The Beatles and the Open Context Model of Learning Day Two

8/14/2019 The Beatles and the Open Context Model of Learning Day Two

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The Beatles and The Open Context Model of Learning by Fred Garnett

The Beatles and The Open Context Model of Learning; Day Two

Five I Wanna Be Your Man

Have you bought your Crunchie this week?

We were behind the paper shop walking down our secret path to the recce whenDave asked me that.

Not yet, I'm saving it as a special treat until after I win my run next week.Are you still winning?I always win! I'm thinking of new ways of winning to make it interesting.New ways of winning! Like what?Well I think I'll hang back with Dinky and Jimmy next week and get them to

run better. Dinky's a really good sportsman, he shouldn't come last in running.You'll come last if you do that.No, I'll only stay with them until the second lap, then I'll set off and win at

the last possible moment. I'll really deserve a Crunchie if I do that!Ooh, that sounds hard. We could go and get the Crunchie now?No thanks.We could get it on the way back after football.No thanks Dave! Anyway running isnt as hard as playing with those older

lads down at the recce. I find that hard. How do you do it?I'm good at football.

We were wearing our football boots, and slipping around on our secret green path,as we were going to a serious match with the older kids. Football boots and fullBilton Dynamos kit, now renamed Dynamo Athletic. I was thinking of ways of

creating my own football team, or failing that maybe my own sports label, but Ididn't have a clue if that was possible or not. Bilton wasn't universal enough as aname anyway, I needed something distinctive, like Dynamo Athletic; part Soviet,part Stray, wholly global.

The last time we had come down to the recce we encountered the most amazingnatural experience we'd ever seen. It was densely foggy, but the fog was onlythree feet deep and came up to the waists of most of the lads playing there. Youcouldnt see the ball and you couldn't see the goals; just the usual pile of jumperson the ground. This half shroud created a magical environment on the recce. Weall looked like we were popping out of the top of a cloud and floating around in

heaven or in space somewhere, whilst still being able to see the rooftops of thehouses down below the recce. Every so often someone would find the ball, kick itand then promptly lose it again. From time to time a throw-in would be designatedand we would then see the ball briefly as it was thrown back into play andeveryone tried frantically to keep it in the air so we could continue to see it until,inevitably, it dropped back into the foggy soup at our feet and we would all burstout laughing. Some found it so hysterical that they fell down with laughter andpromptly disappeared themselves; to the even greater amusement of those leftstanding. We knew they were hopeless conditions for football, but we continued

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playing just because it was so utterly pointless. The funniest match of football Iever played in. If they play football in heaven I've done the training.

But playing with the older kids today would be a really serious affair. Several ofthem had aspirations to go professional making Saturday afternoon the mostintense session of the week. We could play as long as we wanted, or at least until

someone shouted five more minutes or the ball owner had had enough. Mindyou we never played much past 4.30 as everyone wanted to be back for SportsReport to get the days football scores. In Harrogate in 1963 most lads supportedSpurs as they had done the double the year before and Leeds were still buildingtheir squad and future reputation in the second division. There were a lot of whiteshirts on display that afternoon, which would come in handy when it came toswitching allegiances.The match we were heading for was already underway and we went over andstood on the sidelines. Dave and I always played together and when we werepicked for different sides I pointed out that we were brothers and our kid (I hadjust taken to referring to Dave as "our kid") always played on the same side as

me. When they saw we wouldn't be shifted on this they made another lad changesides, "our kid" was the magic phrase and Dave and I joined the team kickinguphill. Dave trotted off to the back and I sought out the left wing like family heroBobby Charlton.

I wanna be your lover babyI wanna be your manI wanna be your lover babyI wanna be your man

Our captain, playing left half just inside of me and bristling with enthusiasm and

purpose, was energetically singing some new tune to himself that I didntrecognise.

Tell me that you love me babyTell me you understand

Unlike me he was well past puberty, and one of the stars of football on the recce.Dark and compact he was a natural captain that everyone respected and wantedto play for. He was always looking up and picking out opportunities downfield.Goals often followed from his through balls. He only passed the ball out to mewhen nothing else was on and my job was to run like hell and get a cross in, or

pass it back to him if I got the call.

Tell me that you love me babyTell me you understandIf he liked Pop Music, and he liked this song, then it was bound to be a great.

I wanna be your manI wanna be your man



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Get on the end of that Bill, you twat!What's that skip?Whats what sonny?That song you're singing, I've never heard it. It's Pop Music isn't it?Pop music! Its R&B that, proper music.Oh, its not Pop Music then?

It's I Wanna be Your Man by The Rolling Stones, now shut it and get downthe wing and give me an opening.


Yes skip.

I went out to the touchline and waited for a chance to impress him and for anopening to talk to him again.


