Karly Mason England Bound: Studying Abroad in Britain: The Beatles Walk

Having been home for a while now I think it's safe to say that I have had enough time to fully process everything I did while abroad. Everything was so fast pace and nonstop it was hard to process it all at once. Having slept for about a week and being well rested I'd say now's the time to reflect on my final days in London...
One of our final events in London was the Beatles walk. For me the Beatles walk couldn't compare to our trip to Liverpool. I loved everything about Liverpool, the museum, the bus tour, the Cavern, John and Paul's houses, everything, so I may be a little biased when saying the Beatles walk can't even compete with our events in Liverpool. That being said, however, there were things on the Beatles walk that I really enjoyed. My favorite parts had to be seeing the building where the Beatles played their rooftop (and final) concert and walking on Abby Road. I was a little confused when the tour guide took us though the sort of high class fashion/shopping district. As he started talking the pieces sort fell into place. The Beatles, along with various other stars of the time, shopped along those stores. The guide talked about how it used to just be where the Beatles and other stars, or people who could afford the items in the stores, shopped. However, as the Beatles got bigger so did that shopping district. People wanted to dress like they dressed and shop where they shopped. As the guide talked it was clear to see just how big of an impact the Beatles had on people and their style because of the fact so many people wanted to look like the Beatles. That area of shops no longer became stores just for the stars but for the average person as well and as the fashion streets filled it made it harder and harder for the Beatles to go out into the shops they did before when not as many people were there. There was also a mural close to the fashion district that is very Sargent Pepper like. To me nearly everything about it screams Sargent Pepper. It's bright and colorful and has a mass of people just like the album cover of Sargent Pepper's. It just goes to show just how influential the Beatles were with their album art and how it seemed to inspire the creation of this huge mural with Sargent Pepper like qualities.
We also stopped at On Air Studio which is where the Beatles recorded a few songs such as "Hey Jude", "Dear Prudence", "Honey Pie", "Martha My Dear", and "Savory Truffle". The Beatles style of music has always been a little different from everyone else. As time went on they began making changes to their stand out sound and again making it a little different from the other musicians. They started drifting away from the sound of music people were used to hearing from them and making it more of the music they wanted to play. Even the lyrics in their songs changed, some having had more meaning behind them than others. The lyrics seeming more mature in some ways and having a deeper, and sometimes hidden, meaning behind them. They seemed to change for the better because fans stayed loyal to them and their music no matter what they came out with. I think people found the change in sound and lyrics more interesting because people began listening to their music and trying to figure out what the hidden meaning underneath it all meant. People wanted to understand the music, and know what it the songs were about maybe so that they could relate more to the music or just to have an idea of what the music is about. For me music is about making your own interpretations of the combination of sound and lyrics; it's not about trying to figure out the composers meanings it's about finding your own meaning. But because the Beatles music was different people were trying to figure out the Beatles meaning behind the songs and not just their own meaning.
Having the chance to walk across Abby Road was a lot of fun. I'm sure the locals just love when groups like ours come and stop traffic to take pictures walking across the street, and not stopping until we get the perfect one. Getting the chance to see where the rooftop concert was held was also a sight to see. I love the story of the rooftop concert as well. It just goes to show that no matter how "big" you are you can still get in trouble for being too loud and to never mess with the local tailors.