We all live in a Yellow Submarine

The most prominent memory of music from my childhood comes from a tradition that me and my dad had when I was young. This tradition has influenced my music tastes ever since. 

When I was around 4, I loved trains, because what 4 year old doesn't like trains. During some afternoons, I would sit on our enclosed porch and play with my trains. Meanwhile, my dad would also be on the porch throwing darts or sitting by the window reading a book. He would put a CD in the CD player and we would listen to music as we did our respective activities. There was one album that he would always put on, "The Beatles/1962-1965" or the "Red Album". This may seem to be an interesting choice of album to be putting on compared to other music for kids at the time, but this album had my favorite song at the time, "Yellow Submarine".

Now I should mention that my dad didn't just put on that album just because I liked one song on it. My dad is a HUGE Beatles fan. We have pretty much every Beatles CD that you can possibly find from their very early hits that practically no one has heard of, to the most famous ones, such as Abbey Road and the White Album. Along with this, "Yellow Submarine" was his favorite song when he was the same age. In fact, his parents wrote in to the local radio station to have them play it on his fifth birthday. The real reason that my dad put on that album originally, was because he wanted to listen to some Beatles music, but when the final song on the second CD, "Yellow Submarine", came on he realized that I liked it. So every time we sat on the porch during the day, the Beatles "Red Album" was playing. I suspect that after a while he almost got bored of hearing the same songs over and over again, even if it was his favorite band. 

The Beatles Red Album

I liked listening to the "Red Album". While I didn't understand many of the songs, I liked the rhythm and melody of them even though I had no idea what they meant. "Yellow Submarine," was the premier example of the elements of the Beatles music that I liked. The melody is cheery and light, it begins very simple with just the vocals of Ringo Starr and occasional plucked guitar strings in the background. As the verses go on, the guitar slowly picks up to strumming and the drums are slowly incorporated and continues through the chorus. Now, as the next set of verses start, sound effects of waves, people talking, and the honking horn of a "submarine" (It sounds like, and most likely is the horn from a boat). I loved this part as it transported my mind to a harbor with a ship and people walking around. When the song was over, I would ask my dad to play it again and experience the joy that came with that song. 

I want to point out, because I love random coincidences, that the lead singer of "Yellow Submarine", and Beatles drummer Ringo Starr was also the narrator of Thomas the Tank Engine for a number of years, which just happened to be the trains which I was playing with as I was listening to "Yellow Submarine"

Listening to "Yellow Submarine" with my dad was a major part of my childhood, and it has influenced the music that I listen to today. As I am writing this I am listening to "All Things Must Pass" by George Harrison, who was a member of The Beatles. I still listen to the Red Album along with all of The Beatles albums which I can get on Apple Music. I also listen to songs written by each of the members of The Beatles after they split. I guess my dad's love for their music rubbed off on me. While this may not be my earliest memory of music, this certainly is the memory that the biggest impact on me.

Image from: https://www.thebeatles.com/album/beatles-1962-1966