Music plays a pivotal role in many peoples’ lives, as it is a way to identify with the emotion of others and serves as a method of expression. This is especially true during the time when we, as humans, are the most vulnerable and impressionable: adolescence. This transitional stage is when many begin to discover who they are and what speaks to them. Lewis and George from the novel “If I Ever Get Out of Here”, by Eric Gansworth, are no exception to this. Music, specifically The Beatles, frames their individual lives and relationship, simultaneously serving as a central point for the novel.
The chapters are all titled after songs by The Beatles or Paul McCartney and several individual albums/songs are referenced by the boys or George’s father. One song stands out among the rest as one that means the most to both Lewis and George. The Beatles’ song “Things We Said Today” is referenced in Chapter 26 after George leaves Lewis receives a package with no return address. While he is not sure who sent it, it can be inferred, because of how Lewis receives it, that it is from George. “Things We Said Today” is the song that he keeps replaying, and when Albert asks why, he responds “it’s about two people who know that everything always disappears eventually” (Ch. 26). It is obvious by Lewis’ sentiment that this is how he identifies with the song, and how he feels of his friendship with George.
In this moment, it is apparent that Lewis is caught up in the ephemerality of things in his life. For him, The Beatles were something that Lewis clung to, even when his life was a wreck and he felt like he did not belong anywhere. However, The Beatles were already broken up, and the band that seemed so consistent to him, was never going to reunite. It is possible that he projects this same school of thought onto the “ending” of his friendship with George. He even states, in the same chapter, “We became friends through the Beatles, but there weren’t any new Beatles albums, and there would never be any new Beatles albums ever again” (Ch. 26). Lewis views George leaving as something that was destined to happen even before he knew about it, and this is a source of feelings of betrayal for him. This is why, when he hears this song, he hears of two people who knew what they had is lost and can’t be returned, because he feels the same about his friendship with George.
However, when I listened to the song, I did not hear the same message as Lewis. My interpretation of the song fits more with Albert’s when he contradicts Lewis and says that the song is “about two people who find each other again, their memories keeping them connected, even when they don’t live near each other anymore. Two people who want the other to remember them.” I think this is the reason that George chose this to be his goodbye to his friend. In the song it says, “Someday when I’m lonely, wishing you weren’t so far away, then I will remember the things we said today” (The Beatles, “Things We Said Today”). This is a very intentional song to gift to Lewis, and perhaps this serves as way for George to share how he will remember their times together; as something that he holds onto when he feels alone in his new home.
During this final scene of the novel, there is much unspoken and left to the reader to decide, and it may seem as though Lewis does not receive the message intended through the gift. However there are several instances in the text that contradict this and lead the reader to believe that George and Lewis have clearly communicated a mutual farewell. Before his exchange with Albert, Lewis ponders the worth of friendship given its fleetingness and decides that “friends are always worth the moments of joy you share, even if they don’t last” In saying this, he is implying that him and George are no longer friends, however after hearing Albert’s interpretation of the song, he seems to understand the message that the sender is conveying. This idea is reinforced in the last sentence of the novel when Lewis can be found playing “Two of Us” with cords he learned from George’s family, even though no one is there to sing the complementary portion. Not only does this serve as an example of the continuity of their friendship despite the distance, but the message in this new song is about two people who do everything together and returning to their home. This idea of a shared home between the two could represent the longing Lewis feels for his friend, but also serve as a reminder that they are still George and Lewis and that their bond, although they are seventeen hundred miles apart, will not be severed.
While we cannot be sure if George and Lewis ever see each other again, I do not think George used the album as a send-off for their friendship. Initially, it seems as though Lewis believed this to be the case, but after further listening and pondering, he was able to realize that they will always be tied together by their memories. Even though “there was no one to sing the harmony part” (Ch. 26), he still played the song “Two of Us”, showing that, just maybe, Lewis understood George’s farewell.
-Claudia Kolinchak
Citations
“Letting Go.” If I Ever Get out of Here, by Eric Gansworth, Arthur A. Levine Books, 2013.
The Beatles. “Things We Said Today (Remastered 2009).” YouTube, uploaded by Universal Music Group Jun 17, 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=NItAlTsPuQg.
The Beatles. “Two of Us (Remastered 2009).” YouTube, uploaded by Universal Music Group Jun 17, 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLQox8e9688.
(I attempted to put video at the top of post, but formatting did not permit)
Representing Adolescence @ Pitt 