I've been making my way through Peter Jackson's new Beatles documentary Get Back over the last few weeks, mind blown that this candid footage of the consensus greatest band of all time has sat unearthed for over 50 years. I didn't expect the tapes to be anything more than some unseen rehearsal footage of the group. I had absolutely no idea they would include live footage of the band writing some of the greatest songs of all time. "Golden Slumbers." "Get Back." "The Long and Winding Road." It's flipping remarkable to see live footage of once-in-a-generation songwriters actually songwriting.
There's a moment in the second episode where Paul and John are going back and forth ad-libbing phrases over the "Get Back" riff, trying to figure out what words are hidden inside the syllables cascading out of their mouths. It was somewhat painful for me as a viewer to sit through, knowing what the words to the song are and wanting to scream at my TV, "COME ON GUYS! IT'S 'JOJO WAS A MAN WHO THOUGHT HE WAS A LONER'! IT'S HANGING RIGHT THERE IN THE AIR!"
And then there was a moment that I realized, holy crap: the best songs of all time were written just like this. A few guys. With a guitar. Ad-libbing random sounds over random chords. Waiting for the magic to arrive. Just like literally anyone can do.
An hour or so later, I decided I wanted to go for a hike. So I packed a bag with my camera and some granola bars and headed south through the heart of Silicon Valley. Driving south down the 101, you pass offices of Facebook. Amazon. Oracle. HP. AMD. SoftBank. Some of the biggest names in tech, if not capitalism. And quite honestly, all of the buildings just look like offices. Some of them have more luxurious interiors than others. Some of them genuinely have greener grass than others, a twisted status symbol in this California drought. But on the outside, they're just buildings with obsessive amounts of glass, logos worth billions at the top, and legions of hoodie-wearing employees strolling through the grounds.
And then there was a moment that I realized, holy crap: the greatest products and companies of all time were built just like this. A few people. With an idea. In an office or a garage. Figuring things out and kicking down problems as they arose. Waiting for the magic to arrive. Just like literally anyone can do.
It's crazy remembering how shockingly ordinary genius can look. It's easy to think The Beatles or Steve Jobs were untouchably brilliant and uniquely gifted gods. And perhaps they were to some degree. But at the end of the day, they were really just stoners.
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