would feel like… I’ve seen some pretty vital 100-year-olds.

    Liked by 1 person

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