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[Music] so I thought I'm gonna do the Beatles\h
which scared me at the time to say I'm actually\h\h

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going to set forward and and take a stab at what\h
if the Beatles stayed together but I found that\h\h

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to be endlessly fascinating and once there was\h
a way actually tell us as as if it's a Rolling\h\h

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Stone magazine kind of article looking back on\h
the Beatles success over the last 50 years and\h\h

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it tells their story and focusing on what I call\h
the years of maximum danger we know the Beatles\h\h

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broke up in 69 and 70 they had issues and by 70 it\h
was all over but it started really in 69 in a very\h\h

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strong way of Lennon and I I tried to ask myself\h
these books are not time travel books they're\h\h

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not magic books there's no portals or anything\h
like that they're just alternate history books\h\h

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that aren't meant to sound and be realistic so I\h
asked myself what are the realistic ways that the\h\h

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Beatles might have overcome what were personal\h
differences and professional differences and\h\h

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stayed together because the truth is I'm sure you\h
and your listeners have personal and professional\h\h

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differences with people and you don't break up\h
all the time you work them out yeah many people\h\h

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do so I really tried to create a world where this\h
could happen and boy did it blow open into a great\h\h

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fascinating world so I focus on the years I call\h
a maximum danger where in our timeline they broke\h\h

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up in 1970 I focus on 70 through 75 and tell\h
that story where these guys managed to keep\h\h

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their friendship still alive and the bonds that\h
had kept them together strong enough to overcome\h\h

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what would still be very difficult challenging\h
times for them I wonder if there was any I know\h\h

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they've tried to get them back together you\h
know that was a big goal in this and it was\h\h

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just like no money that could do it obvious\h
no money couldn't do it and you know and I'm\h\h

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I'm trying to find a way to enter debate earlier\h
that was people after they were seriously broken\h\h

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up trying to get them together for a one-off\h
or whatever and those stories are well-known\h\h

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to Beatles fans yeah I just thought I'm gonna do\h
something I've not read before and quite often\h\h

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when I've written screenplays on spec or books\h
it's the book I wanted to read and I couldn't\h\h

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find it so I wrote it I did that with AD after\h
disclosure certainly was surrounded by enemies\h\h

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and now with once there was away I just wanted\h
to put one thing out because people always ask\h\h

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we built a pretty solid website to show people\h
what this concept is all about and it's it's\h\h

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very simple to remember is simply what if Beatles\h
calm oh so you can remember what if Beatles what\h\h

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if Beatles calm and for people that actually just\h
want to you know buy the ticket and take the ride\h\h

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then they can get it on Amazon at Amazon Beatles\h
calm and we've even done a video of the Beatles\h\h

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playing together in 1971 at George Harrison's\h
house on a brand-new Beatle song that we had made\h\h

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for this marketing and it's called more Beatles\h
calm so the you got three what-if Beatles calm\h\h

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more Beatles calm Amazon Beatles calm so and by\h
the way I was pretty shocked that you can still\h\h

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buy a URL called Amazon Beatles calm yeah that was\h
insane so I was happy about that and I I've just\h\h

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enjoyed the process of talking to people about\h
this and you know what what's so gratifying to\h\h

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me as an author is that comments on Amazon and on\h
other locations have been so uniformly positive\h\h

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and the thing that people seem to be responding\h
to that really warms my heart if you will is that\h\h

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they it's this is something we all kind of wished\h
could have happened you mean the Rolling Stones\h\h

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are still plans right other so why couldn't the\h
Beatles have been still playing together right\h\h

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so people are responding by saying it gave me\h
a chance to spend a few hours in a world where\h\h

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they stayed together and you know we live in\h
a world of trump and dissension and everything\h\h

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so here's a chance to think about the Beatles\h
and and they just really found it interesting\h\h

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now I will say this this is not all champagne\h
and roses yeah and they had to get through all\h\h

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oh yeah I mean I'm a dramatist at heart I don't\h
write I don't write stories without conflict and\h\h

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the Beatles story has lots of conflict so what\h
I've done with my drama is try to find some\h\h

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interest incredible realistic ways that they\h
could have resolved their conflicts now I know

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okö Yoko Yoko I'm sorry Yoko boy I'm gonna get\h
bashed for that one yeah you know we all have\h\h

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brain farts like that what's the while yeah\h
so Yoko was a part of it right and well you\h\h

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you've just raised the the $64,000 question though\h
because if you ask most people they'd say Yoko Ono\h\h

