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In his life: A tribute to John Lennon
John Lennon wanted us to imagine many things.
There was one thing, however, he never could have imagined: how the world would come together, distraught, while learning the news of his death. In fact, in his last interview before his murder, his comments were tragically ironic. In a December 5, 1980, interview for Rolling Stone, he complained about critics who he said were only interested in "dead heroes," something he had no desire to be, saying that he had "plenty of time" to accomplish some of his life goals.
"These critics with the illusions they've created about artists - it's like idol worship," he told the magazine. "They only like people when they're on their way up. … I cannot be on the way up again.
"What they want is dead heroes, like Sid Vicious and James Dean. I'm not interested in being a dead (expletive) hero. ... Â So forget 'em, forget 'em."
Three days later, the Beatles front man was murdered on the steps of his New York apartment building. He and his wife, Yoko Ono, had just come home from an evening of recording tracks in their studio.
And in the years to follow, and 30 years ago Wednesday, Lennon is remembered exactly the way perhaps he had not wanted to be - as an idol.
Leading up to the anniversary, Vanity Fair even wrote a piece imagining where Lennon would be if he were alive today.
The anniversary of his untimely death marks a day of mourning for a whole generation. The cultural icon of their lives is gone. It's a day just about everyone who was alive remembers. One of those days where you recall exactly where you were when you heard the news.
During "Monday Night Football," Howard Cosell told Frank Gifford - off the air - that Lennon was dead. And in an ESPN video the two discuss how - and whether they should break the news to fans.
CNN's John Roberts, then a music journalist for City TV in Toronto, writes of the day, "It was one of those moments where time seems to slow down and the mind considers a hundred questions before finally settling on the truth: How could he have been shot? Are the reports mistaken? Who would do such a thing? How could we lose such a pop culture icon? Didn't he just turn 40? Didn't he have a young son? Didn't he have security?
"Will I wake up and this will all have been just a dream?"
Like Roberts, a few journalists shared their recollections of that fateful night and the roles they played in the coverage.
Jim Farber, a New York Daily News music critic, was a recent college graduate who was writing the record review column for Circus magazine when Mark David Chapman assassinated Lennon. He recalled hearing people talking about Lennon's death but dismissed it, until he saw the news. So he went to the scene where the music icon was gunned down.
"There were hundreds of people there, and they shut down parts of 72nd (Street) because there were so many people there," he said. "It was very emotional, if you could imagine, and I stayed there the whole night wandering around, talking to people and trying to get our heads around what had happened."
Ono, writing a column for The New York Times, however, chooses not to think of the day with unbearable sadness. Instead, she says she remembers the quiet moments she had with her husband and reflects on a night they shared laughter over a cup of tea.
"They say teenagers laugh at the drop of a hat. Nowadays I see many teenagers sad and angry with each other. John and I were hardly teenagers," she said. " But my memory of us is that we were a couple who laughed."
And she writes she hopes his legacy is not just in the words of his music, but in the work he did as well and his hope for peace.
"The most important gift we received from him was not words, but deeds. He believed in Truth, and had dared to speak up. We all knew that he upset certain powerful people with it. But that was John. He couldn’t have been any other way," Ono writes. "If he were here now, I think he would still be shouting the truth. Without the truth, there would be no way to achieve world peace."
Lennon indeed was a man who wanted to imagine - to imagine peace. Who wanted to help start a revolution to get us there.
So today, many fans around the world remember, and will as they gather Wednesday at Central Park's Strawberry Fields, how on December 8, 1980, what they couldn't imagine - that the man who gave them the words they lived by was gone.
And as he once sang, there are places we all remember.
"All these places had their moments, with lovers and friends, I still can recall. Some are dead and some are living. In my life I've loved them all."
And for Lennon fans, today is one of them. And without a doubt, they've loved every moment he created for them.
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Ah. The reality is The Beatles would have stayed together longer and John Lennon would most likely be alive if he didn't start going out with Yoko Ono.
He would have never lived there in New York and Chapman and wouldn't have been able to shoot him. Chances are he would have actually had security and The Beatles would had a longer carreer as a band.
