Learning from The Beatles (Part 6 - Songs 51 to 60)
This sixth installment of "Learning from the Beatles" contains some of George Harrison's most recognizable songs. The list highlights another 10 songs that can be tied back to an important legal rule or tip for the bar exam, including the Beatles' only instrumental track (and the only recording to have a songwriting credit featuring all four Beatles) found on any of its albums.
51. Old Brown Shoe
I want a love that's right, right is only half of what's wrong
I want a short-haired girl who sometimes wears it twice as long
Now I'm steppin' out this old brown shoe
Baby I'm in love with you
I'm so glad you came here it won't be the same now I'm telling you
(Album: Past Masters, Volume 2)
Civil Procedure: George Harrison explained in his autobiography, I Me Mine, that he began writing “Old Brown Shoe” by jotting down words that have opposite meanings. “It's the duality of things—yes no, up down, left right, right wrong, etcetera,” he said.
International Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310 (1945), was a landmark decision in which the United States Supreme Court held that a party, particularly a corporation, may be subject to the jurisdiction of a state court if it has “minimum contacts” with that state. International Shoe requires that the defendant have such minimum contacts with the forum that the exercise of jurisdiction would be fair and reasonable.
Tip: In considering whether there are such minimum contacts, courts will look to two factors: (i) purposeful availment and (ii) foreseeability.
52. Any Time At All
Anytime at all,
Anytime at all,
Anytime at all,
All you've gotta do is call
And I'll be there.
(Album: A Hard Day’s Night)
Civil Procedure: When the Beatles recorded “Any Time At All” for the A Hard Day’s Night album, the song was incomplete. Paul McCartney suggested an idea for the middle eight section based solely on chords, which was recorded with the intention of adding lyrics later. However, by the time the song needed to be mixed, the middle eight was still without words. The deadline for the album’s final mixes meant that the unfinished version of “Any Time At All” was released in its incomplete state.
Prior to filing an answer, a defendant may, if he chooses, file a motion and raise any or all of the following defenses: (1) lack of subject matter jurisdiction; (2) lack of personal jurisdiction; (3) improper venue; (4) insufficient process; (5) insufficient service of process; (6) failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; and (7) failure to join a party under Rule 19 (required joinder of parties). The first defense—lack of subject matter jurisdiction—can be asserted at any time. This defense can never be waived.
Tip: The defendant must raise defenses (2) through (5) at the time he files a motion or his answer (or an amendment as of right)—whichever is first. If the defendant doesn’t, the defendant waives these defenses. Defenses (6) and (7) can be made at any time prior to or at trial.
It’s all too much for me to take
The love that’s shining all around here
All the world’s a birthday cake,
So take a piece but not too much
Sail me on a silver sun, for I know that I’m free
Show me that I’m everywhere, and get me home for tea
(Album: Yellow Submarine)
Constitutional Law: “It’s All Too Much” was George Harrison’s psychedelic love song inspired by his use of LSD. Its lyrics describe the overwhelming feeling Harrison had while under the influence.
A regulation of speech is unconstitutionally overbroad if it regulates a substantial amount of constitutionally protected expression.
Tip: Some examinees consider “overbroad” regulations and “vague” regulations as identical concepts. They aren’t. A regulation is unconstitutionally overbroad if it prohibits substantially more speech than is necessary. A regulation is unconstitutionally vague if a person of common intelligence must necessarily guess what it is prohibiting.
Here comes the sun
Doo doo doo doo
Here comes the sun and I say
It's alright
Little darling, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
(Album: Abbey Road)
Evidence: George Harrison wrote "Here Comes the Sun" in a garden while visiting his friend and fellow guitarist Eric Clapton. The lyrics reflected Harrison's relief at the arrival of spring and the temporary break he was experiencing from the band's internal fighting.
A court uses judicial notice when it declares a fact as true without a formal presentation of evidence. If a court takes judicial notice of an indisputable fact in a civil case, the fact is considered conclusive. Judicial notice of the time of sunrise or sunset has long been recognized.
Tip: Other examples of matters given judicial notice are public and court records, tides, government rainfall and temperature records, known historic events, and the fact that ice melts in the sun.
55. Something
Something in the way she moves
Attracts me like no other lover,
Something in the way she woos me.
I don't want to leave her now,
You know I believe and how.
