Sometimes I just feel so darn old. I’m suddenly “of an age” where the 50th anniversary of this or that great historic event is mentioned in casual conversation, and I realize we’re not talking about ancient history any more, we’re talking about things that have occurred in my lifetime, and that I was there to witness it firsthand!

For instance, 50 years ago tomorrow, four long-haired guys from Liverpool put their shaggy heads together, and in a mere day and a half, wrote a song that is credited with forever changing the face of American music.

Yes, in a scant 36 hours, John, Paul, George and Ringo composed the rock and roll classic “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Selling it to the production company took a little longer, but due to a fortuitous chain of events (I call it Divine Intervention), the song was topping the charts in the U S of A just a few months later.

An interesting (at least to me) factoid here is that the song was also recorded in German, thinking that the teens of that country would like to hear it in their own language. Turns out that was a major marketing mistake, and the English version is the only one anyone in any country wanted to hear.

However, on the eve of this half-century anniversary, if you’d like to hear what it sounds like auf Deutsch, here’s the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrZQk03uKsQ

Enjoy!