Now I Long for Yesterday

The Beatles classic that stirs the soul each time you hear it.

I first heard “Yesterday” around four years back and something about the simple melancholy music immediately struck me. It soon became one of my favourite Beatles renditions and I would listen to it often on repeat. But, as it is often with music you inadvertently wear yourself out by listening to it one too many times and I hadn't listened to my old favourite in quite a long while until recently when I did again.

Sometimes it is like this when you listen to a song after a long while you wonder what on earth you found appealing about it once. Then there are others which retain every bit of the charm they held for you the first time you heard it. For me, plugging in my earphones and once again tuning into “Yesterday” was like that. What is it about old music that tugs at your very soul and speaks to it in a way most modern music can never replicate?

There is something very magical about the song indeed. Perhaps it is the sorrowful way in which Paul McCartney pours out his regret on “why she had to go”. Or it is the gentle nod towards the very nature of life where you ride the tide when it’s high only to find yourself on the ground all too soon. The lyrics of the song somehow makes you think of the times when you were happy, healthy and carefree with a touch of nostalgia and wistfulness, while the song itself is an expression of the raw and all too human emotions of fear and confusion of a person longing for those good times in his life. Some phrases particularly (“I said something wrong now I long for yesterday”, “Oh I believe in yesterday”) resonate within me and I always admire how the Beatles managed to make me feel so many emotions with such simple lyrics that despite their simplicity land blows right to the heart. Really, the uncomplicated, straight and upfront manner of the songwriting without any unnecessary adornings was the one thing that got to me since I always believed in the power a few, well-chosen words can have over a person. The fact that it is the most covered song in the history of music speaks volumes about its timeless appeal.

There is truly something powerful when good music combines with even better lyrics. “Yesterday” is a beauty that comes to the front of my mind when I think of class music. It is a pure and honest rendition of regret, longing, hurt and confusion. That it achieved expressing an amalgam of emotions while lasting barely two minutes is highly impressive and downright amazing. Will the music of today inspire such adoration and bowl people over with their breathtaking simplicity and honesty? I guess it still remains to be seen. :)