of boys and Beatles

flashback to 1993...

the scene is set in the green fields of my high school campus (funny, almost all my memories of high school seem to be grainy and fuzzy)

i don't remember exactly what we were celebrating that day, but i know we were gathered for some kind of school activity that requires each year level to prepare some kind of performance

so this band walks on stage (their name escapes me at this moment, it's frustrating) and one look at the vocalist, and i fell instantly in like. of course i was at this boy-crazy age so i fall in like with some new guy every five seconds.

then they start playing the opening strains of a song that seems vaguely familiar....and then he opens his mouth to serenade the crowd with this:

You don't realize how much I need you.
Love you all the time and never leave you.
Please come on back to me.
I'm lonely as can be. I need you.

And in that instant, I am lost. Thus begins a three year unrequited imaginary love affair with this guy who I shared a total of one conversation my entire….wait, that’s not the point of this post

Because of that teeny bopper crush on that guy who will remain nameless (you never know who’s reading my blog), I started listening once again to The Beatles. Of course almost all kids of my generation grew up listening to The Beatles because of our parents. But as I grew older, my musical taste leaned towards Debbie Gibson and Menudo (okay, this was way before I firmly established my musical identity, so I’m excused).

And so began my renewed love affair with John, Paul, George and Ringo which remains strong until this very day

Flash forward to last night, during Beatles Night at 70s Bistro.

My newest crush on the block, Johnoy Danao formerly of Bridge, starts strumming the opening chords of I Need You and at that moment, I was a goner again.

And amidst all the “spirituality” and brilliance of George Harrison, while smoke wafted through the air and everyone was gulping down alcohohol like there was no tomorrow, that moment was the most perfect moment for me.

I remember exactly the bittersweet feelings of liking a boy who didn’t know you existed, of sitting in a chair with my Dad, listening to our cassette tape collection of all Beatles albums, of swaying to the voice of Filipino rock gods playing Fab Four songs year after year, of watching the Beatles episode of Powerpuff Girls and laughing my heart out, of trying to mouth the words to all their songs whenever I hear them wherever I am

Here’s to cute boys and Yoko Jojo and 70s Bistro…and of course The Beatles