Where did you hear it skip?Hear it? I bought it! I've got two cracking singles by The Rolling Stones. Bill!

Back; drop back!The Rolling Stones?Yeah you can rely on the Stones. They know how to play their instruments

and they really know their music.

I wanna be your man

I wanna be your man

Six months later he would shock me by singing out loud I Just Wanna Make Loveto You! And baby, LOVE to you! OUT LOUD! ON THE RECCE! This was quitesurprising even to my then thirteen-year-old self, although I was never quite surewhat it meant exactly. But I guessed that my parents would never approve of suchstuff, so I never told them about the song, and I ignored the Stones until theybecame unmissable on Top of the Pops. It's All Over Now was the one that did it.Brian Jones got some extraordinary noises out of his plectrum-shaped guitar andthe Stones seemed to be leaning right of the TV and singing into your face despitethe picture being poor and grainy with hardly any image resolution. But they

would leave me with the sense that R&B, and even albums, were yet moremysteries waiting to be cracked. They sang different kinds of songs, in differentstyles, written by people with strange names like Muddy Waters. However therewas no chance that I would be investigating albums when they cost well over apound. Each!

Tell me that you love me babyTell me you understand



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I bet Caroline thought of them as horror stories. The Earwigs probably. The ladsdown the recce seem to get the Stones right away whereas they had somereservations about the Beatles. Not that they didn't like them and their bettersongs

Tell me that you love me baby

Tell me you understand

What about She Loves You skip? That's a great record!Not bad, not bad, better than their earlier stuff, at least they are trying on

this one. And its great to have loud music all over the bloody radio for a change.Is She Loves You, R&B skip?No lad, don't be daft, its bloody Pop Music! Now stop talking to me and get

back out to the wing, I want you hugging that line for when I need you. And getyour crosses in to the penalty spot. We're here to score goals not look good. I betyou are a bloody Bobby Charlton fan too aren't you?

Yes I am skip! How did you know?

Never you mind. Danny Blanchflower's the man, watch my passing andlearn son, watch and learn!

The next day, on Pick of the Pops, something magical happened... "And now, withtheir first top twenty hit singing a song written for them by the Beatles, it's theRolling Stones with I Wanna Be Your Man". Oh great! The Rolling Stones and theBeatles must be friends. What a relief! R&B and Pop Music can live together, theycan be friends after all.

When something interesting happened musically I just narrowed my focus andconcentrated on it really intensely. I Wanna Be Your Man seemed to propel itself

out of the radio sufficient unto itself. It was as full of energy as She Loves You butit was a coarser energy with a propensity to veer all over the place, less organisedand less controlled than the Beatles, more willful and more direct. I was pleasedthat the skip and I could identify with the same piece of music, even if it was forentirely different reasons.

I Wanna Be Your Man kicks off with a rocking intensity from its first two fiercelystrummed chords. It is just one minute and forty three seconds long and, as wasoften the way then, has established its intent and hooked you in by the end of thefirst four bars. At which point Mick Jagger cuts in with his cocky, sneering vocals;this isn't a request after all. Jagger isn't pleading.

Yeah I wanna be your lover baby

The Beatles wrote I wanna, but the Stones sang I'm gonna, be your man. Sowe know the whole story of the song just ten seconds in. The Stones are in a rush,you are in the way, and they are going to sweep you up and carry you along withthem. You dont really have a say in it. You really didnt have to say you lovedthem either. Then a more purposeful guitar solo than George had managed kicksin after forty-four seconds, before the musical order of the song is restored when



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the chorus kicks back in after a minute.

I wanna be your manYes I wanna be...

Then at one minute and twenty seconds Jagger changes his tone and lasciviouslylicks out your ears with the rest of the lyric from the back of his very deep throat.

I wanna be top (!) babyI wanna be your man

I got the energy of the song right away but those past puberty got its salaciousintent. The Beatles were going to educate you; right here. The Stones were goingto seduce you; right now. The Beatles had given them a Pop album track and theStones had turned it into a hit R&B single.



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Six Glad All Over (I Wanna Hold Your Hand)

Did you see Top of the Pops?Yeah, wasnt it good?Yeah, so much good music.Even Dusty Springfield sounded good

Yeah much better than with The SpringfieldsYeah yeah!YEAH!!!

We laugh at the shared catch phrase of 1963, which, in early 64, was still sweetlydriving parents mad with its mindlessness. We bathe in the affirmation it bringsus.

