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25 Years After His Shooting, The
Review Looks Back at the Undeniable Impact of A Musical Icon
REMEMBERING JOHN LENNON
By Ronald L. Brown
I heard the news today, oh boy:
Yes, we have to say it - remember,
this is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses... An
unspeakable tragedy confirmed to us by ABC News in New York CityŠ
John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the west side of
New York City, the most famous, perhaps, of all the Beatles, shot twice
in the back, rushed to Roosevelt HospitalŠDead on arrivalŠ
Howard Cosell - about 11:30 p.m.,
December 8, 1980. I found that infamous audio clip, and I can add that
to the list of things I don't like about the internet.
Twenty-five years later - why does it
hurt so much to hear those words? Why do we miss John Lennon -
more than ever, it seems?
The answer is quite simple, really: At
the same time we wanted to be John Lennon, he wanted to be us. Lennon's
life played itself out on a more grand scale than yours or mine. At his
core, however, he considered himself lucky enough to be in a good rock
and roll band that just happened to get caught up in a wave of hype -
and then went on to change the world.
There are so many parallels between his
life and ours. Like most of us, he was born into a time and place where
nothing was guaranteed, not even the next day. The only explosions
louder than those he heard on December 8, 1980 were the ones Lennon
heard on October 9, 1940, when German bombs rained down on Liverpool and
John Winston Lennon came to be.
He was not the golden child, and neither
were we. Life jumps up and bites us where it hurts most, and at the
most inopportune times, and it did so quite regularly in Lennon's early
years. An absentee fatherŠa barely present mother who flashed in and
out of her son's life, only to die in an accident - witnessed by
you-know-who at just eight years old.
Like us, Lennon found his salvation in
rock and roll - not the kind of rock and roll that The Beatles
embodied at their height of popularity - but the kind that sets your
soul free and sends you leaping about like a frog on acid. "Once I
heard Elvis and got into that, that was life - there was no other
thing. I thought of nothing else but rock and roll," Lennon once said.
And the Beatles didn't get together to
change the world. They came about like we evolved in our teens -
friends getting together because of common interests and ideals. John
has a band, someone knows Paul and has him come around, Paul knows
George and he gets in because John likes the way George plays "Raunchy,"
an instrumental tune famous in late-fifties Britain.
The stars aligned, Brian Epstein
waved his magic wand, America needed something or someone to fill the
void left by the Kennedy assassination, and voila! - Beatlemania!
When things go well for us - or at least
appear to be going well - there's often that undercurrent of discontent
that keeps us searching for truth, searching for peace of mind and
body. Who could be doing better than John Lennon in those high times?
But he knew better. "My contract (as a Beatle) was the physical
manifestation of being in prisonŠI had lost the initial freedom of the
artist by becoming enslaved to the image of what the artist is supposed
to do," Lennon said.
A sugar cube laced with LSD, marital
discontent, statements about religion that set off a national furor -
just like we do, Lennon was traversing down the dimly lit hallway of
life with barely an old flashlight, throwing things at the wall to see
what sticks and what falls into the dust. Remember - John Lennon was
all of 27 years old when "Sgt. Pepper" was released. How "together"
were you in your 27th year?
And then, stuff happens.
Divorce, quitting a job, getting firedŠit
happened to Lennon, just like it happened to you. And then, he figured:
Since all these people are looking at and listening to everything I say
and do, why not say and do things that help rather than just make
music? And that's where we got "Bed Peace," "War is Over," "Bagism,"
"Give Peace a Chance," a visit to Ann Arbor to help out John
Sinclair.
There comes a time when all of us have to
look beyond how much money is in the bank or who has the biggest house,
and realize, like John did, that we should at least attempt to make a
difference while we're of this world. Even if it's nothing more than
showing our children what is truly right and wrong, by smiling at
someone as you pass in the street, by holding a door for an elderly
person. In our little way, we can give peace a chance - we just have to
look for it - especially in this time and in this community.
And then, John got there - got to that
place where the stars aligned once again for him. A solid marriage, an
equal partnership - don't ever discount Yoko Ono in all of this.
"It takes time to get rid of all this garbage that I've been carrying
around and influencing the way I thought and the way I lived. It had a
lot to do with Yoko, showing me that I was still possessed. I left
physically when I fell in love with Yoko, but mentally it took the last
ten years of struggling. I learned everything from her," said Lennon in
1980.
And then, Mark Chapman walked in
and turned out the lights.
When Lennon's blood ran cold outside the
Dakota Building on that December night, you and I were punched in the
jaw with the force of a Joe Frazier left hook.
