A Day In the Life
It’s impossible to be in Liverpool without thinking about the Beatles. They’re here, there and everywhere in this old port town. We hadn’t gotten far from the ship before we happened upon a larger than life size set of statues of the Fab Four. With a little help from our friends, we got a shot with the boys.
A little further along, as we made our long and winding way down the Liverpool docks, there was a fabulous exhibit of John and Yoko on the second floor of the Liverpool Museum. It featured the art exhibit where John first met Yoko, and lots of inside information about their famous relationship, with live video clips of interviews, performances and what-not.
What made it even more interesting was lots of references to what else was going on in the world at the time, as it took you through their time together, year by year, juxtaposed against what was happening in the rest of the world at the time.
On our way there, I saw the Mersey Ferries terminal, and immediately got the song by Jerry and the Pacemakers, “Ferry Cross the Mersey”, stuck on a continuous loop in my brain for the rest of the day. When I posted a picture of it, along with the song, on Facebook, the same thing happened to my cousin Marcy. “That ferry’s been crossing the Mersey all day in my head — thanks for that, cuz!” Just sharing the joy.
There was a large building in the downtown area, with a dragon on it’s roof. It was really cool looking. I don’t think it was Puff, though like Puff, it did live by the sea (but didn’t frolick in the autumn mist in a land called honnalee). Liverpool had a lot of very cool looking buildings. The Liverpudlians were actually a quite friendly and interesting people — they have my favorite of the British accents, perhaps due to my hearing those accents so often growing up, courtesy of the Beatles.
In Liverpool, there is an endless row of chain link lines all along the docks, for as far as the eye can see, full of locked locks, apparently a custom of lovers pledging their love for each other with a lock on the docks. It was a sight to see all those locks.
After a considerable hike, we finally came upon the destination of our choice for the day — the interactive Beatles Story exhibit, which took you back in time to how the boys first met, how they made their way through the early years, playing the Casbah Club, playing the clubs in Hamburg, Germany, the famous Cavern Club, how Pete Best came to be replaced by Ringo Starr right when they began recording as the Beatles (they’d previously been the Quarrymen and the Silver Beatles), and on and on.
It was a very immersive exhibit, as you were surrounded by Beatles, in sight and sound, a true delight for a lifelong Beatles fan. In truth, I loved their music from the first time I heard it, but was turned off by the hype — when they first hit the scene, it was like suddenly, out of nowhere, they were all of a sudden everywhere, and they were all you heard about. I eventually had to put that dislike aside, and admit that I really did like the music they made.
Few artists have grown so quickly, and so publicly, as the Beatles did during their relatively short run, from 1964 to 1970, as a band in the public eye, putting out an incredible amount of quality, timeless music during that time. The exhibit also followed the individual careers of each of the Beatles, each a musical force in his own right.
The lad who came out to assist us with the lift as we were leaving chatted us up, and it turned out he was a promising guitarist looking to make a breakthrough. It was a delightful exchange, as he was full of the hope and ambition of a few other young rock musicians from Liverpool once were, before they went out from this humble port town and proceeded to change the world with their music.
I tried to imagine what the world would have been like had the Beatles not take it by storm the way they did. One thing’s for sure — it would have been much different, musically, than it was. It really gives one an appreciation for how one person, or one small group of people, can literally change the world.
Our final port day of our British Isles cruise came to an end, as we made our way back to the big ship, taking in our final impressions of the port town where some of my ancestors landed from Ireland, and lived for a time before some of them left the British Isles forever for a new life in America.
That was, of course, long before the Beatles came along. Hello, Goodbye, Liverpool. Now, for one final day at sea before we make final port back where we began this journey, in Dover, England. There, we’ll move cabins, go out to explore a bit more about Dover, then return for our next cruise, eleven more days of fun and sea. This old sailor relishes the days at sea, which we’ll have four in a row of as we cross the Atlantic Ocean, after stops in Portland and Cork.
This is definitely my kind of vacation!