And the Dave Clark Five were on. That's the biggest selling single of all time.Fastest selling single of all time

I'm feelingGLAD ALL OVER

Dave Clark Five are the bestNo the Beatles are the bestHow can they be the best? Havent you seen the headline in the paper;

Dave Clark Five topple the Beatles.He was right there, the paper had said that, that was a tough argument.Only because everyone has already bought The Beatles singles!Not everyone buys Beatles singles, some of them buy Dave Clark Five

singles.Yeah, and Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas.And the Bachelors

Anyway didnt you see the Top Twenty. It had two Beatles singles at Numberone and Number Two, two EPs, including my Twist and Shout and their new albumwas at Number 19. Five Beatles records out of twenty. I've never seen an album inthe singles charts before.

Yeah, well it doesnt count does it, the Top Twenty is about songs, so theBeatles only have two and Dave Clark Five have the biggest selling single. Of alltime probably.

No, hang on, I know! Glad All Over is the fastest selling single. It sold 85,000in a day after Top of the Pops.

85,000 in a day! Are you sure?Oh yeah I'm sure about that I read it in the paper! That's twice as big as

Harrogate is.Told ya! I aint ever seen telly as good as Top of the Pops. It were even better

than Wrestling on Saturday. I hope they keep it on.

This was some accolade from Dinky. He would disappear on Saturday afternoons,the prime time for playing football, to watch wrestling. I didnt get it, I neverwould get it.

Yeah it was even better than when The Beatles were at the London



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Palladium.Yeah Sunday Night at the London Palladium is only any good when there's

pop on it. Thank Your Lucky Stars is the best programme on TV for music.Not any more!You're right there, not any more!And Tops of the Pops is on at a proper time too, not like the Palladium. It's a

good job my parents watch it.Dont you like Glad All Over then?I love it! My mum even went out and bought it!Everyone went out and bought it you twit. Its the fastest selling single of all

time. All of Harrogate went out and bought it in one morning!

I laughed at Dinky's outrageous anti-Beatle propaganda. Still he'd never been outof Yorkshire and you couldnt call The Beatles Yorkshiremen, not by any stretch ofthe imagination, not in Yorkshire anyway.

It sound's great on Mums record player, it sounds really loud. Is it MerseyBeat?

Dont be stupid they are from London! From Tottenham in fact. Which meansthey'll support the best football team in the world as well. Jimmy Greaves and theDave Clark Five! Fabulous combination.

London? They are from London Well that makes a change! Everything isabout Liverpool these days. Every new group at Number One is from Liverpool.

Not the Dave Clark Five!Why do they call it the Dave Clark Five then, when Mike Smith is the star? Is

it like John Lennon and Paul McCartney?I dont know, pop groups names are always mad. The Fourmost! And what

about the Beatles, now thats really mad!Yeah it is, brrr! What about Mojos?

Nashville Teens!Young and over there! The Hollies,Who might stay under the mistletoe! Freddie and the Dreamers.Sleepwalking their way to the Top. Merseybeats.On a Ferry Cross the Mersey! Billy Jay Kramer and the Dakotas.Wearing Swinging Blue Jeans from LeedsCheat! The Rolling Stones!Found by the Searchers.Johnny Kidd and the Pirates.In the Brian Poole with the TremeloesFrank I field!

The Earwigs!The Earwigs?Its my name for the Rolling Stones!Thats really mad!The Crickets?Mad names all of them!Fancy being named after the tremolo arm on Hank Marvins guitar.

Yeah! Can you imagine Dinky Dalton and the Drumsticks? Actually thats



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good, you can be my Drumsticks! I'm the teenager round here.

We were giddy with the excitement that all these new names brought.

Still Dave Clark's drumming is brilliant, even better than Ringo'sLike this?

And I'm feelingDum DUMGlad All Over

Even bigger on the Dum Dum like thisNo you have to stomp your feet not hit the seat. Like this, come onAnd I'm feeling

DUM DUMGlad All Over!!

Hey you two stop making a racket!

But we are singing Glad All Over! We are Glad All Over. It's Friday! School'sover!Well shut it or I'll put you in detention.

We sang in whispers, Dinky calling, me responding

You say that you love meSay you loveAll of the timeAll of the time

The school bus from Harrogate Grammar School was largely full of council estatekids on their way back to lowly Bilton, which was not as lowly as Starbeck ofcourse. It had already wound its way down elegant Cold Bath Road, past the stoic-faced stone frontages of the Upstairs Downstairs houses that were characteristicof this posh part of Harrogate, as we continued reviewing the newly revealedmarvels of the first Top of the Pops on TV.We had reached the entrance of the very wonderful Valley Gardens, where Daveand I would play pitch and putt back up its steep hill (I never understood why itwas called a Valley Garden), with Betty's famous Tea Shop just beyond it.

you say that you need me

say you need meyou'll always be minealways be mine

We were now approaching the Spa, the very heart of Harrogate. Dinky noddedover to our left as we passed the Crown Hotel. Dinky's brother already worked inthe Crown and I secretly wondered if I would ever be able to insinuate myself intoHarrogate aristocracy as effectively as his elder brother had. We grinned at eachother again and hit the chorus;



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I'm feelingGLAD ALL OVERbaby yes I'm aGlad ALL OVER

and baby I'mGLAD ALL OVER

Dinky looked up at the prefect and then sang in his normal voice.