(Album: Abbey Road)
Contracts and Sales: The Beatles’ “Something” is based on the James Taylor song, “Something in the Way She Moves,” which was released in 1968 by the Beatles’ own Apple Records. George Harrison worked on Taylor’s album with him, and he used the first line (and the song's title) of Taylor’s song as a sort of temporary first line to start writing a song. Harrison ended up keeping it. “Something” has been covered by more than 150 artists, making it the second-most covered Beatles song after “Yesterday.”
At common law, every contract requires consideration to be enforceable, and any modification to a contract requires new consideration. Consideration is a bargained-for exchange of something of legal value. Courts rarely consider the adequacy of consideration. If a party wishes to enter into an agreement for “something”—even if the market value exceeds the contractual price—then so be it, as long as the consideration isn’t a sham.
Tip: Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code doesn’t follow the common law rule requiring new consideration for contract modification. Under Article 2, contract modifications sought in good faith are binding without consideration. Only those modifications that are extorted from the other party in bad faith are unenforceable.
If you're listening to this song
You may think the chords are going wrong
But they're not; we just wrote it like that
When you're listening late at night
You may think the bands are not quite right
But they are, they just play it like that
It doesn't really matter what chords I play
What words I say or what time of day it is
As it's only a Northern song
(Album: Yellow Submarine)
Civil Procedure: “Only a Northern Song” was George Harrison’s dig at the original business arrangements of the Beatles. Their songs had always been published by Northern Songs Ltd, whose shares were divided among John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Dick James (a music publisher), Brian Epstein (the Beatles’ manager), and others. Ringo Starr and Harrison George were initially left out of the arrangement. Harrison once said: “I realized Dick James had conned me out of the copyrights for my own songs by offering to become my publisher. As an 18 or 19-year-old kid, I thought, ‘Great, somebody’s gonna publish my songs!’ But he never said, ‘And incidentally, when you sign this document here, you’re assigning me the ownership of the songs,’ which is what it is. It was just a blatant theft.”
Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction in patent and copyright cases. As a result, federal courts will have subject matter jurisdiction to hear patent and copyright disputes based on federal question jurisdiction.
Tip: There are instances when a plaintiff will have both a federal claim (e.g., copyright infringement) and a state claim (e.g., breach of contract against the defendant. Although there may be no diversity, the federal court has discretion to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state claim if the two claims arise from the same transaction or occurrence.
57. Flying
(Album: Magical Mystery Tour)
Torts: In the Magical Mystery Tour film, the Beatles recorded “Flying,” a mostly instrumental track, to accompany landscape scenes of Iceland taken from an airplane. “Flying” was the first Beatles recording to have a songwriting credit featuring all four Beatles.
Where a child engages in a potentially dangerous activity that is normally one that only adults engage in, most cases hold that he will be required to conform to the same standard of care as an adult in such an activity. Flying is one such activity.
Tip: Other adult activities where a child is required to conform to the same standard of care as an adult include driving an automobile, snowmobile, and motorboat. In the absence of a child engaging in one of these or similar activities, then the child is required to conform to the standard of care of a child of like age, education, intelligence, and experience.
Listen, do you want to know a secret,
Do you promise not to tell, Whoa . . . . .
Closer let me whisper in your ear,
Say the words you long to hear,
I'm in love with you, ewww . . . . .
(Album: Please Please Me)
Evidence: John Lennon wrote “Do You Want to Know a Secret” for George Harrison to sing. Lennon admitted the Beatles song was based on “Wishing Well,” from Walt Disney’s 1937 animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which included the lines “Wanna know a secret? / Promise not to tell? / We are standing by a wishing well.”
The federal courts and most states recognize a marital privilege for confidential communications between spouses when those communications occur during the marriage. The privilege protects communications during marriage even if the marriage no longer exists and even if one of the parties to the marriage is dead. However, where one spouse has revealed the content of those communications to a third person, then confidentiality no longer exists, which means the privilege doesn’t apply.
Tip: Don’t confuse the marital privilege for confidential communications with spousal immunity. These are two different and separate marital privileges. Under spousal immunity, a witness-spouse has the right not to testify against an accused spouse in a criminal case.
59. Helter Skelter
Tell me, tell me, tell me,
Come on, tell me the answer.