Does that mean he would have chosen differently? No. We love who we love. And most of us wouldn't change that for anything. Even if it meant John Lennon walking out there knowing Chapman was about to end his life.
jim
Wow Jim you probably don't know much about John in regard to your statements about Yoko. In fact Paul left the group officially before John and George and Ringo had each quit at least once prior to John Leaving. Also George H. put out the first Solo album already having been recorded while the band was together. Yoko was the saving grace to johns life, yes she came to rehearsals and may have changed the dynamic quite a bit but the writting was on the wall since B. Epstein died in 1967.
John was also told twice in his life he would be murdered prior to his murder, by metaphysical folks but none the less and he also dreamed of being killed. I believe their is an actual video recording of him saying so during his bed in for peace in Toronto. Yoko had little to do with John's fate, the same as Paul McCartney would have had, had they stayed togehter. It was a young nut who loved and then hated John L. A man who beat his wife and claimed to be a Christian that thought John was Satan or some awful thing. This man was hearing voices and the voices told him to Kill John. End of story.....RIP John I love you.
Mark David Chapman was actually mobile you realize? He had been in Hawaii before NY (no short jaunt)
Obsessed nutjobs will find their target where ever they; obsession does create strong motivation...this is a woulda, coulda, shoulda scenario Gianni Versace would be alive if he hadn't gone out that morning, Dominique Dunne would be alive if she had left Los Angeles et cetera. Until this happened few singers or actors perceived themselves as targets and not didn't necessarily see the need for a phalanx of body guards.
Wrong Jim, but I bet you knew that.
John had accepted JESUS as his personal Lord and Savior. John had been born again. Yoko dragged him out of it. Yoko believed that John was taking his love and attention aay from her and giving it to God. so Yoko did everything she could to end that. Had she not, John would most likely be live today. because God would have told John to avoid that corner at that time.
Does anyone else find it interesting that all this Lennon/Beattles stuff is coinciding with Apple's finally getting their itune rights? I've always said CNN is in bed with Apple... just look at the countless Apple stories on the 'Tech' session... you know, all carefully marketed and planned around aniversaries and what have you. Kudos media conglomerites.
So, according to your reasoning, Yoko not only killed the Beatles, she killed John. The man she loved, the father of her youngest child, the man she's mourned for three decades. MDC fired the gun, but Yoko's really the guilty one.
Right. Tell me, is the sky blue in your part of the universe?
Born again christian? I thought John didnt believe???
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
...Living life in peace
yeah, you're basically 100% wrong. john wasn't even the reason the beatle's broke up. paul strayed first. without having met yoko, we would have lost out on tons of phenominal solo work. you must not be much of a true fan as you don't even know how they broke up!
Arthurr – You're an idiot. Seriously? John would be alive today because "god" would have told him to avoid that corner?
Your level of stupidity makes me want to defecate.
Good grief, do these Christians have to crop up everywhere? Is nothing sacred and safe from them. There is no way John would ever be a born again Christian. Only a nimrod would think a man so spiritually centred himself and so opposed to phonies and the "programmers" would join up with such bigots who live in a world of myth rather than science. It is a blasphemy to accuse of of selling out to that degree. He helped me deprogram from what these spiritual low lifes did to me in the Baptist Church. He is still more popular than Jesus. I wish we could get some sort of filter that keeps these disgusting little creeps away from the rest of us. Today is a day to remember what John actually did and not an opportunity to co-opt him to something he would laugh at.
Wow, Jim - what a childish, uninformed, bitter note.
Why is it always the people who know the least who talk the most?
arthurr's response is ludicrous....
Alas, although I am no Yoko fan, she is not to blame. Many great people have died young. Perhaps, dare I say, it had to be? It isn't that John died, it's that he lived and left us with lessons we should all heed. He might of died of cancer a year later, or whatever. It's for us to make his life valuable by learning and living with real peace in our hearts. In other words, stop voting for Republicans.
arthurr – what color is the sky in your world? talk about nut-jobs.....
John Lennon RIP.
R.I.P. JL
I spent that night listening to the news in the hospital waiting for my first child to be born – tomorrow will be his 30th birthday. Although I love my son's name, sometimes I think I should've named him John. John Lennon was idealistic, talented, and visionary, and the world is richer for him being here.
I wasn't even born when he was taken from us, yet his music and story have had a profound impact on my life and how I view the world. Love you John.