SO GLAD YOURE MINE!!!

I stared hard at him as the bus came out by the heart of the Spa, the Pump Roomitself. The grass square in front of the Pump Room I always took to be the realcentre of Harrogate; around it Harrogate's major Spa buildings were on display.Meanwhile our call and response was back in whispers;

I'll make you happymake you happyyou'll never be bluenever be blue

This meant that everyday we past the frowning brown-black edifices of HarrogateSpa Central and their hidden sulphurous remnants of some golden past. I stillhavent bathed there; I've neither been aristocratic nor touristic enough to do so.

you'll have no sorrow

have no sorrowcoz I'll always be truealways be true

The driver maneuvered the school bus past the Pump Room and stopped at themain traffic lights. This only left the historic Old Swan Hotel up the hill over to ourleft for us to pass. The Old Swan was the best hotel in Harrogate according toDinky, who knew about these things as his brother was in the trade. But to me thebest thing in Harrogate was the Exhibition Hall, just ahead of us as we chorusedon; me quietly, Dinky confidently.

I'm feelingGLAD ALL OVERbaby yes I'm aGlad ALL OVERand baby I'mGLAD ALL OVERHe looked up at the prefect againSO GLAD YOUR MINE



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I had seen Donald Campbell's Bluebird at the Exhibition Hall. The fastest car ever.The first car to go faster than 400mph. In Harrogate. The fastest car in the worldin Harrogate. A town where things happened. Admittedly mostly by flowing out ofa tap, but Harrogate was close to Doncaster as a town where significant thingsmight happen. Campbell was significantly faster than our revered but genteelwaters, but he had come here and presumably he had sampled Harrogate waters;

a bluebird of excitement from far away; somewhere beyond Yorkshire.

other girls may try to take me awaytake me awaybut you know it's by your side I will stayI will stay

Behind the grandly titled Exhibition Hall, actually little more than a shed then, wasthe truly grand Royal Hall; why was Harrogate so Royal? I wasnt sure but we didget The Stray as part of the deal. The Royal Hall became the centre of myHarrogate once I saw Yes there, supported by the cherubically charismatic David

Bowie in his curly haired singer-songwriter days. And Pentangle. Pentangle, theband who were Unplugged before they were ever plugged. One of those groupswhere every member stepped up to the mark and hit it; respect to Bert, John,Terry, Danny, Jacqui. In the days when music was being re-invented, once again.

Meanwhile Dinky couldnt stand whispering any more;

And I'm feelingWe hit the bar of the seat in front; Dum Dum

GLAD ALL OVER

Big smiles between us again.

baby yes I'm aDum Dum

Glad ALL OVERand baby I'm

Beatle grin on my face, Mike Smith's determined scowl on Dinky's; DUM DUM

GLAD ALL OVER

SO GLAD YOUR MINE

We sang out. Its Friday and we're leaving school behind...

You Two at the back!Ignore her, she was only made a prefect this week, she's just trying to be

important.I'm going to be a teenager this year and she wont be able to pick on me

then as I'll know everything!



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I'm already a teenager so I know everything already! Replied Dinky.You call then I whispered

other girls may try to take me awaytake me awaybut you know it's by your side I will stay

I will stay

Anyway I Wanna Hold Your Hand is number one this week!But it isnt the fastest selling single. Coz that is;

GLAD ALL OVER!!!And I'm feelingDUM! DUM!

Actually we were now stomping our feet as well, making a real, drum-like noise.More like drums than two biscuit tins to my ears, anyway

Glad All Over!!And Baby I'm aDUM DUM STOMP!!!

Glad All Over!!!!You two!Hey! You two! What are you names?What! Us?Yes you two! You are in detention on Monday.What have we done?

You continued singing Glad All Over after I told you to stop.You cant do that. You cant put us in detention for singing Glad All Over!I can do that.Its Friday! And the bus driver doesnt mind.I mind! AND I told you to stop singing it!You're only thowing your weight around coz youre a new prefect. I bet

you're in a choir as well.Well you're not singing pop songs on my bus. Now names, or you'll be in

even more trouble.Dinky Dalton said IFred Garnett said Dinky

Out foolish grins gave our feeble subterfuge away.

REAL NAMES!John DaltonJohn GarnettOK! Detention Monday! Report to the Deputy Head in the break on Monday I

want 500 lines from each of you I must not drum on the bus



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I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE MINE NOW!

