The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With the… Read Full Bio ↴The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With the line-up comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they are regarded as one of the most influential bands of all time. The group was integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and popular music's recognition as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways; the band later explored music styles ranging from ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the group revolutionized many aspects of the music industry and were often publicized as leaders of the era's youth and socio-cultural movements.

Led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over three years from 1960, initially with Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass. The core trio of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, together since 1958, went through a succession of drummers, eventually settling with Pete Best in 1960, who played with them for two years before being replaced with then Rory Storm & The Hurricanes drummer Ringo Starr in 1962. Manager Brian Epstein molded them into a professional act and producer George Martin guided and developed their recordings, greatly expanding their domestic success after their first hit, "Love Me Do", in late 1962. As their popularity grew into the intense fan frenzy dubbed "Beatlemania", the band acquired the nickname "the Fab Four", with Epstein, Martin and other members of the band's entourage sometimes given the informal title of "fifth Beatle".

By early 1964, the Beatles were international stars, leading the "British Invasion" of the United States pop market and breaking numerous sales records. They soon made their film debut with A Hard Day's Night (1964). From 1965 onwards, they produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), and enjoyed further commercial success with The Beatles (also known as "the White Album", 1968) and Abbey Road (1969). In 1968, they founded Apple Corps, a multi-armed multimedia corporation that continues to oversee projects related to the band's legacy. After the group's break-up in 1970, all four members enjoyed success as solo artists. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of lung cancer in November 2001. McCartney and Starr remain musically active.

The Beatles are the best-selling music act of all time, with estimated sales of 600 million units worldwide. They hold the record for most number-one albums on the UK Albums Chart, most number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and most singles sold in the UK. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and all four main members were inducted individually between 1994 and 2015. In 2008, the group topped Billboard's list of the all-time most successful artists on the Billboard Hot 100. The band received seven Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Academy Award (for Best Original Song Score for the 1970 film Let It Be) and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. Time magazine named them among the 20th century's 100 most important people.

Former Rolling Stone associate editor Robert Greenfield compared the Beatles to Picasso, as "artists who broke through the constraints of their time period to come up with something that was unique and original "... In the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive ..." The British poet Philip Larkin described their work as "an enchanting and intoxicating hybrid of African-American rock-and-roll with their own adolescent romanticism", and "the first advance in popular music since the War".

They not only sparked the British Invasion of the US, they became a globally influential phenomenon as well. From the 1920s, the US had dominated popular entertainment culture throughout much of the world, via Hollywood films, jazz, the music of Broadway and Tin Pan Alley and, later, the rock and roll that first emerged in Memphis, Tennessee. The Beatles are regarded as British cultural icons, with young adults from abroad naming the band among a group of people that they most associated with UK culture.

Their musical innovations and commercial success inspired musicians worldwide. Many artists have acknowledged the Beatles' influence and enjoyed chart success with covers of their songs. On radio, their arrival marked the beginning of a new era; in 1968 the programme director of New York's WABC radio station forbade his DJs from playing any "pre-Beatles" music, marking the defining line of what would be considered oldies on American radio. They helped to redefine the album as something more than just a few hits padded out with "filler", and they were primary innovators of the modern music video. The Shea Stadium show with which they opened their 1965 North American tour attracted an estimated 55,600 people, then the largest audience in concert history; Spitz describes the event as a "major breakthrough ... a giant step toward reshaping the concert business". Emulation of their clothing and especially their hairstyles, which became a mark of rebellion, had a global impact on fashion.

According to Gould, the Beatles changed the way people listened to popular music and experienced its role in their lives. From what began as the Beatlemania fad, the group's popularity grew into what was seen as an embodiment of socio-cultural movements of the decade. As icons of the 1960s counterculture, Gould continues, they became a catalyst for bohemianism and activism in various social and political arenas, fuelling movements such as women's liberation, gay liberation and environmentalism. According to Peter Lavezzoli, after the "more popular than Jesus" controversy in 1966, the Beatles felt considerable pressure to say the right things and "began a concerted effort to spread a message of wisdom and higher consciousness".

Other commentators such as Mikal Gilmore and Todd Leopold have traced the inception of their socio-cultural impact earlier, interpreting even the Beatlemania period, particularly on their first visit to the US, as a key moment in the development of generational awareness. Referring to their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show Leopold states: "In many ways, the Sullivan appearance marked the beginning of a cultural revolution ... The Beatles were like aliens dropped into the United States of 1964.