R.I.P.
Same here.
How, and why? (and why should they?)
I wasn't born yet either, but I see no reason why he should have any importance to me or my life. He's a dead hippie with music I don't care for and who carried on about fairytale peace in some imaginary utopia. Ok, that's all fine and dandy, and is no different than anyone else in his era, but let's get real. I have more significant/relevant "idols".
@Jason said: "I have more significant/relevant idols"
And who, pray-tell, would they be? Please enlighten us, your trollness.
Agreed!
Great report! Did you also know that Lennon spent lots of time in Bermuda? He was here in June and July of 1980, just a few months before he was killed and wrote some of his best songs while on the island. Check out my coverage on Bermuda Shorts: http://davidlahuta.blogspot.com/2010/12/remembering-john-lennonin-bermuda.html
We also Cant forget that another great musician also died on this day as well. "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott was also assassinated on stage by a fan. Please do not forget him as well. Gone to soon.
"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott???????????Another great musician expecting I know of no one who has heard of him...given his name did he OD? As for dying on the same day quite a few others also died that day as people die everyday. Not commonly by assassination however. I remember hearing this on the radio when I was a teenager &thought "who assassinates singers???" Albeit controversial he wasn't among the usual victims who were, hitheroto, politicians.
I stand corrected on 'Dimebags" cause of death. Shot by another nutjob although in the fame department there was no way he'd get much attention being killed on the same day as John Lennon. How many of you recall the name of the well-known actress who died on the same day as MJ?
No one gives a flying fig about Dimebag. Gone and Forgotten.
Hey Kimball, I didn't forget...watched the video for Pantera's "Walk" this morning, for a little pick-me-up smoked a 'dime bag', and have been listening to all the hatred by idiots like nursechris (nice choice of profession BTW-GAY!) and equally gay BlueK which would peobably have Mr. Lennon choking on his tea and crumpets right now! Tragic death is nothing to laugh about, or hate on, no matter who the victim! Long live the music!...Johns' & Darols'!
BlueK you are an idiot.
this is nuts CNN runs a tribute to lennnon but says nothing about dec 7 attack on pearl
CNN YOUR ONE SORRY NEWS ORG
KIRK, yes they did. Same sort of display and coverage.
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/07/pearl-harbor-day-looking-back-on-a-date-which-will-live-in-infamy/?iref=allsearch
Also, it is "you're". As in "You ARE one sorry news organization". Not "YOUR". That is a possessive pronoun. That would mean you were referring to "one sorry news organization possessed by you".
Today is December 8th, not December 7th....they ran coverage about the Pearl Harbor attack yesterday that I watched in lieu of the anniversary....much like how they are today for John Lennon's assassination
Dave u talk liek a libberal eletist who went 2 scool!!! go bak to rusia u eletist!
Jim, you talk like a redneck who didn't go to school. Go back to your trailer!
Jeez, Jim. What the h@ll are you saying? That to write correctly is elitist. Go back to texting your autobiography. You are off to a ripsnorting start.
Dave u talk liek a libberal eletist who went 2 scool!!! go bak to rusia u eletist!
I read the news yesterday, oh boy! And...they did cover Pearl Harbor.
I notice, as the years go by there is less said about Pearl Harbor. What a same! One date in history that should never be forgotten.
We will never forget Pearl Harbor. However, whether you like John Lennon or not, he did influence one of the greatest bands in the history of music. His tragic death, as senseless as it was, is marked by a 30th anniversary news story. Why flip out over that?
Talking about where you were when you heard about John Lennon's murder, I was working for Disney at the time and we were at the annual company Christmas party at Disneyland. Someone we knew working the park in an upper office had a radio on. They came down to Fantasyland and told us that John Lennon had just been assassinated. It was like throwing a rock into a pond. People around us stopped talking and asked if they had heard correctly and from there it just spread like wildfire across the entire park. In minutes you saw people everywhere just stopping what they were doing and moving towards the exit of the park, some crying, others talking quietly amongst themselves. We were devastated. As we left the park we saw more and more people following out, I don't know what the final numbers were, but it was my understanding that a large number of the guests that night cut their stay short. I also remember looking for a pay phone to call my neighbor asking him to go turn on my Betamax and record the news.
