By Professor Caverna – OPINION
IN MEMORIAM: Lucas Lemes Diniz
If there is a band that has crossed generations and still influences pop culture today, it is the Beatles. But beyond their striking beats and unforgettable lyrics, have you ever stopped to think that the guys from Liverpool have a lot to do with philosophy? Yes, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr not only revolutionized music, but also left reflections that would make any thinker's head spin.
In this text, we will connect some of the Beatles' ideas with great philosophical concepts. So, grab your leather jacket (or your psychedelic suit) and embark on this journey through thought and music!
When the Beatles released All You Need Is Love in 1967, the message was clear: love is the most powerful force in the world. But does philosophy agree with this? Plato, for example, saw love (or Eros) as a search for beauty and knowledge. In The Symposium, he tells us that true love is not just carnal, but a ladder that leads to ultimate understanding. Ultimately, when the Beatles sing about love, perhaps they are encouraging us to seek something beyond the surface, just as Plato suggested.
Schopenhauer, on the other hand, has a more pessimistic view. For him, love is an illusion created by nature's will to ensure the reproduction of the species. In other words, while Lennon sang that love solves everything, Schopenhauer would probably respond: “Yes, but that's just a biological trick to fool you.” A bit depressing, right?
When Paul McCartney wrote Let It Be, he said he was inspired by a dream about his mother, who told him to just let things happen. This idea of accepting events and moving on has everything to do with the teachings of Stoicism. Seneca, one of the great Stoic philosophers, argued that we should accept what we cannot change and focus only on what is within our reach. Just like in the song, he would say: “If something bad happens, so be it. Focus on what you can do now.” In other words, Let It Be is practically a manual of Stoic philosophy disguised as a ballad.
If there is a Beatles song that sounds like an existentialist treatise, it is Nowhere Man. It is about someone who is lost, without direction and without a defined purpose. Sound familiar? Because this is exactly what Sartre and Camus discussed about the human condition. For Jean-Paul Sartre, we are condemned to be free. There is no ready-made meaning for our existence; we have to create it. Albert Camus spoke about the absurdity of life and the need to find meaning even in a world without definitive answers. Nowhere Man is paralyzed, but existentialist philosophers would say that he needs to act, choose and give meaning to his own life.
The Beatles knew how to unite people like no one else, and Come Together is a great example of this. But, in addition to being an anthem about unity, it can also be seen from the perspective of the social contract. Rousseau argued that human beings, in order to live in society, make an implicit pact where they give up part of their freedom in exchange for security and peaceful coexistence. The song talks about different characters, each with their own characteristics, but in the end they all come together. This spirit of unity reminds us of the idea that, despite individual differences, we can only advance as humanity when we work together.
The last track on the Revolver album, Tomorrow Never Knows, was inspired by the Tibetan Book of the Dead and is a musical journey full of references to detachment and Eastern spirituality. George Harrison, the most spiritual of the band, was a great admirer of Hinduism and Buddhism, and this influence is very evident here.
In Buddhism, the idea of no-self and impermanence suggests that everything changes all the time and that we need to let go of our ego in order to achieve enlightenment. The lyrics of the song invite the listener to surrender to the flow of life and let the self disappear. If you’ve ever felt like you were floating while listening to this song, you can thank Eastern thought for that.
The Beatles may be remembered as brilliant musicians, but their impact goes far beyond their melodies. Their songs directly address some of humanity's greatest philosophical questions. From Platonic love to Stoicism, from existentialism to Buddhism, philosophy is present in their lyrics in a subtle but powerful way.
So next time you play a Beatles classic, try listening beyond the music. You may find more questions than answers, and that, as any philosopher knows, is always a great place to start.
IN MEMORIAM: Lucas Lemes Diniz
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“They took the primate out of the jungle, but not the jungle out of the primate” Prof Caverna
Note: Dear reader, the objective here is to stimulate your philosophical reflection, nothing more! nothing more!
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