Lads —

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Your recent ability to transcend space, time, and even mortality to put out a new song had us thinking about your past. Deep down the rabbit hole was this video of you four speculating about your future.

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At first blush it’s comical to see you, on the upswing of Beatlemania, so naive to what you were about to become. But, there are lessons in your youthful perspectives for those of us trying to create brands that endure — as yours undeniably has.

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From John, it’s a lesson in humility. “You could be big headed and say ‘Yeah, we’re going to last ten years. But as soon as you’ve said that you think, you know, we’re lucky if we last three months.’” 

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John’s ability to see this at a time when you four could barely leave the house for all the screaming fans outside is a good lesson for any brand experiencing early success. It’s easy to take such a thing for granted, but folly to count on it continuing without sound strategy and thoughtful management. (Or one-in-a-million songwriting talent.)

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Paul understands the importance of evolution. “Obviously we can’t keep playing the same sort of music…old men playing ‘From Me To You ’...nobody’s going to want that sort of thing.” And despite recent sold out tours of you doing just that, it likely wouldn’t be possible without the pivots in style and production that marked the band’s growth. 

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Had the group’s music not evolved, it’s hard to imagine its brand having the same resonance today. That’s not to say “chase every trend,” but, rather, to grow with your audience, occasionally challenging them, but always remaining true to what makes you you. The Beatles’ songwriting matured and recording techniques advanced, but creativity, craftsmanship and melody remained your enduring characteristics.

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George brings a pragmatic, if thrifty, perspective. He looks toward the long-term: “I’d like to have enough money to go into a business of my own by the time…we do flop.” As we know, you invested in yourself, diversifying your musical abilities and honing your own brand as a songwriter, making a lasting mark outside of John and Paul’s shadows. Yes, save for a rainy day, but do so by investing in deepening what your brand promises and how it delivers. 

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Ringo’s ambition to “have a lady’s hairdressing salon—a string of them, in fact” shows an enduring element of his character: an impulse to attend to the needs of others. To help them convey their meaning—whether through a flipped bob ‘do, or by creating in three time signatures to match the mettle of George’s writing on Here Comes the Sun.

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Anywho, thanks for the new song, and for the prescient thoughts about making something that’s not only special in the moment, but enduring with time’s passage. 

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Indelibly yours,

Mike, Thom, Matt and Jeff