John Lennon - Remembering A Great Man
October 8th 2008 05:09
Today I thought I’d write about a great man who would have turned 68 tomorrow, October 9.
John Lennon, one of my heroes.
John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 at Oxford Street Maternity Hospital, in Liverpool England. His parents were Julia and Freddie Lennon, but his mother and Aunt Mimi virtually brought him up because his father went away to work on a ship. When his father returned home he intended to take John to New Zealand, however John decided to stay with his mother and Aunt Mimi. His Aunt Mimi could take the credit for inspiring his musical talents as she bought him his first guitar, in spite previously taking banjo lessons that his Mum wanted him to have.
Musically the 1960’s were the start of hysteria. As well as The Beatles emerging, artists like Peter, Paul & Mary and Bob Dylan to Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead and The Rolling Stones were all enjoying fame. Most of these artists made their political stance in their songwriting and during the Vietnam War most of their songs had underlying messages about love and peace.
Late in the year of 1960 John Lennon became a member of a rock ‘n band that would change the music world forever. John, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best formed the Beatles or the Fab Four to their fans. Like artists of the 1960’s, John Lennon and the Beatles wrote many songs about peace.
After having successive number one singles and albums worldwide, the Beatles called it quits in 1971. John and Paul had more success as solo songwriters than George and Pete. The end of the Beatles enabled them to focus on their own view of the world.
John’s songwriting had a powerful message to the people in our society, a message that is still relevant today. He wanted to change the attitudes of the world’s people so that they would no longer be living in hate and segregation. He wanted peace between countries and religions. Imagine is still a song that brings to mind the kind of world that John wanted and hopefully makes people think beyond their own ideas and boundaries. The lead singer of the band, Live, Ed Kowalczyk says, “You can’t hear this song too many times in your lifetime…”
After the Imagine album was released, John was sent religious literature and bibles from a priest who wrote a letter to John about the hopelessness of the album. John’s bold response is shown below:
Listen Brother,
Why don't you Jesus freaks get off people's backs
Its been the same for two thousand years-won't you ever learn?
those who know do not speak
those who speak do not know.
Your peace of mind doesn't show in your
neurotic letter, son.
One man's weak-brother!
Peace off!
John Yoko 71
He and his second wife, Yoko Ono started a movement called Bagism by attending the premier of Yoko’s film, Rape (Film No. 6), inside a large, white bag. Bagism’s underlying concept was interactivity among people without prejudice. In April 1969, John and Yoko began yet another campaign, "Acorns For Peace" where they mailed acorns to world leaders asking them to plant the acorns for peace. John and Yoko also performed several "Bed-Ins" which involved staying in bed for lengthy periods of time as protests for various causes. John Lennon stated, "We're staying in bed for a week, to register our protest against all the suffering and violence in the world."
As shown in the following verse from Give Peace a Chance which was recorded during one of their “Bed-Ins”, the lyrics imply that John thought there were too much hype about certain issues and the real messages were forgotten.
Ev’rybody’s talkin’ ‘bout:
Bagism and dragism and bagism and shagism-ism
That-ism, prisonism, ism, ism.
All we are saying is give peace a chance,
All we are saying is give peace a chance
John also wrote about personal relationships and dilemmas, such as the death of his mother in 1958, who was brutally struck, and instantly killed by a drunk, off-duty policeman. Consequently, music and drug-use sadly became a major part of John's life. Years later, he wrote songs about these subjects. The song Mother has powerful lyrics as follows:
Mother, you had me, but I never had you
I wanted you, you didn't want me
So I, I just got to tell you
Goodbye, goodbye
Father, you left me, but I never left you
I needed you, you didn't need me
So I, I just got to tell you
Goodbye, goodbye
Children, don't do what I have done
I couldn't walk and I tried to run
So I, I just got to tell you
Goodbye, goodbye
Mama don't go
Daddy come home
(repeat 9 more times)
John addresses his father in Mother also. The lyrics suggest he still wanted his father to come home to be with him. Listening to the song, you can hear the emotion in John’s voice, especially in the last verse. He almost screams “Mama don’t go”.
Our time on December 9, 1980, John autographed a copy of his "Double Fantasy" for a man from Honolulu in New York. Later that afternoon, the man was standing outside John and Yoko apartment building. When John and Yoko were walking home, the man called out, "Mr. Lennon" and as John turned toward the voice, he was shot five times in the shoulders and back. Yoko Oko and Paul McCartney ask that the mentally ill man’s name never be mentioned anywhere, as it would fuel his desire to be remembered as the one who killed one of the great songwriters of our time.
“We're all Christ and we're all Hitler. We are trying to make Christ's message contemporary. We want Christ to win. What would he have done if he had advertisements, TV, records, films and newspapers? The miracle today is communication. So let's use it.”
