John Lennon....25 Years Later

This week marks the 25th year that the world lost John Lennon. We all know that Lennon was a person who had visions of world peace.

With the current situation in Iraq I invite each of you DUers to share what do you think Lennon would be speaking in the media and the streets of the world now

This should be interesting.....

whether he would have stayed true to his earlier beliefs or whether he would have gone Hollywood or Vegas if he needed thei way Elvis

I also question whether or not he would have survived, given his drug habit.

I'd like to think he would have and would be writing great music now. He was an icon of my youth.

so I don't think that would have been an issue. He was also a devoted house husband and father to young Sean.

He had just finished recording "Double Fantasy" and it was rumored he and Yoko were going to go out and tour to support the album, if memory serves me right (from what I've read).

I don't think he would have sold out. I think he and Yoko would have continued to speak out against social injustice. The question is with the corporate media as it is today, would he get the national media forum? Perhaps he'd go on Air America. I think he would have loved the Internet and its power to reach the masses. So, perhaps he'd use that medium as a forum.

I miss John. :(

On a related subject, QVC is showcasing the John Lennon jewelry collection on December 8. Awful tacky timing. One might think the jewelry idea is tacky (I own a watch, actually. Don't know if you guys regard me as a hypocrite for buying the watch; it's actually kind of cool. Has his "self-portrait" on the face and wristband); regardless, it was promoted as a way to remember John. Yeah, buy shit to remember the day he was murdered. WTF.

do on December 8: by lighting a candle in rememberance.



Empty Garden
by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

What happened here
As the new york sunset disappeared
I found an empty garden among the flagstones there
Who lived here
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And now it all looks strange
It's funny how one insect can damage so much grain

And what's it for
This little empty garden by the brownstone door
And in the cracks along the sidewalk nothing grows no more
Who lived here
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
And we are so amazed we're crippled and we're dazed
A gardener like that one no one can replace


And I've been knocking but no one answers
And I've been knocking most all the day
Oh and I've been calling oh hey hey johnny
Can't you come out to play


And through their tears
Some say he farmed his best in younger years
But he'd have said that roots grow stronger if only he could
hear
Who lived there
He must have been a gardener that cared a lot
Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop
Now we pray for rain, and with every drop that falls
We hear, we hear your name


Johnny can't you come out to play in your empty garden

Hello, kindred spirit.

the last vestiges of my youth died with him. I was married by then with two kids, but something about his death took the 60's and 70's with it and they became "the Old Days." I was depressed for weeks.

the day he was murdered. It is a sacred day in his life. Nothing tacky at all in that, in my opinion.

sword quality to him.

By Lennon's own admission, he could be a real bastard (he treated his first wife and son rather shittily) and insufferably vain, but he was also profoundly self-aware, honest, and genuinely dedicated to using his celebrity to make positive social change.

I, for one, admire Lennon a lot, his music and life have had a huge impact on my life, but I don't place him (or anyone) on a pedestal, which is a fitting tribute to someone who once sang

I don't believe in magic,
I don't believe in I-ching,
I don't believe in bible,
I don't believe in tarot,
I don't believe in Hitler,
I don't believe in Jesus,
I don't believe in Kennedy,
I don't believe in Buddha,
I don't believe in mantra,
I don't believe in Gita,
I don't believe in yoga,
I don't believe in kings,
I don't believe in Elvis,
I don't believe in Zimmerman,
I don't believe in Beatles,
I just believe in me,
Yoko and me,
And that's reality.

I think Lennon would still be speaking out through his music and in other ways. It's hard to imagine someone like him making it big in today's corporate-driven world.

It wasn't in him. In fact the anti-sell-out gene was dominant.

Besides, Yoko wouldn't allow it :D

He was on a REAL journey.

He is one of my heroes. He was flawed; he was human. He also understood what was good in America - that's why he fought to come to this country for most of the 70s, despite being on Nixon's 'list'.

http://www.johnlennon.com/

http://www.amnestyusa.org/imagine/









Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say Im a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

out this afternoon - as well as a few more. He's heard them before, but he was moved almost as much as I was. He commented that he really understood what I meant when I've said over the past few years that it seems as if "we have to go back and fight the same fights" over and over.

Imagine peace.

I miss him.

:cry:

who he would've become. He was finally re-emerging, he'd made an album that was incredibly optimistic - maybe he would've opened up politically soon, too. Maybe we would've seen a Beatles reunion. Perhaps the Beatles catalog wouldn't have been sold to Jackson. Geeez, what a loss.

I remember going to a bar called Egans at U of Alabama and drinking gallons of dark, draft beer. Helluva little vigil it was...I still miss John.

That is cool, I am going to do the same thing!

a friend caught up to me and told me. it was first thing in the morning, must have been an 8 a.m. class. ruined the day.

for hours with my mom on the floor in front of our TV. My mom played so much Beatle's music when I was growing up that I already knew most of the lyrics at 9. I'll never forget seeing all those people out in the cold in front of the Dakota.