Why don't they ask his son Julian what a great guy John was. My guess is that because he doesn't know. Lennon was a deadbeat dad and a stoner. People that idolize him are stupid, plain and simple.
They did ask him, many, many, many, times, including very recently. Trolls making comments ike yours are just stupid, plain and simple.
@whocares Well, you're just a nowhere man!
Anyone who doesn't agree with you is stupid, plain and simple. What are you doing on the internet? You're missing the Glenn Beck Show!
Gee whocares, would you like to give us a laundry list of YOUR shortcomings? Or, are you one of those super-christians who think that their bodily waste doesn't stink?
Lennon was human and flawed, just as we all are. I suspect that he gave more happiness and joy to the world than you ever will.
@imagine, if people were drooling over me decades after my death, I'd call them stupid too. And why on earth would you think I'm a superchristian, or even a christian for that matter??? Wait, I already know – you're a 'progressive' and can only imagine someone not believing in everything that you do must have some serious religious issues. I'm not a religious person, and I do have my shortcomings. I'm just smart enough not to let one of them be idolizing an absentee dad that decided only his new wife and son deserved any of his attention. Sorry you aren't.
@whocares No one will be drooling over you decades after your death because no one is that stupid, so stop flattering yourself.
@whocares. You have proven yourself to be arrogant, ignorant, and lacking reading comprehension skills.
@whocares, what a terrible person you are. Not only he changed music, but he changed lives, do you know he was a deadbet father? No i dont think you do. And calling him a stoner, okay so what, 50 million people in the us alone are stoners, including me, and im sure we all have a better life, and perspective on life then you. You are Ignorent
you're comments make you sound like an idiot. who's "drooling"??? his music is inspiring and phenominal. it's called "art". perhaps you're not into the arts, in which case you cannot appreciate someone for the musical talents, etc. thats fine but why in the hell are you even on a page talking about john lennon if you're not even someone who appreciates music? he was idolized when he was alive as well as dead. it's not like everyone decided to say "hey, this guys was good" only AFTER he died. come on, quit making dumb statements. my god.
@LA – I didn't say anyone would, and in fact said if anyone did I would call them stupid. Not seeing the flattery there.
@imagine – I quite clearly understood your comment. It was an attempt at insulting me by way of insulting christians (typical of your kind) and then just insulting me by comparing my contributions to Lennon's. Strange really, as neither were part of my original post. I would thereby offer that it is you that is ignorant and lacking in reading comprehension skills.
He did treat Julian poorly. He favored his son from his new marriage more. No surprise really. It happens all the time in divorced families. He was human after all despite what the legion of Lennon fans who have diefied him believe.
melissa, have you ever once had a coherent thought? It doesn't appear that way. My point wasn't that he shouldn't be idolized because he died. It was that he shouldn't be idolized period. I do like his music, very much. That doesn't mean I'm blind to his personal failures, and frankly it annoys me that so many are. If someone you worked with was very good at webpage design but was a lousy father that basically abandoned his child, would you walk around praising him as if he were some kind of God because he was a great webpage designer? No, you wouldn't. For some reason, our society loves to put people with very bad behavior patterns up on pedestals for the silliest of reasons. In Lennon's case, he wrote some wonderful songs. That doesn't make him a great man.
@whocares. Again, you play the fool. We're STILL waiting for your laundry list of shortcomings.
So my admission of having shortcomings isn't enough? Are you asking for them so that you can report them to the fools that worship me, because you won't find anyone like that. Here's one shortcoming: I reply to starry eyed fools on the internet. Do you want more so that you can report them to my non-existent fan base?
@whocares. You had no problem listing Mr. Lennon's faults, why is it so difficult to list yours?
My musical heroes are John, Paul, George, and Ringo. They are a huge part of who I am. When someone starts tearing down any of my childhood heroes, I consider it a personal attack. It's clear you just don't get it!
Enjoy this last crumb of sustenance, as it is the last time I'll be feeding you, troll!
Everyone makes mistakes especially when they are in love. What matters is whether they make up for the mistake. Did they change? John did. He was making it up to Julian. John married young and like many who do that made a big mistake. No one is saying he is god or a prophet. No one is saying he did not make mistakes. What he did that was right and valuable far outweighs the negative. The most important thing he did was tell people to think for themselves and question everything. If it is not life affirming it is not worth while.
