The death of a dream can be, in a way, sadder than that of a living being.

"With the Beatles" is an ode to life in the middle of Beatlemania. The first memory of that era that Murakami recalls is of a girl holding onto an original copy of the Beatles' LP "With The Beatles", hence the naming. He talks at length about his relationship with a certain girl. She like making out to Percy Faith, he like jazz. But they were together nonetheless. He writes of a strange meeting with the girl's older brother, about whom he barely knew anything. But the meeting somehow had an impact on both of them.

“You know something?” she said to me on the sofa, in a small voice, as if she were making a confession. “I’m the really jealous type.”

Teenage love ends as teenage love does. They walk into movie theaters hand-in-hand listen to Percy Faith's opening of A Summer Place and make out. And then one day it all ends. Years later, our writer has a chance encounter with the brother of his then girlfriend. They strike up a conversation, bringing back a flood of memories. Memories that are forever lost in the Beatlemania years.