Well, you may be a lover,
But you ain't no dancer.
Now Helter Skelter,
Helter Skelter,
Helter Skelter,
Yeah!
(Album: The Beatles (the "White Album"))
Criminal Law: Paul McCartney said “Helter Skelter” was about a playground slide. Charles Manson claimed the song encouraged him to order his cult followers to carry out a string of murders. Manson blamed the killings on the song and the Beatles. “It’s the Beatles, the music they’re putting out,” Manson said at trial. “These kids listen to this music and pick up the message. It’s subliminal … It is not my music. I hear what it relates. It says ‘Rise.’ It says ‘Kill.’ Why blame it on me? I didn’t write the music.” Manson wasn’t one of the killers himself, though he was charged with both murder and conspiracy for having ordered the acts. Manson and his three co-defendants were found guilty of first-degree murder. Manson would not allow any of them to plead insanity.
There are several different tests for insanity. Under the M’Naghten rule, because of a mental impairment, the defendant doesn’t know right from wrong or doesn’t understand the nature and quality of his actions. For the irresistible impulse test, it’s just like the name says: the defendant just could not resist the impulse to act. Said another way, the defendant was unable to control his actions or to conform his conduct to the law. For the Durham test, you have to find that but for the mental illness, the defendant would not have done the act. Finally, there is the Model Penal Code test—think of it as a combination of M’Naghten and irresistible impulse. Under the MPC test, as the result of a mental impairment, the defendant doesn’t know right from wrong or understand his actions or he was unable to control his actions or conform his conduct to the law.
Tip: The four different insanity tests can be easily confused. That’s why it’s sometimes an examiners’ favorite. You have to know the different approaches. Here’s how I remember the various tests, copied from a previous blog post:
M’Naughten rule: The M’Naughten rule is sometimes referred to as the McNaghten rule, which reminds me of McDonald’s. My kids love McDonalds, as do I. We simply don’t know right from wrong, and we may not understand the impact of our actions.
Irresistible impulse test: The name of the test makes it obvious.
Durham test: The name of this test reminds me of the 1988 rom-com sports flick, Bull Durham, starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, and Susan Sarandon’s former partner, Tim Robbins. If you’re not familiar with the movie, it’s basically a mature comedy about sex and baseball. There’s one scene in the movie where Costner slaps Robbins on the butt. Sixteen-year-old me (the age when I likely saw the movie in 1988) thought that scene was hilarious. So, “butt” equals “but” equals “but for” equals “Bull Durham” equals “Durham test.”
MPC test: MPC is combination of letters, so the test is a combination of the M’Naghten and irresistible impulse tests. The MPC doesn’t include the Durham test because (Bull) Durham is in a league of its own (to use another baseball reference).
60. Sexy Sadie
Sexy Sadie, what have you done?
You made a fool of ev’ryone.
You made a fool of ev’ryone.
Sexy Sadie, oh what have you done?
Sexy Sadie, you broke the rules.
You laid it down for all to see.
You laid it down for all to see.
Sexy Sadie, oh you broke the rules.
(Album: The Beatles (the "White Album"))
Torts: John Lennon wrote this song during his last hours on a transcendental meditation retreat in India led by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Lennon originally named the song “Maharishi,” and wrote the critical lyrics after hearing a rumor that Maharishi had made a sexual advance towards one of the women on the retreat. George Harrison persuaded Lennon to change the title of the song to “Sexy Sadie.”
A defamation case is established if there is a publication to a third person of a false statement understood as defamatory of the plaintiff that causes damage to the plaintiff’s reputation. The type of damage the plaintiff must prove depends on whether the defamation constitutes libel or slander.
Tip: Libel is defamation that is communicated in writing. For libel claims, the plaintiff doesn’t need to prove special damage; general damages are presumed. Slander is defamation that is communicated orally. For slander claims, the plaintiff must prove special (i.e., pecuniary) damages unless the defamation falls within a slander per se category. Slander per se consists of four categories: (1) that the plaintiff committed a crime of moral turpitude; (2) that the plaintiff is infected with a contagious disease which, if true, would result in exclusion from society; (3) that the plaintiff is unfit or lacks integrity to perform duties related to the plaintiff’s profession, trade, or business; and (4) that the plaintiff has engaged in serious sexual misconduct.
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