ABSTRACT

Though the Beatles drew inspiration from avant-garde composer John Cage in songs like “A Day in the Life,” Cage himself had little interest in popular music. In one isolated statement, though, Cage expressed uncharacteristic admiration for the Beatles. This article explores what, for Cage, made the Beatles important by considering his statement within the context of a cross-influential network of musicians and thinkers that included Cage, the Beatles, philosopher Marshall McLuhan, and artist Yoko Ono. This study reveals an overlooked line of reasoning in Cage’s mind while also lending to a fuller understanding of the Beatles’ effect beyond popular culture.

摘要

尽管甲壳虫乐队从前卫作曲家约翰·凯奇（John Cage）的歌曲中汲取灵感，例如《生命中的一天》，但凯奇本人对流行音乐并不感兴趣。不过，凯奇在一份孤立的声明中对甲壳虫乐队表现出了非同寻常的钦佩。本文探讨了对于凯奇而言，通过在包括凯奇，甲壳虫，哲学家马歇尔·麦克卢汉和艺术家小野洋子在内的音乐家和思想家的交叉影响网络中考虑甲壳虫的声明，使甲壳虫很重要。这项研究揭示了凯奇思想中被忽略的推理思路，同时也使人们对甲壳虫乐队在流行文化之外的影响有了更全面的了解。