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you know broke up the Beatles now Paul McCartney\h
says that's not true but most most fans tend to\h\h

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lay that at Yoko's feet so I knew that the most\h
important thing this book had to do is treat the\h\h

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Yoko dissention in a credible way and to find\h
a way where not only could Yoko and John have\h\h

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found a way to modify slightly to keep things\h
going that that but the other Beatles could\h\h

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find a way to accept that John was not going to be\h
part of any group that didn't have something to do\h\h

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with Yoko right everybody had to give a little\h
bit it's sort of like when you make a deal in\h\h

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Hollywood right now the idea is it's only a good\h
deal if both parties hate it and then you know you\h\h

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made a good deal right so I tried to apply that a\h
little bit to the Beatles that you know nobody's\h\h

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happy you know they're not again champagne a rut\h
now that didn't happen in this book nobody's happy\h\h

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everybody is just seeing the larger issue and and\h
without going on too much and just give a couple\h\h

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of things that are not really spoilers to me but\h
people do not know that the Beatles almost starred\h\h

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in Lord of the Rings in the early 70s and so in\h
this book for example the Beatles actually star\h\h

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in the Lord of the Rings directed by Stanley\h
Kubrick something that almost happened I'm not\h\h

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making this up you can check it out and McCart\h
he has even told Peter Jackson the same so what\h\h

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I tried to look for were things like that excuse\h
me and other things where you could say certain\h\h

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things prevent you from announcing a breakup right\h
even even the Beatles when Lennon tried to get out\h\h

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in our timeline in the late 69 they said please we\h
got other you know we're making a deal with four\h\h

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different royalties can't just sit on this for a\h
while so he did okay so there's already precedent\h\h

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so if you're making a movie you need to publicize\h
it well it's certainly not going to be accepted by\h\h

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the studio that you're publicizing a movie while\h
you're breaking up right so I tried to find little\h\h

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elements like that and also that we're fun the\h
Beatles did not play at Woodstock in our timeframe\h\h

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right but they were invited they were invited they\h
could have done it they were busy recording Abbey\h\h

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Road they could have practiced a few songs and got\h
on a plane and gone to Woodstock well they do in\h\h

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this book and in fact there's there's things that\h
happen in the in the timestream is a consequence\h\h

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you think about it sure in this book once there\h
was a way the Beatles do play at Woodstock but\h\h

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because it's so out of control it would have\h
to be out of they almost get killed yeah by\h\h

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the crowd sighs the surging crowd and it comes\h
close to killing them well what does that do to\h\h

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them it makes them say we have to pay a lot more\h
attention to security if we're gonna continue to\h\h

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show up at places we have to pay some attention\h
to this right and so what would that mean well\h\h

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it would mean going forward that John Lennon if\h
he was living in the Dakota with Yoko would not\h\h

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be signing autographs outside of it he would know\h
that he needs to pay attention he would have had\h\h

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security driven into his brain and instead of\h
sitting out front signing autographs he'd had\h\h

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driven his car into the garage yeah right so I\h
tried to deal with things like that where it's\h\h

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not outrageous yeah that to think that that could\h
happen it doesn't involve some guy who came from\h\h

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the future right it's just how it could have gone\h
down right so we'd have John Lennon today wouldn't\h\h

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that be a different world well he might still be\h
dead by now natural causes those what I did also\h\h

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with the book and some fans get this some some\h
don't of course but I tried to say things that\h\h

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were within the ability to change could change but\h
certain things like your physical say your your\h\h

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physical illness stuff you know George Harrison\h
died because for the reasons that we know right\h\h

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and I think it would be unlikely for me to change\h
that John Lennon was murdered that can be changed\h\h

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yeah alright so and and Linda McCartney died of\h
cancer you know that doesn't change just because\h\h

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I'm in an alternative universe or it shouldn't\h
change in my view so I tried to keep I just\h\h

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tried to keep it grounded grounded is the word\h
now before 1970 had Linda and and Paul already\h\h

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met yo yeah so they can't remember in fact this\h
is what one of the great things of all time that\h\h

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I've dealt with I started the changing arrow of\h
history in 1968 in this book I didn't wait and\h\h

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do it at the 1970 Break I started it earlier for\h
example you bring up Paul and Linda met each other\h\h

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much earlier but they married in 1969 March of 69\h
and guess what one week later John and Yoko got\h\h

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married alright now here's the thing that'll blow\h
your mind none of the Beatles attending attended\h\h