John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 at Oxford Street Maternity Hospital, in Liverpool England. His parents were Julia and Freddie Lennon, but his mother and Aunt Mimi virtually brought him up because his father went away to work on a ship. When his father returned home he intended to take John to New Zealand, however John decided to stay with his mother and Aunt Mimi. His Aunt Mimi could take the credit for inspiring his musical talents as she bought him his first guitar, in spite previously taking banjo lessons that his Mum wanted him to have.
Musically the 1960’s were the start of hysteria. As well as The Beatles emerging, artists like Peter, Paul & Mary and Bob Dylan to Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead and The Rolling Stones were all enjoying fame. Most of these artists made their political stance in their songwriting and during the Vietnam War most of their songs had underlying messages about love and peace.
Late in the year of 1960 John Lennon became a member of a rock ‘n band that would change the music world forever. John, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best formed the Beatles or the Fab Four to their fans. Like artists of the 1960’s, John Lennon and the Beatles wrote many songs about peace.
After having successive number one singles and albums worldwide, the Beatles called it quits in 1971. John and Paul had more success as solo songwriters than George and Pete. The end of the Beatles enabled them to focus on their own view of the world.
John’s songwriting had a powerful message to the people in our society, a message that is still relevant today. He wanted to change the attitudes of the world’s people so that they would no longer be living in hate and segregation. He wanted peace between countries and religions. Imagine is still a song that brings to mind the kind of world that John wanted and hopefully makes people think beyond their own ideas and boundaries. The lead singer of the band, Live, Ed Kowalczyk says, “You can’t hear this song too many times in your lifetime…”
After the Imagine album was released, John was sent religious literature and bibles from a priest who wrote a letter to John about the hopelessness of the album. John’s bold response is shown below:
Listen Brother,
Why don't you Jesus freaks get off people's backs
Its been the same for two thousand years-won't you ever learn?
those who know do not speak
those who speak do not know.
Your peace of mind doesn't show in your
neurotic letter, son.
One man's weak-brother!
Peace off!
John Yoko 71
He and his second wife, Yoko Ono started a movement called Bagism by attending the premier of Yoko’s film, Rape (Film No. 6), inside a large, white bag. Bagism’s underlying concept was interactivity among people without prejudice. In April 1969, John and Yoko began yet another campaign, "Acorns For Peace" where they mailed acorns to world leaders asking them to plant the acorns for peace. John and Yoko also performed several "Bed-Ins" which involved staying in bed for lengthy periods of time as protests for various causes. John Lennon stated, "We're staying in bed for a week, to register our protest against all the suffering and violence in the world."
As shown in the following verse from Give Peace a Chance which was recorded during one of their “Bed-Ins”, the lyrics imply that John thought there were too much hype about certain issues and the real messages were forgotten.
Ev’rybody’s talkin’ ‘bout:
Bagism and dragism and bagism and shagism-ism
That-ism, prisonism, ism, ism.
All we are saying is give peace a chance,
All we are saying is give peace a chance
John also wrote about personal relationships and dilemmas, such as the death of his mother in 1958, who was brutally struck, and instantly killed by a drunk, off-duty policeman. Consequently, music and drug-use sadly became a major part of John's life. Years later, he wrote songs about these subjects. The song Mother has powerful lyrics as follows:
Mother, you had me, but I never had you
I wanted you, you didn't want me
So I, I just got to tell you
Goodbye, goodbye
Father, you left me, but I never left you
I needed you, you didn't need me
So I, I just got to tell you
Goodbye, goodbye
Children, don't do what I have done
I couldn't walk and I tried to run
So I, I just got to tell you
Goodbye, goodbye
Mama don't go
Daddy come home
(repeat 9 more times)
John addresses his father in Mother also. The lyrics suggest he still wanted his father to come home to be with him. Listening to the song, you can hear the emotion in John’s voice, especially in the last verse. He almost screams “Mama don’t go”.
Our time on December 9, 1980, John autographed a copy of his "Double Fantasy" for a man from Honolulu in New York. Later that afternoon, the man was standing outside John and Yoko apartment building. When John and Yoko were walking home, the man called out, "Mr. Lennon" and as John turned toward the voice, he was shot five times in the shoulders and back. Yoko Oko and Paul McCartney ask that the mentally ill man’s name never be mentioned anywhere, as it would fuel his desire to be remembered as the one who killed one of the great songwriters of our time.
“We're all Christ and we're all Hitler. We are trying to make Christ's message contemporary. We want Christ to win. What would he have done if he had advertisements, TV, records, films and newspapers? The miracle today is communication. So let's use it.”
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Comment by katyzzz
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I don't like the position you have taken towards him here and I'm not sure that Yoko did him an ounce of good and I would not call him great, but tragic hero he certainly was and a phenomenon in his lifetime and since.
He is my favourite star sign but I never felt any attraction. But I loved the Beatles and a friend of mine would be happy to call him Great.
Imagine will live forever.
Comment by James Rickard
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A TOTALLY DIFFERENT IDEA-- I'll never forget watching Monday Night Football and Howard Cosell breaking the news to the world of John's death.