School hey? Just when you are escaping it, it reaches out its tentacles and coversyou in black ink. Again!



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Seven - HELP!

Hey Fred, youve got a Grade X privilege!

Grade X privilege? What on earth is that?

It means youre the cleverest kid in the year!

Oh no! Youre joking! Ill never play for the soccer team now

Soccer team? What do you mean?

Well Im already having to play hockey because they said the squad is full,and now theyll say that Im a swot and swots dont play soccer; swots playhockey at the girls school. Like I do.

Dont you want to be top of the year?

Top of the year? Is that what Grade X privilege means?

No, its more complicated than that. But you are the only fourth year with aGrade X, there are 3 Grade Os as well, so you must be top of the year.

Grade Os? What do you mean? Where did you get all this information?Anyway what is a Grade X privilege?

Come on; Ill show you! There is a notice opposite the Deputy Heads door.

The Deputy Head ran a tight ship at Windsor Boys School, Hamm, BFPO 20 andwas very precise in everything he did. I wasnt surprised that it was his privilegeto publish information about our privileges

Look, youre the only Fourth Year to get a Grade X privilege, there is morethan one in every other year, so thats a bit special, well done! Oh and you are theonly one averaging over 7. How did you do that? Amazing!

Oh No! That really makes me stand out; Robbo will probably beat me up forbeing a swot as well.

I dont think so. Robbo likes to win and hell see it as Balmoral being the TopHouse in his year, so youll be alright; I think. Your Head of House will probablyannounce it to the whole House on Saturday morning. Hell love you for it; yourethe only Grade X in Balmoral in any year.

Youre joking!

HELP!



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You know I need somebody

HELP!

You know I need someone

HELP!

Hey Fred!

It was Danny from Ireland; wed already hit it off in the beginners German classeswhere neither of us had a clue, but he had a ready wit and mine got readier with afellow conspirator.

Top man Fred. You must be fooling about in German! I never realised youwere so smart. Do you mind if I study with you next term, I just missed out on aGrade O. Im going for the Civil Service exams and Ill need to do better. I want to

get into the Diplomatic Corps, and youve got to do real well for that.

Okay Danny, if you think itll help.

Help! Youre Top of the Pops at school boyo! Of course it will help.

When I was younger

So much younger than today

Id only been at the school for one term and, having got into a lot of trouble for

not doing homework the last time I moved school, I had decided not to make thesame mistake here. This time I had worked quietly and assiduously and got everypiece of homework in on time. I had also prepped all of the very strange Learningby Rote classes we had once a week in our year groups. These were just insane.Each year group was made up of a random bunch of lads from different houseswho never met each other at any other time but who had to answer ten strangequestions like, who was the Venerable Bede and why is he well known? It was asort of weekly O-Level in Trivial Pursuit questions. However we couldnt leave theclass and go for break until all the questions were answered. It was so boring Iended up answering all of them on my own just to get out of there.

I never needed anybodys, Help in anyway

Then again the Privilege award was based on your Effort grade. Dual grades wereawarded for every piece of work, the academic mark, say 67% and the effortgrade, which was awarded out of 9! A Grade X privilege was awarded for anaverage of 6.75 out of 9. Makes no sense whatsoever, a decimal average in anonary number system. Mind you we were in Germany, so the decimalisation bitmade sense, but grades in base nine? Help!



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But now these days have gone

Im not so self-assured

Put it this way. As ever in British schools 9 out of 9 was never awarded, so topmarks were either 7 or 8. Most people were very happy with 6 out of 9 (so does

that give you an average of 6.666 or just 6? Guess!). So you have to get betterthan 6s to be privileged. Teachers liked giving 6 and kids like getting 6. Everyonehappy, no privileges offered. Most grades, about 2/3rds of them, were 5s, whichmeant; doesnt try but not rubbish. Some grades of 4 were given. Below 4 you gotinto Grade Punishment territory. 3.75 was a Grade O Punishment and 3.25 aGrade X Punishment. Robbo, Balmoral Robbo, king of my bloody dormitory, andthe reason I was now called Fred by all and sundry, well Robbo got a Grade XPunishment of course. There it was up on the board. We were the only two kids inBalmoral with a Grade X. So our dorm officially had the biggest swot in the schooland the biggest moron. Combustible stuff; my Grade X privilege next to his GradeX punishment. This was looking even less like a privilege than it had sounded at

first.

I could imagine the conversation when I got back to the dorm.

What did you get Robbo?

Uh? Oh a 3.1 recurring, whatever that means. What did you get then, Fred?

Err, 7.1. I got 7.1.

7.1? That isnt even possible, you bloody swot!

