Like any two people born four decades apart, my dad and I have very different music tastes. He not-so-affectionately nicknamed my favorite band (Modest Mouse) “Mighty Mousey‰” and claims they sound like dying cats. However, we definitely agree that the Beatles are incredible, timeless and the music world would be vastly different today had they never existed. I try not to force my opinions down people‰’s throats but I truly do not think that hating the Beatles is something that should be allowed to occur.

However, it is certainly not accurate to say that everyone loves the Beatles. Facebook recently performed  a data analysis basically concluding that the majority of those who like the Beatles (or at least, their page on Facebook) are Democrats. Republicans tended more towards country acts such as Miranda Lambert. This data came from surveying the Facebook users who had “liked” certain campaign pages. To perpetuate stereotypes even further, the data extended to television where Democrats were fans of The Daily Show and Republicans dug Duck Dynasty.

Courtesy of NPR.

The Beatles’ alter ego Sgt. Pepper band gave them the ability to experiment with their sound.  Time Magazine deemed 1967’s Sgt. Pepper‰’s Lonely Hearts Club Band a “historic departure in the progress of music.‰Û Much of the appeal of the Beatles‰’ album comes from its employment of the recording studio as an instrument in itself, which adds to the allure of covering the masterpiece.

On October 28, The Flaming Lips released a reinvention of  Sgt. Pepper‰’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, entitled With A Little Help From My Fwends. The “fwends‰” include Miley Cyrus, Dr. Dog, Tegan and Sara, and nearly a dozen more artists. The Flaming Lips and Fwends took this experimental spirit to the next level. The psychedelic levels were indeed upped. (Wayne Coyne did almost trip acid with Kesha once, RIP to her money sign). That said, With A Little Help from My Fwends is enough of a departure that Beatles fans will not be offended. 

The most talked about aspect of the Flaming Lips‰’ new album is the music video for “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,‰” which portrays Moby as a cult leader and Miley Cyrus, as, well, what people have come to expect from Miley Cyrus lately. The whole thing is extremely trippy and includes the stolen brain of JFK that possibly contains the original formula for LSD.

Courtesy of Uriel Shima’s Vimeo.

LSD has also been showing up in the news lately. According to British studies, there are several possible health benefits of LSD, the drug in 2004 McCarthy admitted “Lucy in The Sky with Diamonds‰” was written about. LSD has the potential to treat headaches, depression, and anxiety. Due to its linkage with anti-war sentiment and counter-culture, the United States government cracked down on the use of LSD in the 1960s, which led to the hesitancy with LSD use today.

It all goes to show the timelessness of the Beatles. Their music, although nearly half a century old, can still have influence today in music, politics, and drugs.