One of the earlier Beatles songs, appearing on their debut album, reportedly Lennon started out by attempting a Mowtown style song. The Beach Boys would hear this song, and respond a few months later with “In My Room” bith both songs being a bit introspective, the latter seems to get more attention at this point in history. I could probably write a whole piece comparing and contrasting the two songs, but that’s not for this.
Lyrically, “There’s A Place” is rather vague, which is interesting for this early in their career. For the most part The Beatles were writing fairly straight forward pop songs. Here the ambiguity of the narrator automatically sets this song apart from the rest of the album. Does the narrator “go” into his mind where the object of his affection says “I only love you” when he is by himself or because the girl broke up with him? Is the song a comfort or denial?
The reverb on the harmonica adds to the longing in the song’s content, almost sounding like a train off in the distance, especially toward the end.
There is a place we like to go.
The Oregon coast.
Look, I love Washington state. It’s beautiful here. This is home. But there’s also something special about the coastline of Oregon that we love. Several years ago for our summer vacation we went and stayed at a spot not quite halfway down the coast. It was one of the best vacations we ever had. Then a few years later we returned, but this location was much further north. Again, it was a fantastic vacation.
The key, really, when you have as large a group as we do, when going for a “beach” vacation, is to get a big house with room to spread out in, within walking distance to a beach, preferably one that isn’t in one of the main tourist destinations. That’s not to say there is anything wrong with Cannon Beach or Seaside, but they are far too crowded and noisy for a relaxing getaway with small kids. Sure, we’ll visit there, but that’s not where we want to stay.
This will be the first time we are staying on the coast during winter, so we know the experience is going to be different. We might go to the beach, but won’t spend the day there dipping our toes in the ocean. The house we have also has a hot tub, so I suspect we are going to be using that more than the beach.
Initially we were supposed to go to Hawaii during spring break of 2020, because it was one of the rare years that everybody’s school vacations lined up. March of 2020 had other plans for us, however, and that wound up being the most expensive vacation we never took.
Flash forward nearly two years later and some of the kids, other than school, have not stepped foot outside of the house but a handful of times. While we are still under a form of self-quarantine, attempting to limit interactions and large group gatherings, traveling to Oregon will continue that activity, but the change in scenery will help us psychologically. We can still go to the beach for a walk if we want, and were we will be staying won’t be in the heart of the touristy area so even if people are going to brave the cold it won’t be crowded.
As I type this out, we have not yet left. Hopefully, when this posts, we will be there. Currently the weather might hamper that a bit, but we have determination on our side.