At which point, of course, I would become a bloodied swot.

And now I find, Ive changed my mind

Ive opened up the doors

Actually Robbo wasnt a moron he was a hard case. A bloody hard case, as thoughhe was in The Bofors Gun and was protesting against National Service. Actuallyhis protest was more a what have you got kind of rebellion. He took hispunishment with awesome grace under pressure. We went from sniggering at his

failure to wondering how he took all the punishment. Caned and forced to walkround the school pitch all Wednesday afternoon, our only free time in the week,three times in a row! So I did miss out on being caned this time, only my rewardwas to share a room with the one guy who did get caned. And he was the bloodyking of the dorm.

Help me if you can

And just to put this academic rule-laden game into perspective, none of it was



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explained to me before I made the mistake of trying too hard by trying not to try.Next time I was going to plan not trying hard properly. Youve got to try really hardif you arent going to try at all. I already knew Ive got to hide my brains away,now I had to make it look like Im not trying when I do. Help!

Im feeling down

I felt swizzed; I really wasnt trying, so I had no idea where I the Xceptional effortgrade came from. I had focused on getting average academic grades in each classso I wouldnt stand out and as a result they had put me down as putting in anoutstanding effort. Had they got me down as someone really thick who was justtrying hard? Well I wasnt thick. I was deliberately NOT trying so that I didnt looksmart. On the other hand I was trying like mad to get into the school soccer teamand that effort was completely ignored. Schools hey? When do they ever get itright?

Then I clicked! This wasnt an effort grade it was a punctuality grade, which I only

observed in order to keep the school off my back. Instead it was all over my back;in fact I was being backslapped into notoriety. Right! Less Learning By Rote prepand less punctuality should sort that out.

And I do appreciate you being round

Help me get my feet back on the ground

So what do I get for this Grade X privilege?

Any number of things, youve got a choice. A weekend back home, extra

exeat passes, only any good in the fifth form when you can go to the pub ofcourse, or if you want to go shopping at the Soest PX. Oh, and three free cinematickets.

Three free cinema tickets? The school prize is three free cinema tickets?

Yeah, not bad eh? But youll be going home wont you?

Well Ill ask, but I doubt it unless Dave has a Grade X as well.

No his name isnt up here, hang on hes Grade O; pretty good, smart family!

Can he go home too?

Not sure, maybe.

Wont you please, please help me

Well three free cinema tickets sounds great to me. When can I go?



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Right away! And you could go home early for Christmas this weekend if youwant.

And now my life has changed in oh so many ways

Oh, youve got a free ticket love. You have been a good boy havent you?

Hmm, well getting free tickets to see the Beatles is pretty good in my book.

Well youll enjoy the film then.

Oh dont worry, I will do! Beatles films are like listening to their albums on agreat big record player!

My independence seems to vanish in the haze

Now I know I need you like

Ive never done before

Wow, thats really good, I really love films by The Beatles.

Not many songs in it yet though.

No not really, only two; so far. I love got to hide your love away in thatfake house!

Yeah the fake house is brilliant alright, great song too; but there are

fourteen songs on Billys album so therell be more right enough.

And you get a decent sound system with a film, better than Billys pokeyrecord player!

Yeah its really knackered isnt it? Maybe we should club together and buyhim a new stylus.

If I ever get an album of my own I will do!

Oh look theyve got the second reel sorted, lets hope for more songs.

Yeah! Help is a bit old.

Help me if you can

Im feeling down




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Danny had come with me to see the film, I was his new best friend, and he wasmine. He was very critical of all new music, especially when it was assumed to be

good because it was popular. He instinctively railed against simple assumptions.But he liked The Beatles, they had now reached the point where, despite the rushof new and interesting groups, especially the Stones, The Kinks and The Who,they were seen as the Gods of a newly emerging pantheon. The lodestone ofquality. Now that Danny thought I was smart he was happy to hang around withme, and he was opinionated and could talk on just about anything. So the instanta reel ended and the house lights went up, as the school only had one projector,he just picked up on our last conversation or started another. It was great havinga friend who knew the real me.

When I was younger

So much younger than today

I never needed anyones

Help in anyway

Well Im beginning to think it isnt as good as Hard Days Night. Is it a spoofof Goldfinger do you think?

They are trying to be funny arent they? Its more of a film than Hard Days

Night though.

How do you mean?

You know Hard Days Night was about them and their life and wed neverseen that before. This time it is a comedy film with a story. A bit like a Bond film, abit like Peter Cook and Dudley Moore on TV

Yeah, it is a proper film isnt it. I like the bit where they used the Harrods vanfor the Bond car chase!

Hopeless! And they were eating in an Indian Restaurant, thats really exotic,Ive never been to one.

