London Eye 2016 - Medium - Unit 5
Dialogue
– What are you humming?
– Just a tune which I heard on the radio, and now it's stuck in my head. So catchy!
– It sounds a bit like 'Help!' by the Beatles.
– Possibly. I'm not really familiar with their music.
– Are you serious? Come on! Are you pulling my leg? Everyone knows the Beatles!
– Well, what can I say, I guess their music passed me by...
– Wow... I'm so jealous of you right now!
– Why is that?
– You're going to discover some seriously amazing music! Come with me, I'll play one of their records for you... You're gonna love it!
George, Eric and Patti
Welcome to another edition of The story behind the song. Tonight's programme is a little bit special in that it's the story behind three very well-known pop songs. It's the story about a triangle (треугольник) - two men and one woman - and it's a story about friendship and one man's desperate love for his best friend's wife.
The story started when guitarist George Harrison of the Beatles met Patti Boyd early in the 1960s. Patti was a very beautiful fashion model, in fact (по правде говоря) she was probably the first 'top model'. Well, George Harrison fell in love with Patti and he wanted to write a song to express (выразить) his love for her. In fact it was one of the first songs he ever wrote for the Beatles. It was called Something... Something in the way she moves attracts me like no other lover,
George and Patti got married on January 21st, 1966. At first they were very happy, but as the years passed (со временем) their relationship began to deteriorate, mainly because George was unfaithful (неверный), Patti began flirting (флиртовать) with George's best friend, the guitarist Eric Clapton, so as to make her husband jealous (чтобы муженек поревновал).
George and Eric had been very close friends since they'd met in 1963, and they'd played guitar on each other's albums. Now Eric fell madly in love with (безумно влюбился в) his friend's wife. Patti liked Eric but she couldn't decide if she really wanted to leave (не могла решить, хочется ли ей покинуть) her husband or not, and the one who suffered (страдал) was Eric. He got very depressed about it all, and of course he couldn't talk to his friend George about it for obvious reasons.
When he was in the middle of this depression he decided to write a song about Patti so that she would realise (чтобы она поняла) how desperate he was feeling. But of course he couldn't name Patti (назвать Пэтти по имени) in the song. He'd recently read a book about an Arab princess called ‘Layla’ and he decided to use this name as the title of the song.
Layla became Eric Clapton's biggest hit, and at the time Patti Boyd was probably the only person in the world who knew that Layla was really Patti. Finally, one night at a party, Eric confessed (сознался) to George that he was in love with his wife. George and Patti got divorced (развелись) in 1977, and two years later, Eric and Patti got married. And that brings us to the third and final song, which is called Wonderful tonight. This is a love song which Eric wrote for Patti and it's all about an evening when they go to a party together and he feels very proud because everyone turns (все оборачиваются) to look at his beautiful wife.
So, is there a happy ending to this story? I'm afraid not. Patti and Eric were happily married for a few years (несколько лет), but in the end they broke up (разошлись), mainly because of Eric's difficult personality, and they got divorced in 1989. And what about the friendship between the two best friends? Did that survive (выжила = сохранилась)? It depends who you ask. Curiously, according to (Любопытно, но по словам) George Harrison there's no problem, but according to (по словам Эрика) Eric Clapton there is. He said in an interview with a music magazine, 'We've talked about it but I don't know if the damage done to our friendship (ущерб, нанесенный нашей дружбе) can ever be repaired (“починен”).’ So, that's the story, two friends and three songs all written about one woman - all part of pop music history. Goodnight.
HELP!
by the Beatles
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
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
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?
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
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?
When I was younger, so much younger than today
I never needed anybody's help in any way
But now these days are gone I'm not so self-assured
Now I find I've changed my mind, I've opened up the doors
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?
Help me, help me, ooo