Dear Prudence - The Beatles.
Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play
Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day
The sun is up, the sky is blue
It's beautiful and so are you
Dear Prudence won't you come out and play



Dear Prudence open up your eyes
Dear Prudence see the sunny skies
The wind is low the birds will sing
that you are part of everything
Dear Prudence won't you open up your eyes?

Look around round
Look around round round
Look around

Dear Prudence let me see you smile
Dear Prudence like a little child
The clouds will be a daisy chain
So let me see you smile again
Dear Prudence won't you let me see you smile?



If you've never heard this song, then please watch the YouTube video above. That clip is from the movie Across the Universe (that version is the first one I heard, which taints me, I suppose. It's my favourite though. Sacralige?)

I don't actually know much about the Beatles or the song, but Wiki tells me that Dear Prudence was written by John Lennon, about Mia Farrow's sister Prudence. Lennon was concerned that Prudence was depressed, and was inviting her to come out to play.

Without knowing any of this, however (though now it comes into play,) I initially loved this song for the following reasons:

Tone:
Fresh, and bright. Long slurred notes, an alto/tenor pitch, and the English accent adding to it makes it sound bright, happy. I don't know about you, but for me, this song is uplifting. What with emo and everything at the moment, music is bogged down. And hello, this is me talking. I am a firm believer in Sad Is Happy For Deep People (ta, Stephen Moffatt) but this song is pure light blue, if you know what I mean. It's cheerful to a sad person. It's new - even though the song has been around since 1968 - to this generation, and brings a spark of life to today's music, in the midst of Blue October (an excellent band), Dashboard Confessional (erm, *blush* also liked by me), Deathcab for Cutie (*blush*), Muse, Nine Inch Nails and so many other... well... I hate to use the words 'well known', 'pop' or 'secular', but all of those are. Though Nine Inch Nails might not want to be. With the Beatles revival Across the Universe brought, Dear Prudence introduces a brighter tone to music.

...Though then there's Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite, I Am the Walrus, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and Come Together... hell, anything off Sgt Peppers. Not so good for the mental health of today. Don't do drugs kiddies. (I love all four of those songs. Especially Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite.)

Which leads me to...



Message:
Okay, this is possibly the last thing that they meant... well... maybe. If it was actually written for Prudence with Lennon worrying about her being depressed, then perhaps I'm on the right track. This song makes me think of Light Blue, like I said before. The colour, because of all the talk about skies, 'the skies are blue' etc, makes me think happily of blue skies, bright colours, yellows, greens, and reds, all basic prime colours in their original solid shades. And since blue is a colour so associated with depression (Beyond Blue), this changes the connotation slightly, turns it around.

Do you think it encouraged Prudence to come out of her room? In Across the Universe, it encourages Prudence to come out of the closet (something that's symbolic in the movie but of little relevance (I think) in this situation), as you see in that clip.

I think it would encourage other people with depression, even just a little, to come out of their rooms. I mean, it made me go outside, and I'm a c-depressed computer geek who is glued to her laptop.

It speaks in truths. I was watching a music programme once, talking about the top most loved songs ever (Abba in particular), and Beautiful by Christina Aguilera came up. Not that this song is *wrong*, but it's not (necessarily) going to make someone who hasn't left their room all weekend because at school she's bullied, and she thinks it's because she's ugly, think she's pretty all of a sudden. Not really. She might say so, and she probably *is* beautiful, but there's always going to be this niggling fear.

The sun is up, the sky is blue. True unless you're in England. Which the Beatles weren't at the time (they were in India) because even with cloud cover, the sun is there, the sky is blue. So. Good. Yes.

It's beautiful and so are you. Baseless? Doesn't have the environment to fall back on, of course. The sun will rise. True. The sky is blue. True. It is beautiful. True. Are you? Sure. Will you always believe it? Of course not. No one thinks they're beautiful all the time. And if they do, they're liars. But I bet you are. Besides, the other lyrics are true...

The wind is low the birds will sing. See above.

that you are part of everything. Everyone is. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Always. Every molecule, every partical. Part of EVERYTHING. Also applies if you're high and can actually hear the birds saying so.

They're basic truths, ones that will stay constant day in, day out (except the wind being low. That's not a constant, I know. Shut up.) which don't have a message of (either) 'brood, brood, brood, brood, brood...' like most pop songs or 'sex, sex, sex, omg sex'.

The interjoining lyrics are just as important. And they say; go out. Watch the clouds move across the skies. Look at the blue, and wonder at its depth. It's beautiful. Look at it. You're part of this, and that will never, ever change. OUT!

The clouds will be a daisy chain. Yeah, okay. That's really more lyrics than anything else...



Lyrics:
I have already discussed half of these. But they're message. I mean poetry.

And when I say guh, I mean, guh. Good poetry gives me tummy flips. I got the tummy flips. It is supremely basic. Seriously, but it is gorgeous. There's no alliteration, no onomatopoea, nothing of the sort. Just basic painting.

For example: The clouds will be a daisy chain. Do you see it?

It's impressive how effective that is. I can see the sky (without watching the movie I mean - that uses a lot of visual too) and the birds, and the sun, just by closing my eyes and listening.

And the
Look around round
Look around round round
Look around?

Just rhyme and repetition, but essential. And pretty. And very true to era, if I'm correct.



Modern:
Considering everything above and bringing it back down to me, and me writing it. Today. In 2008. It is, I believe, very relatable to the people of today. I would love to have written it today and published it, to see if it would impact and help anyone.

I was discussing the Beatles the other day with my father, and I said that in a way, the Beatles had been ruined for me by the generations before me. They were CLASSIC. So now, you all groan slightly when you hear the word Beatles, don't you? Because you know they did drugs, were popular and that they are SO not cool now.

Which lays a lot of gorgeous songs to waste. You've all heard Help!, Hello, Yellow Submarine, Yesterday, etc, but have you heard She's So Heavy? Did you even realise there was a song *called* Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite before I brought it up (don't bother if you're looking for poetry, mind. Crack? Hell yes.)? Would you listen to them without the 'seriously old' connotation if I told you they were by someone these days? Not the Beatles?

Hence why I would love to have written and publsihed Dear Prudence (without the Beatles tag) today. Maybe it would have been appreciated more.

In sum, I would LOVE to have written this. Especially now, published now, for today's generation. For numerous reasons; lyrics, tone and message.

As a disclaimer, I just want to say, I think Across the Universe *did* change at least some of my generation's way of thinking about the Beatles. I mean, it opened MY eyes. I'd never heard of Dear Prudence, let alone any of the others.

Go buy hire that movie right now. It'll change your life.

And seriously, guys, what WERE the Beatles on when they wrote about the Blue People?

...Bugger that, what the hell is Come Together and I Am the Walrus about??