And I can only imagine what huge contribution you make to society beside your ignorant comments.
Well, as you've not seen what Julian has to say yes, you're an idiot. 'Deadbeat dad? That would define someone who doesn't pay child support. 'Stoner'? he had been clean & sober for quite some time. You must've beem bummed when your buddy Richard Nixon was unsuccessful at getting Lennon deported...now, if he could've drafted him I'm sure he'd expedidite his citizenship.
The reality is he was an amazing talent. We're all hypocrites. Most of us just don't contribute much musically. Pretty sure the good feelings he left outweigh his transgressions...
I love the Beatles music. I don't love the Beatles. They were musicians people, artists, you know the folks who couldn't hold down a real job if they tried. The folks who believe that world can be a happy place if we all just learn to get along. I love music, I love the Beatles' music, but their ideology sucks. They were and are clueless hippies unworthy of admiration. They are just artists people. You look at their paintings, sometimes you scratch you head and go hmmmm.. sometimes you buy one and take it home (the painting not the painter).
These people are not Gods, the average working man or woman impresses me more with their daily common sense than these dogsh&t hippies you all seem to idolize so much.
By the way, Lennon was a communist and a womanizer. He might have treated Yoko ugly like a princess but he left his first wife at train station as if he forgot her. Not a nice guy at all, typical progressive, do as I say not as I do.
YEeah your right!!! al musishins are hippy idiotts who arnt as good as a workin joe!!1 same with peple hoo go 2 colege! thats y im not sending my kids to colege they dont need to be brianwashed into beig demacrats!!!! dont go 2 colege everybody!!!! just dont ull end up liberral!!!!
You apparently disagree with the ideology that "the world can be a happy place if we all just learn to get along." My guess is that you're a miserable person, and your only recourse is to make those around you miserable as well.
I personally believe that doing good for others, helping people, and somehow contributing to the overall good of society is what keeps the human race going. We're social animals, and we're meant to help one another. But I guess you would just call me a typical "dogsh&t hippie." (And then you'd make a concerted effort NOT to get along with me).
David in Corpus says; 'They were musicians people, artists, you know the folks who couldn't hold down a real job if they tried.' He continues; 'By the way, Lennon was a communist.'
David, Sorry but you are just wrong. John Lennon was 100% capitalist. He founded the Beatles, formed as a partnership Apple Corps. Sold more records than any other living persons along with his partners. He entered into contracts. He owned stock. He hired lawyers and sued his opponents in court. His legacy of Apple corps just some more records in the last decade than any other music group or person. Those are not the actions of a communist but a capitalist.
Sounds like he held that 'job' pretty well.
@David in Corpus Your "Yoko ugly" quip shows that you seethe arrogance and your ideology is based on a profoundly shallow idea about what makes a person valuable. If you do as you say then you're contributing to ugliness in the world. Imagine that.
David, I have to ask...How can you "love the Beatle's music" but ridicule their philosophy of life and idealogy? THEIR PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE AND IDEALOGY ARE THEIR MUSIC DODO! Evidently you love the sound, but have never listened to the words. How sad. And you need to get your facts straight before criticizing someone. Yes, Lennon wasn't perfect (just as we all know you're NOT), he had flaws, suffered from mental anguish, had a drug problem and God only knows what else. But if you ever actually listened to his music, especially after becoming solo, you'd know that he had periods of hope, despair, and wonderful imaginings. He was not a Communist, but a Capitalist through and through. Whywould you think that – because he read Marx? Been there, done that along with thousands of other educated people who aren't Communist. Man, you just can't say you "love the Beatles music" then tear down their philosphy, because you JUST DON'T GET IT!
Pay no attention to David In Corpse... just a meaningless troll with zero facts to back it up, and a miserable life to go along with it.
Why does dei hav a foto of Jeesus when da artikel is kleerly baot a geezer from Indiha? Whait, dat was Gundie.
Julian did come to know & love his father very much, before the end.
John was a great humanitarian as well as a great artist. I often think that everything fellow musicians like Bono of U2 & Sting from The Police did for charity after John's death, had John still been alive, he would've been right there with them.
