Twenty eight years ago today the music world lost the genius of John Lennon to an assassin's bullets. It was a senseless killing perpetrated by an insane idiot. Earlier that day Lennon had signed an autograph for David Mark Chapman. I think this was a case of hero worship and stalking that went way too far and led to a tragic end.
John Lennon was far from a perfect person. The young John was cynical and angry and could be very cruel in his deeds and with his tongue. In listening to the song "Getting Better" from Sargent Pepper the line "I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her from the things she loved" always stood out to me. I think John was very cruel to Cynthia and it is well documented how cruel and mean he could be towards Brian Epstein and even his band mates. The mature John somehow found an inner peace with himself and the world. I have always blamed Yoko for being the catalyst that set in motion the break up of The Beatles. Now I wonder if that was the trade off for John metamorphosing into a good person and finding inner peace in his later life. Maybe it was just the fact of no longer having the pressure of being a Beatle. Perhaps it was the birth of Sean with an older and wiser John being more attuned to the gift of fatherhood. Whatever it was the John Lennon that died that fateful day twenty eight years ago was a very different person from the John of the early 1960's. He was not only a musical genius, he was a good man.
John Lennon was far from a perfect person. The young John was cynical and angry and could be very cruel in his deeds and with his tongue. In listening to the song "Getting Better" from Sargent Pepper the line "I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her from the things she loved" always stood out to me. I think John was very cruel to Cynthia and it is well documented how cruel and mean he could be towards Brian Epstein and even his band mates. The mature John somehow found an inner peace with himself and the world. I have always blamed Yoko for being the catalyst that set in motion the break up of The Beatles. Now I wonder if that was the trade off for John metamorphosing into a good person and finding inner peace in his later life. Maybe it was just the fact of no longer having the pressure of being a Beatle. Perhaps it was the birth of Sean with an older and wiser John being more attuned to the gift of fatherhood. Whatever it was the John Lennon that died that fateful day twenty eight years ago was a very different person from the John of the early 1960's. He was not only a musical genius, he was a good man.
"A very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year let's hope its a good one without any fear".
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For those of us who did not get to experience Lennon when he was alive, all we have is what everyone else tells us an what we research for ourselves, even then we have to watch for the opinion of others. I don't know much about the family man, and equally the music. But I can sure spot an individual who made an imprint on the world and the echoes which still can be heard from his life. Wish I was around to truely understand, but being 5 at the time.....what was I thinking about?
ReplyDeleteTo make others happy, I have learned to like a lot of the Beatles music, which in turn has allowed me to enjoy more of the hidden allusion within Popular Culture these days.
Two cents........