Steve Israel: Songs that moved a generation corrupted to sell juice, sneakers

I winced when I heard one of the best songs of Sunday's Grammy awards telecast.

That song, the Beatles' "Good Day Sunshine," was used to sell orange juice — orange juice.

Just like the Beatles' "In My Life" is used to sell mattresses — mattresses.

Is nothing sacred?

Oh, I know.

All sorts of quality rockers sell stuff with their music.

Bono — Mr. Social Consciousness — sells iPads.

John Mellencamp — Mr. Man of the People — sells Chevys.

Even Bob Dylan — Mr. Voice of a Generation, or two, or three — sells Victoria's Secret, and Pepsi.

And, yes, Michael Jackson bought most of the Beatles catalogue, much to the dismay of the Beatles and their survivors. That's why other Beatles songs that Jackson bought, like "Revolution," have been used to sell stuff like sneakers.

But c'mon. Lennon and McCartney didn't write those songs to sell OJ or mattresses.

As Paul McCartney said after "Revolution" was used to sell those Nikes:

"I thought 'Revolution' was a serious song with a serious meaning — not a jingle to sell sneakers."


"What Michael is doing cheapens the songs, which mean a lot not only to me, but to a generation of Beatles' fans."

But really, using another Beatles' song, "Good Day Sunshine," to sell another product is just one more example of the line between stirring art and moneymaking commerce being blurred.

It's another step toward new generations becoming mere consumers of products who think everything is about money, not aficionados of art who can be inspired by soul-shaking music.

That's why we should all wince when we hear "Good Day Sunshine" selling OJ, or "In My Life" hawking mattresses.

We know what those songs meant when we first heard them; how our hearts sang and our souls soared as we felt lyrics like these were just meant for us: "Though I know I'll never lose affection/ For people and things that went before/I know I'll often stop and think about them/In my life I love you more."

Instead, a generation of kids will grow up thinking lyrics like those were written to sell mattresses.

Or that lyrics like these: "I need to laugh, and when the sun is out/I've got something I can laugh about/I feel good, in a special way/I'm in love and it's a sunny/day/Good day sunshine" were meant to sell OJ.

Those kids will never know the goose-bump-inducing thrill of feeling that music is theirs, and theirs alone — not the millions of shoppers at millions of faceless malls.

All the kids will know is that they're just hearing one more song that's just selling one more product.

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