When Help!* came out, in 1965, it wasn’t my favorite Beatles’ tune, but I hummed along, and thought of my current angst. Hearing it again, courtesy of Sirius XM, I joined in the chorus with gusto, but with no angst. Perhaps, because I understood the lyrics, with the perspective living fifty-five year can enable.

(That’s true of a myriad of pop music I loved – I didn’t know the lyrics meant  ________!)

But I digress.

Help! Still a Beatles’ Anthem for Boomers

Singing aloud, I thought – wow, this really still is an anthem for “Boomers!”

This Boomer, anyway.

Help, I need somebody
Help, not just anybody
Help, you know I need someone, help
When I was younger, so much younger than today
I never needed anybody’s help in any way

Oh, so many times throughout any given day Help is my heart’s cry, as my body balks and my mind wanders, or, words play hide-and- seek. Not to mention the avalanches of trials and troubles I learn that others face: Help!

But now these days are gone, I’m not so self assured
Now I find I’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors . . .

Those days are gone, and few more decades to boot! I am not so self-assured, as I was embracing the times that the 1960’s were; which is a good thing.

The passing time has taught me what “Pride goes before a fall ” means – which is a better thing.

The Best Thing

Changing my mind and opening up the doors over time has been the best thing; not the easiest though.  It’s been the best thing, because there was a Friend knocking; a Friend who won’t jilt me, even though I’ve been prone to wander.

I don’t know if John and Paul had the Lord in mind, but their plea is filled with words that have taken on new meaning in this autumn’s garden.

Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please help me

Whew! Ever felt like that?

Who knew John and Paul could write lyrics that still resonate with this Boomer, reminding to try and be the better friend I cry out to find.

And now my life has changed in oh so many ways
My independence seems to vanish in the haze
But every now and then I feel so insecure
I know that I just need you like I’ve never done before

Often feeling more insecure, than I ever did at sixteen, it sure seems like my independence is hazy; especially when I go to more funerals and memorial services than weddings and baptisms!

Those lyrics, John and Paul penned capture how much faithful company can mean to a soul.  They also capture what the Lord told Peter comes with age:

I’m telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you’ll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don’t want to go. John 21:18

A Song for Today

Age and stage can put us in corners where we never believed we’d be. The people, places, and things that have been comforts . . . wane. Only one Friend does not.

Help! I cry – Here I am says GOD:

I’ve been carrying you on my back
    from the day you were born,
And I’ll keep on carrying you when you’re old.
    I’ll be there, bearing you when you’re old and gray.
I’ve done it and will keep on doing it,
    carrying you on my back, saving you. (Isaiah 46:3-5)

Here’s hoping today we both hear His welcoming Help, Friend that He is!

*Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: John Lennon / Paul McCartney
Help! lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020 Barbara Smith