The Beatles were a phenomenon. It is hard to see behind the image to the four people they were. Fame puts people in a bubble. The Beatles’ bubble was probably claustrophobic. But it didn’t destroy them.
The Beatles had a huge impact on me and they did alter the world.
Here’s a few of Ringo’s observations:
Everything government touches turns to crap.
Politicians should keep their noses out of a lot of things and leave them to the people who know what they are doing. Education, for instance, is something that should never be a political football. Ringo is right.
I feel the older I get, the more I’m learning to handle life. Being on this quest for a long time, it’s all about finding yourself.
Life is a journey. I think that having a lot of wealth and fame can go to your head and you lose yourself.
I like Beethoven, especially the poems.
There’s the wit coming through.
People only look at me as a Beatle, but my friends look at me as a whole person. That’s how life works, but it’s not bugging me anymore.
It must be incredibly frustrating to be pushed into that pigeon-hole, where you have to act the part, where you are only seen as having worth within that role, where the incredible expectations are smothering.
I want to deal with what’s in front of me now to the best of my abilities, and sometimes that’s not very good. But a lot of the days it is really great.
That’s just exactly how I feel most of the time. It is crucial to keep trying your best.
People only look at me as a Beatle, but my friends look at me as a whole person. That’s how life works, but it’s not bugging me anymore… That’s a very astute observation. He was likely quite well balanced, given that he was prone to that kind of insight.
He seems to be OK. That sort of fame and attention must really screw you up. What on earth can you do or achieve after having been a Beatle?
I always liked the ‘peace’ drummer until he said recently that he supported Brexit. Unworldly fool. 1/ He’s an old man living in America for ages, not in the UK. 2/ as so many anti-solidarity voters he ignored the voice of the young generation. Egoist. Now his V-sings look just vacant to me.
It’s a shame when that happens isn’t it? He’s in his bubble – out of touch with the real world.
Yes, it hurts actually when cool people you grew up with (musically) suddenly fall apart and become disappointing human beings. Like with Ringo, like with Nico when I first learned that she was a vicious racist, like with Lou Reed when witnesses testified that he was a wife beater when he was young & on bloody heroin, like the sad stories about a two -faced John Lennon…
Our heroes invariably let us down. They are all too human and rarely live up to the ideals they espouse. I’ve met a few and they are usually the same. I think fame, fortune and adulation does something to the human psyche.