Light fuse - get away.
As countless teens dropped the needle on Please Please Me in 1963, the end had arrived.
Track one, side one. "I Saw Her Standing There." That was it.
Since then, has there been anything that came close to exploding so perfectly, turning the black and whites into full-on beautiful, vibrant color?
"One, two, three, FAHHHHHHHH!"
It was rock and roll unlike any that had ever been. Not even the previous singles of "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me" gave any hint that this was it. No looking back.
Lennon's driving rhythm. McCartney's furious and exciting vocals and Chuck Berry-swiped bass line. Ringo's propulsive drumming that was air tight. Harrison's tasty licks that should have taught Dave Davies a thing or three about making a ballistic solo without fucking it up, but didn't. And those harmonies. Pow!
Think of everything that came after that count-off. The changes the world over encountered. It can never be done again. It was bottled lightning and it struck vibrantly for a few more years.
That it still sounds that essential and joyful nearly 50 years after the fact is reason to never forget it.
So don't.