Two things: We were forced rather bluntly to stare at our own mortality, and, if it could happen to John Lennon, it could happen to any of us. Twenty-five years later, it still doesn't make any sense - it never will.
But the spirit of John Lennon is still
out there, and it is waiting to live and breathe in all of us. As
someone once said, you may say I'm a dreamer - but I'm not the only one.
   By Scott Baker Imagine a world where there is no John Lennon? It's not as easy as it seems.
It has been 25 years since the untimely
death of the great musician, activist, father and husband, Lennon.
Looking into a crystal ball with hindsight 20/20, it is obvious that we
have missed out on 25 years of social, political, and musical commentary
that without a doubt would have swayed the nation in ways that we can't
even predict - and perhaps, the world as well.
In order to commemorate and renew for a
younger generation the impact & importance of Lennon, The Review
recently had the chance to interview Mr. Mick Brown, a renowned
Beatlesologist, musician, Beatles collector (solo and otherwise) and
archivist, who happens to live just over to the East on our sunrise side
in Bad Axe.
Review: What would a world be like, if there was never a John Lennon? Brown: I don't know how you could even measure the influence that John/The Beatles had on the world. I know they/he changed my life completely and they/he still affects my life today. Review: Can you define what influence he has had on the world as a humanist activist? Brown: John/The Beatles really brought forward the notion of Love/Peace in the world. They didn't like racism and encouraged integration. They opened your mind to all the possibilities. Review: As a musician? Brown: John/The Beatles made it so groups could write their own material. They could write it about whatever they wanted to, not just love songs anymore. They could even write about themselves and deep personal things. They could play any kind of music they wanted. Review: Do you think much of the world has absorbed his death? Brown: I'm not sure. It feels like it was just yesterday to me when he was killed. I think by John being killed, it has turned him into some kind of super-saint. If he were still alive he probably would be taking just as much crap as Paul has about his work. Just look at the original reviews of Double Fantasy before he was killed. Not much good press about that album. Review: What keeps his memorial alive, 25 years later? Brown: His music, his effect on peoples’ lives. (Also) Yoko (Ono, Lennon's wife) re-releasing everything of his. Review: What was Lennon's finest moment overall? Brown: When John was still interested in The Beatles, no one could touch him as far as songs were concerned. He still did great things solo, but not as consistently. Review: As a musician? Brown: Strawberry Fields Forever/A Day In The Life/I Am The Walrus. Review: What about Lennon is still viable today, i.e.; what have we learned from him that is still valid? Brown: His music, his ideals about a peaceful world, no borders, no boundaries. We are all one people and should learn to live together. Review: What is your favorite memory of Lennon? Brown: He/The Beatles affected my life in so many ways that I couldn't even begin to pick one out. They left sign posts that I can remember all through my life. Certain songs are etched in my mind with specific events in my life. They are still with me and have been since they started and will be until I die. Many great memories, some sad, some nostalgic, for a younger part of my life. Review: How have you learned from Lennon that you use in everyday life as Beatles fans/Lennon lovers? Do you see it reflected in others? Brown: My love of all kinds of music. He/they opened us up to endless possibilities (and) tolerance of all kinds of people no matter where they are from. Hopefully an open-mindedness about everything. Review: What were you doing the day he died and how did you find out? How did you react? Brown: I had just gone to bed, as I had to get up early for work the next morning. My wife woke me up and told me what had just come on TV. I was totally stunned. I sat there numb, just staring at the TV thinking that they were wrong or misinformed. At least I was hoping. It took me forever to get to sleep that night. When I got up in the morning I had hoped that it wasn't true but it was. It was on TV, in the newspapers, everywhere. I watched, listened and read everything I could get my hands on. Review: Do you think society is aware of Lennon's force as a whole today, or has it taken a back seat with time? Brown: I think Lennon is still important to the people that grew up with him. Review: Do you think Lennon is important to people that didn't grow up with him? I'm sure there has to be a way that he has touched the world in a way that echoes through people even if they don't know it...maybe? Brown: I guess the fact that he/they changed the way the world is and how we look at things indirectly influences everyone now in one way or another. I'm sure his music still touches/reaches people even if it is subconscious. I don't think people today "worship" him the way us old timers do, but I think his messages still reaches people of all ages. Peace, love, racial equality, female equality, caring about what goes on in the world are still things people can strive to achieve and I think his music/legacy can still inspire people. Yoko does do a good job of keeping his name alive and in front of the public. Review: How do you think Lennon would react today as an activist? Brown: He would probably be against all this bulls**t going on right now (with) Bush, Iraq, and terrorism. |
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