At this moment I have a framed print of John with the word "Imagine" in my living room. And a framed picture of myself at the Statue of Liberty in the famed John Lennon peace sign pose....with the twin towers looming in the background. Date of photo was 11.11.2000.

I've wished often since 9/11 that we had a voice like John's. He would never be silent today. WWJD? What would John do?

when we find ourselves in times of sadness mother mary comforts me speaking words of wisdom let it be. Such a gentle soul. Such a waste such a damn tragic waste.

:popcorn:

He'd ridicule the right wing in general and Bush in particular through his music.

always end up dead . . . JFK, RFK, MLK, Malcolm, John Lennon, Paul Wellstone . . . what they had in common was the capacity to move people to action . . . and they were all killed . . .

The world is like a ride at an amusement park. It goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: Is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey – don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride ..." And we ... kill those people. Ha ha, "Shut him up. We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and my family. This just has to be real."

It's just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. Jesus murdered; Martin Luther King murdered; Malcolm X murdered; Gandhi murdered; John Lennon murdered; Reagan ... wounded. But it doesn't matter because: It's just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money. A choice, right now, between fear and love.

The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.

and make fun of him publicly. No shit, Paul McCartney has a wonderful life folks. Fidelity Finance had little to do with that and you will never live like Paul McCartney.

He would be speaking out against the British & American govt. for their lies re: Iraq.

Bush would deport him...he and Yoko would go live in France.

He would be railing at these neo-con cocksuckers from everywhere. He is missed.

R.I.P. John.

because Lennon would have given Reagan so much shit in his first term, there wouldn't have been a second term, much less a first Bush.

disco going "strong" - the foreboding of a dark decade socially, spiritually, artistically.

edited to add: that day i took off work, went to the park, sat under my favorite oak tree and meditated john.

talking and singing about the power of ideas; about how "yes" is much more positive than "non"; about the value of the individual experience; about expanding the definition of "family"; and "just say NO" to violence.

One of the beautiful things about John is that there is a strong thread going through his works over the years, and we can all still listen to the great songs that express the essence of John Lennon.

I have said a number of times on DU that I am convinced that it is very important to play Beatle and post-Beatle music as frequently as possible. Play it in public, play it in private. College students should get their friends together and go Beatle caroling. Old and moldy people like me should drive about their community with windows unrrolled, playing Beatle music loudly. It's simply not true that peaceniks should be obscene but not heard: we can do both!

.. John Lennon would have been the least likely to "sell out".

Of course, I never thought a band like The Who would, so who knows. But more than anyone I can think of, I think Lennon REALLY BELIEVED IN the principles he sang of, rather than many who just said what they thought would sell and felt like that was enough.

Only the good die young.

Also- I don't think younger folks really understand what the Beatles accomplished. They literally CHANGED THE WORLD. This is not hyperbole - I was there :)

the recycling of so many past issues that his generation brought up, and tried to use to move us forward. I think his music would reflect that.

In his absence, the music he left behind already addresses the current situation pretty well.

Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say Im a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

I’m sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocritics
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
I’ve had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth

No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of tricky dicky
Is gonna mother hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocketful of hope
Money for dope
Money for rope

No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of tricky dicky
Is gonna mother hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocketful of soap
Money for dope
Money for rope

I’m sick to death of seeing things
From tight-lipped, condescending, mama’s little chauvinists
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth now

I’ve had enough of watching scenes
Of schizophrenic, ego-centric, paranoiac, prima-donnas
All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth

No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of tricky dicky
Is gonna mother hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocketful of soap
It’s money for dope
Money for rope

Ah, I’m sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocrites
All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth now

I’ve had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians
All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth now

All I want is the truth now
Just gimme some truth now
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
lennon john lyrics


I vividly remember working at a radio station that evening...seeing the UPI wire story (which I still have) and the absolute feeling of dispair and outrage I felt at that moment. Yep, it was right before Raygun took over and I felt this was an omen that not only were the 70's over, but a new, darker time was ahead. I was right.

The saving grace of John Lennon has been the many hours of pleasure and a special bond he's helped create with my daughter. She's been a lifelong Beatle fan and, at 21, we always share the music and the messages. The music truly is timeless.

That 1994 reunion tour would have been fun. Though $250 per ticket was a bit high.

Probably would dig it, you think?

My dad told me, never trust the Jesus Freaks because the Jesus Freaks killed John Lennon.

That one stuck with me!

when Viet Nam raged on...

I listened to his acoustic album today. He was talking between songs and he said basically, "apathy doesn't get it. Flower power didn't work. Now let's try something else." The song had the anti-Brit 'Luck of the Irish' on it. He would be singing for the Iraqis no doubt. I love John Lennon and miss him as much as I miss Jerry Garcia. There's another one who would have been speaking OUT about this war bs!!