I did a concert in Tucson, Arizona...

I really did.

A few years ago, I played a church venue in AZ and one of the bands on the bill was Ticket To Ride. When I met these guys (average age 19, I’m thinking)  I did what I usually do when I am nervous meeting people who clearly have no interest in me, I made a dumb joke. This time by starting to sing The Beatles’ song of the same name.

These kids looked at me as if what I was doing was random and it was clear they did not get the joke. I even mentioned The Beatles to them and one of the kids mentioned that is was their dad’s idea for the name of the band. They all were clearly perplexed. As was I.  I found it funny, strange and telling that these guys had named their band after one of the most famous songs in music history and had no idea where the name came from.

When I wrote my song, Ticket To Ride based on this incident, I wanted to point out that our culture had such a profound, subliminal influence on us that we said and did things without any thought to their origin or meeting. (Like saying, “Knock on wood”). I meant no attack on these kids or their band-which was actually quite good and I’m sad to see that they are no longer.

Years later one of the former members of TTR wrote me defending their honor. “We were joking with you, Paisley. Of course we knew where our name came from.” I think not. Joking is joking, acting is acting but it’s pretty hard to cause the color to drain off your faces. They were a new band at the time and I guess it was a night of learning followed by a season of people bagging on them when my song became popular.

I meant no harm boys. Heck, a month doesn’t go by that I don’t catch myself saying things and realizing, after a lifetime, what they really mean. It’s a habit that’s hard to break. Heck, it’s even hard to isolate and address when we “don’t even know we’re doing it.”

There’s really no deep message in this blog,  I just wanted to tell this story one more time.

 

I did a concert in Tucson, Arizona

With a band called Ticket To Ride

I started singing that Beatles song

And the kids didn’t get the joke

 

Where the hell has our culture gone

When we’re naming our bands after Beatles songs

And we don’t even know we’re doing it?

I think I’m gonna be sad…

 

 RIP Ticket To Ride and thanks for the hit!

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