In 1965, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). The Beatles won the 1971 Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for the film Let It Be (1970). The recipients of seven Grammy Awards and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards, the Beatles have six Diamond albums, as well as 20 Multi-Platinum albums, 16 Platinum albums and six Gold albums in the US. In the UK, the Beatles have four Multi-Platinum albums, four Platinum albums, eight Gold albums and one Silver album. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

The best-selling band in history, the Beatles have sold more than 800 million physical and digital albums as of 2013. They have had more number-one albums on the UK charts, fifteen, and sold more singles in the UK, 21.9 million, than any other act. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Beatles as the most significant and influential rock music artists of the last 50 years. They ranked number one on Billboard magazine's list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists, released in 2008 to celebrate the US singles chart's 50th anniversary. As of 2017, they hold the record for most number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, with twenty. The Recording Industry Association of America certifies that the Beatles have sold 178 million units in the US, more than any other artist. They were collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of the 20th century's 100 most influential people. In 2014, they received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

There are two holidays celebrated for the Beatles: Global Beatles Day on 25 June each year. On that date in 1967, the band performed "All You Need Is Love" on television. In 2001, UNESCO created World Beatles Day on 16 January each year. This date has direct relation to the opening of The Cavern Club in 1957.

Five asteroids, 4147 Lennon, 4148 McCartney, 4149 Harrison, 4150 Starr and 8749 Beatles are named after the Beatles.

Soldier Of Love
The Beatles Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Lay down your arms of love
And surrender to me
Lay down your arms of love
And love me peacefully, yeah

Use your arms for loving me
Baby that's the way it's got to be

There ain't no reason for you to be bad
For you're the woman and I love you so

So forget the other boys, cause my love is real
Come off your battlefield

Lay down your arms of love
And love me peacefully
Lay down your arms of love
And love me tenderly, yeah

Use your arms for hold me tight
Baby I don't want to fight no more

The weapons you're using
Are hurting me bad
And someday you're going to see
Cause my love for you baby
Is the truest you've ever had
A soldier of love is hard to be

Lay down your arms of love
And love me peacefully
Lay down your arms of love
And surrender to me, yeah

Use your arms for squeezing
And please the one that you want to hold
Soldier of love

Baby lay down your arms

Soldier of love
Baby lay down your arms

Overall Meaning

The song "Soldier of Love" by The Beatles is a beautiful love song about two people in love but experiencing some trouble in their relationship. The singer is pleading with his lover to stop fighting or using weapons to hurt him because their love is real and he wants them to surrender to each other peacefully. In the first two verses, he can be heard begging her to lay down her arms of love and love him peacefully. He also advises her to use her arms for loving him, as that is the way it should be. The singer recognizes that his lover is a woman, which implies that she may be vulnerable and that he is not afraid to love and protect her sincerely.

In the third verse, he goes on to say that there is no reason for her to be bad because she is the woman he loves. He asks her to forget about other boys because his love is real and that she should come off her battlefield. This line could be interpreted as both a metaphorical and literal battlefield, as relationships can sometimes feel like a war. The singer then repeats the chorus and asks her to lay down her arms of love and love him peacefully, tenderly, and with physical affection.

The song's lyrics address themes of love, surrender, and peaceful resolution in a relationship. The song's message is that love should not hurt, and the key to any successful relationship should be love and understanding.

Line by Line Meaning

Lay down your arms of love
Stop using your love as a weapon and instead, surrender to me

And surrender to me
Submit yourself to me and show me your love without any hesitation

Lay down your arms of love
Give up the idea of using love as a weapon and love me with a peaceful heart

And love me peacefully, yeah
Show your love for me in a calm and peaceful way, without any conflict

Use your arms for loving me
Show your love physically by holding and embracing me

Baby that's the way it's got to be
This is how true love should be expressed

There ain't no reason for you to be bad
There's no reason for you to be angry or resentful

For you're the woman and I love you so
I love you deeply and you are the one for me

So forget the other boys, cause my love is real
Don't pay attention to other suitors, my love for you is genuine

Come off your battlefield
Stop fighting for my love, you already have it

Use your arms for hold me tight
Embrace me with your love and don't let go

Baby I don't want to fight no more
I don't want our love to be a battlefield anymore

The weapons you're using
Metaphor for how her love has been used as a weapon

Are hurting me bad
Your love is causing me pain and emotional harm

And someday you're going to see
One day you will understand how your actions have affected me

Cause my love for you baby
My love for you is unconditional

Is the truest you've ever had
My love for you is pure and genuine, unlike any other love you've experienced

A soldier of love is hard to be
Loving someone completely and unconditionally is not easy, it requires strength and perseverance

And love me tenderly, yeah
Show me your love in a gentle and caring way

Use your arms for squeezing
Hug me tightly and show your love through physical touch

And please the one that you want to hold
Do everything in your power to make me happy and keep me close

Baby lay down your arms
Symbolic gesture of giving up on using love as a weapon

Soldier of love
Someone who is willing to fight for love and never give up on it

Baby lay down your arms
Reinforcing that she should give up on using love as a weapon

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
Written by: BUZZ CASON, TONY MOON

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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