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the other guy's wedding okay so John didn't go\h
to Paul Paul didn't go to John I come up with\h\h

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the scenario in this book where they would find it\h
important to go to each other's weddings and you\h\h

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know that could change a man yeah if you're there\h
with your best friend you know even if you're\h\h

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having a hell of a fight with them but you go to\h
his wedding you're gonna feel differently about\h\h

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things so and and here's if we have time to real\h
quick storyline or the book starts in 1968 and in\h\h

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1968 for real in our timeframe Paul and John even\h
though they weren't getting along got on a plane\h\h

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flew to New York City to announce and promote\h
Apple their new company okay so they get there\h\h

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and they get booked on The Tonight Show Johnny\h
Carson's out of town and they end up doing the\h\h

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Tonight Show John and Paul 1968 April they end up\h
doing the Tonight Show with Joe Garagiola as the\h\h

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host and Tallulah Bankhead is the drunken guest\h
that night that Tallulah kind of heckled them\h\h

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and and Joe Garagiola was kind of clueless about\h
anything Beatles and they didn't have a good time\h\h

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so it didn't really help in any way here's what\h
happens in the book same thing get on the plane\h\h

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show up but the first arrow of history diverts\h
when they come to tell the Beatles in their\h\h

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hotel room John and Paul that guess what Johnny\h
Carson's not going to be here you got a guest\h\h

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host tonight and and Lennon says well F that I'm\h
not coming so they panic and they called Johnny\h\h

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Carson who's actually doing a comedy show in New\h
Jersey not far away and say the Beatles aren't\h\h

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going to show up unless you show up and Carson\h
says he's not happy about this he doesn't like\h\h

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being dictated on his own show but he does know\h
aget when he gets one which is John and Paul would\h\h

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be a really big deal for his show so he agrees to\h
come back on one condition that they that they do\h\h

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the entire show and they sing a few songs alright\h
and so what ends up happening is the Beatles have\h\h

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the least John and Paul have one of the world's\h
best times together and they end up going out\h\h

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drinking afterwards with Ed McMahon and Johnny\h
Carson okay so that's that's the a little tiny\h\h

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thing can just kind of expand outward and turn\h
into a kind of a joyous experience yeah and so I\h\h

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you know I hope I hope that some of your listeners\h
will give the book a try and you know I certainly\h\h

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tried to write it with respect for fans but also\h
for people that don't know much about the Beatles\h\h

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and I'm close with this the highest compliment I\h
keep getting from it is people go I had to keep\h\h

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stopping and and checking you know what really\h
happened because it all sounded so real that I\h\h

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didn't know what was true and what wasn't that is\h
a compliment just one last question you're right\h\h

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we are at the end here what type of friendships\h
did they have before the problems happened I\h\h

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mean were they're very close oh yeah I mean\h
think about it in the in the late 50s early\h\h

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60s before they became the worldwide phenomenon\h
that they were these guys were living together\h\h

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and literally in in some of their gigs when they\h
were in Germany they had this tiny room that all\h\h

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four of them would share and and they'd have to\h
sleep but two of them would sleep in the same bed\h\h

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head-to-toe right I mean that's how close they\h
were they did everything together and they were\h\h

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inseparable friends and they adored each other at\h
that time they were just they were you know they\h\h

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were tough guys they were wearing leather back\h
then and they were having a good time but they\h\h

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were learning music but they were with their their\h
bros and and so they always worked together John\h\h

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and Paulin particularly were very close and and\h
and we're close from the beginning I mean those\h\h

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guys were riding together from the beginning and\h
it wasn't really and they stayed close and even\h\h

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when they were fighting they were still close but\h
yeah with with problems as we all have with close\h\h

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friends from time to time so they had every reason\h
to be able to find a basis for friendship buried\h\h

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in the friendship that they'd had very few people\h
in the world well in fact nobody know let's just\h\h

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say that nobody in the world had the experience\h
that the Beatles had together they got to the\h\h

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place where they had to hang with each other and\h
and support each other and have each other's back\h\h

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because nobody else would and nobody else was was\h
capable of understanding the experience that they\h\h

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were having that's right there used to be an ad\h
on the TV years ago that said they'll never be\h\h

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another group quite like the Beatles that's I\h
you know what and and probably back then some\h\h

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people heard it and said yeah right yeah but guess\h
what it turned out to be true that's right your\h\h

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website one more time okay the main one is what if\h
Beatles calm and then if you want to see the video\h\h