Oh Indian restaurants were our favourite when we used to go to Leeds. Ialways had prawn korma.

Well theres none in Dublin; Shhhh, Third Reel!

But now these days have gone



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Im not so self-assured

And now I find

Ive changed my mind

Ive opened up the doors

Are you really going for the Diplomatic Corps Danny?

Yeah of course, good lifestyle, good pay. Anyway how else am I going to seethe world like The Beatles? I cant sing, cant write songs, cant act naturally.

Neither can they!

Oh, they are not so bad! What about you? Will you go to University then?

I hope so, Id like to go to a redbrick and do Aeronautical Engineering.

Aeronautics? Why? Oh, I know! You wanna be a spaceman!

Maybe, but Id like to be a pilot too, they earn phenomenal salaries. I reckonIll have the widest range of options with Aeronautics; spaceman, aircraftdesigner, engineer or pilot. If you miss out at one level you

Shh final reel! What do you reckon?

Ringo will lose his finger and itll be all over for the Beatles.

Mad man!

Help me if you can

Im feeling down




Well that was great right fun enough! A film really makes Saturday nightdoesnt it? Are you looking forward to the Christmas holiday then?

Yeah; its my third Christmas in Germany, I really like them, lots of snow, bigChristmas trees, lots of parties at the camp!

Yeah, we have good parties too. Where are you based?



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Dsseldorf.

Im in Detmold, nice little camp there.

Yeah we went to Detmold in 1959 to play cricket with my Dad. I like thatmonument on the hill.

Oh yeah! Herman the German!

Herman The German?

Hermannsdenkmal!

Learning by Rote!!

Im A Loser and Im not what I appear to be!

Thats Billy singing, he must have been at the film too!

Yeah! Trust him to sing a song that isnt even in it!

Well he is a big fan of B-sides, and thats a classic.

Help Me! Help Me! ooohhh mmmm



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Eight -The Word

Hey Fred do you want to come to the pub?

Down the railway line?

Yeah, were going in five minutes, see you by the exeat book

We were trusted to sign ourselves out and so we didnt write, down the railwayline, we just put down town as our destination. It was a see no evil system andwe tried to not do much evil.

Say the Word and youll be free

Say the Word and Be Like Me

So why did you wait so long to buy Rubber Soul?

Billy!

Billy; was that all?

Youve got to play it somewhere and if Billy doesnt like it then

Yeah, tell me about it.

But the real reason was money.

Money? But you bought Best of The Beach Boys

Complicated that; my aunt gave me the money for an album and I askedwhat I should get and she said

What did she say?

She said, its like get a Best of album, because it is better value formoney, you get all the hits, no duff tracks

Say the word Im thinking of

Have you heard the word is love?

Oh No! No youre wrong there! No duff tracks on Beatles albums

Youre right. Shes wrong about Beatles albums! But its not a bad album,Ive always liked I Get Around, its about cars and travelling, like we all do.

Not really; thats a surfer song!



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No, its not a surfer song, its more rocking than that.

Yeah? Maybe, so go on.

Well my parents came up and took us to Soest;

Ah the miracle of the cheap Canadian PX!

Yeah, your money goes really far there!

Enough for an album every time!

Almost enough My Mum took pity on me and said she would make up thedifference as it was the Beatles.

Its so fine, Its sunshine

Its the word, love

I guess Run for Your Life is your favourite song after all the cross-countryrunning that you do?

No! The Word! Sounds like a follow up to Day Tripper at times; The Word isGood!

In the beginning I misunderstood

But now Ive got it, the word is good

I think Day Tripper is over-rated, I prefer We Can Work It Out myself.

Arent they both great, like a mini-album?

Dont be a prat. An albums got fourteen tracks on it, its nothing like analbum. You know theyve got a new album out next month.

Next month? Ive only just saved up for Rubber Soul!

Spread the word and youll be free

Spread the word and be like me

We turned sharp left out of the school gates. I kept my eyes to the ground as I wasembarrassed, but Rob always checked out the Gateman, and released his thin,knowing smile at him.

It was about 80 yards to the Railway Line and we were in Great Escape mode. TheBoarding School had been a German Army camp in the war so we always had a



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real sense of escape about our evenings out.

The critical move was made at the railway line. The conversation abated, we linedup efficiently so that all four of us could get on to the railway line together, andwe smartly executed the necessary left turn. It was seven thirty in the evening,optimum time for illegal manoeuvres as most kids had gone out earlier so there

was little chance of being seen. We passed silently behind the main building ofthe school determined to get out sight quickly. My heart was beating furiously, aswe negotiated our two minutes of quickstep across the railway sleepers. Weremained two sleepers apart in case one of us was seen. We fell back in stepagain with a conspiratorial phew, and the shared smiles that say you have justgotten away with something. We always had the best conversation of the eveningin the following few minutes. The heady sense of liberation (from school!) freedour tongues and we joked, joshed and ran through several conversations, usuallyat the same time.