Great. An adult reaches out to get to know the dad that could have cared less about him, and the dad is a hero? You people should really learn the difference between a good musician and a good person. Doing good things for strangers while ignoring your own child and letting him grow up without a father makes you an @ss IMO. I guess John was too busy getting his picture taken in bed to spend any time with his son. Yeah, he was one great man alright. SUCKERS!!!
DD, there have been FAR better humanitarians, and far better people to idolize. It's ridiculous the following of sheep he has. Hm, given his appearance at times and some of his statements, I start to wonder if he actually thought – or wanted to be – Jesus.
You apparently disagree with the ideology that "the world can be a happy place if we all just learn to get along." My guess is that you're a miserable person, and your only recourse is to make those around you miserable as well.
I personally believe that doing good for others, helping people, and somehow contributing to the overall good of society is what keeps the human race going. We're social animals, and we're meant to help one another. But I guess you would just call me a typical "dogsh&t hippie." (And then you'd make a concerted effort NOT to get along with me).
I think you would be hard pressed to find somebody that argues that the world could be a better place if we all just got along. What many may take issue with is that such a philosophy, when preached by a man who could not even get along with his band mates, and effectively abandonded one of his sons, reeks of absurdity.
DCLaw - just read David in Corpus' entry above. He apparently disagrees with that ideology.
lennon was overrated as a person and a musician. the beatles have to be one of the biggest scam groups ever. they were laughing all the way to the bank.
The late, great Frank Zappa dedicated a whole album – We Are Only In It For The Money – to the Beatles scam
Scam? What scam? They really did make that music and people liked them for that music. Were you there? Do you remember the garbage that was on the radio until they came along? Let's just get rid of all the music that came out of that time and go back to Wolverton Mountain, Harper Valley PTA, Johnny Angel, Johnny Be Angry, Blue Navy Blue. It's my Party, Judy's Turn to Cry (part 2 of the Party son)...the music was horrendous. Elvis was singing trash and never could write nor play. Bogus King of Rock there. Buddy Holly, the real King of Rock, in that he could sing and write and play was dead. The Beatles did not just give us their music, they gave us the "race" music that was only played in the US on black radio stations and they gave us the Blues. If you were not there you know nothing.
Irony at it's best.... all he did was bash God... well he met the maker after he got shot. "I don't believe in God because I don't believe in Mother Goose."
How do you know he met "his maker" Have you been there to report back? Just because he did not beleive in God does not been he "bashed God". And don't bring up the quote "The Beatles are more popular than Jesus". That was taken out of context. He meant that it was not right that the Beatles were more popular than God.
He bashed God, but had no problem collecting loyalties from his Christmas music.
He was an agnostic, and God really had no place in his life. The song "imagine" was his spiritual frankness coming forth. You are correct he has meet his maker and it is too late to change your beliefs when the maker meets you.
"If I had said, 'Television is more popular than Jesus,' I might had gotten away with it."
John Lennon – 1966
Absolutely brilliant response!
When a celebrated person passes on, we may pause and reflect for a moment on his or her life and career, but then we move on. We may watch with appreciation the brilliant performance of a long dead James Dean in the film Giant and think not a thing about his absence from our lives. That's not the case in this instance.
I sure do miss John Lennon.
It is ironic, and maybe even fitting, that our final vision of him is not as the sweet old curmudgeon we always knew he would turn out to be – but as the Lennon of 1980: Forever young, eternally whimsical, steadfastly defiant, deadly serious, and hopelessly silly – all of the paradoxes that were combined in this one incredible, enigmatic persona.
I'll say it again. I sure do miss John Lennon.
I won't recap the events of that horrible moment thirty years ago tonight. It's too painful a memory. I'll close by saying that those of us who are old enough to remember are fortunate to have lived during the period that John Lennon thrived. On this, the seventieth anniversary of his birth, it's best not to dwell on the manner in which he died, or on all that might have been. I think it's best that we reflect on a wonderful life, nobly lived – and the music – that beautiful, timeless music. Dream. Dream away. Magic's in the air....
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Noble? What? He never ran over a homeless guy in his Limo? Please.
Thank you Tom.
thank you.well said. the world was better place for him being here. amen.