Spread the word Im thinking of


I needed to get out of the dorm regularly. Robbos dorm was claustrophobic. Wewere a real mix of characters and we hadnt gelled into a group. In a day schoolyou look forward to relief at the end of the day, but boarding school keepsthrowing you up against various kids you really dont want to deal with at all hoursof the day. Robbos dorm had far too big a range of characters to take on anyclear identity; two swots, two hard cases, couple of lads keen to stay well in withthe hard cases and two kids mostly keen to avoid trouble. Nearly all my realfriends were in other dorms, so it was good to get out and talk to them.


Its the word, love

Our school year groups didnt give you any sense of identity either, so I had fallenin with this crowd of experienced drinkers. Bob, our leader, was already a quietpint kind of guy at seventeen! With his raincoat and scarf he always lookedgrown-up, so he usually got the orders in. He had a quiet way of talking whichseemed to reassure grown ups too. He was 16 and I was 14 when I started goingout with his group. I think the deal was that I was smart enough to add

meaningless facts to the conversation in the pub.

Everywhere I go I hear it said

In the good and the bad books that I have read

Being so young we couldnt drink in any of the officially sanctioned pubs in town,where the trendier teachers were also liable to drop in at any time. We had tohead off to Robs favourite Pub, two miles away and in the country. Rob couldnt



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stand the thought of socialising with staff, or wankers as he invariably calledthem. So he walked the extra mile, only hung out with his own under-agedfollowers and kept his own counsel. Of course we loved it; little cygnets kissingallegiance to our be-ringed swain.

In the beginning I misunderstood

But now Ive got it, the word is good

The tedium of a two-mile walk down a railway line both dimmed the conversationand set us up for a drink.

Robs pub was enchanted, just beyond the last level crossing in town with only thecountryside beyond us, it felt otherworldly after the barracks of the school. Itlooked more like a Hansel and Gretel gingerbread cottage than a pub, shaded andcovered by ivy and vines. Curiously it was nearly always empty when we arrived,which always got us a big welcome, not that we really wanted to be noticed.

Rob got them in straight away and, as usual, rejected my request for a coke andgot me two centilitres of Warsteiners, my first regular beer. We ordered someschaschlik and chips to eat, reward for our stomachs after the march

Say the word and youll be free

Say the word and be like me

Say the word Im thinking of


Once Robs ritual slaking of his thirst was over he turned to me with the bigquestion of the week.

Have you got a girl for Balmorals big birthday party? Are you actually goingto dance with someone this summer?

Carol Budge I hope!

I though you were going out with the twins?


Its the word, love

They all laughed. This was a big joke with Robs group. I was going out with twinswho kept switching on me. At first I was annoyed, but I ended up thinking that,well I am dating two pretty dolly birds, however chaste it all was. But they neverfailed to laugh at me about it. In the curious rituals of an Army Boarding School



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you always had official parties with your sister house, which meant there wasnt alot of point dating girls in other houses like the twins. But the twins were the firstgirls I had met, because their parents were friends with mine and they did dateme, so

Now that I know what I feel must be right

Im here to show everybody the light

Youre the only guy who double dates all by himself, Fred

And he still doesnt get kissed!

Well Ill kiss Carol!

Give the word a chance to say

That the word is just the way

Yeah only coz shes in Balmoral and shes kissed half of the fourth form!

Ted, shes only kissed Ted! And he kisses everybody. Anyway shes reallynice!

Oh yeah? Cant Get No Satisfaction all over again, I think?

Its the word Im thinking of

And the only word is love

I had somehow not got a dance during Satisfaction at the Christmas party, theone song we schoolboys and schoolgirls all agreed on as being perfect fordancing, the number one floor filler at the official Christmas Party.


Its the word, love

The schaschlik arrived, Rob got up to get a second drink for him and Ted. Andy

and I nursed ours as we needed to be completely sober on the return, in case wewere seen getting off the railway line. We were underage and out-of-bounds. Inipped over and got the ketchup bottles and the senf dish and we tucked in. Thistime Robs line of questioning was more comfortable for me.

Say the word, love

So why is The Word the best track then Fred?



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The Word? Its driving beat! Which track do you like?

Say the word, love

Girl, classic sensual song; really good song about girls too.

Its not bad

Not bad? Its a mans song about girls.

Thats funny!

Say the word, love

That means that The Beatles have now sung about both Boys and Girls

And its time for you to progress to kissing Girls as well young Fred.

Say the word, love

Documents

The Beatles and the Open Context Model of Learning Day Two