Ever see the Firesign Theatre album cover with “All Hail Marx-Lennon” on the cover? With pix of Groucho and John, of course.
As one who is old enough to remember where he was when JFK was asassinated, I don’t see how Lennon’s ideology changed the world. The Summer of Love may not have happened without the Beatles, but only in the sense that they revitalized rock n’roll, which enabled the music to become a focal point of that generation. And John’s solo career came a bit late for influencing all that. Maybe his influence was felt in the Reagan years.
“Living in this complex world of the future is not unlike having bees live inside your head.” - Firesign Theatre
John Lennon was one of the great all-time rock and roll screamers (his renditions of CHuck Berry’s “Rock and ROll Music” and Little Richard’s “Dizzy Miss Lizzie” far surpass the originals), and he was a superb songwriter.
That SHOULD be enough of a legacy, but apparently it isn’t, for many people. As a political savant, Lennon left much to be desired. He was no intellectual- rather, he was a smart-alecky, working class art school dropout. He was more wise-guy than wise. He had nothing of great importance to say, but then why should we expect him to? NOBODY wonders about the “legacy” of Irving Berlin or Bing Crosby!
John Lennon was a great entertainer- nothing less, but certainly nothing more. I have all the Beatles’ albums, and wouldn’t give them up for anything. But I would no sooner look to John Lennon for political or religious guidance than I would to Ringo Starr.
As someone who really dislikes John Lennon and the Beatles I must opine the following:
His music? With the exception of “Imagine” and a handful of others, I find it lackluster, trite, and average. He’s wat better than Paul though.
His ideology? Ha! Sorry, but pop-philosophy has never interested me. He’s about as deep as Jim Morrison.
His son, Sean? No, but at least John wouldn’t be as pissed as Bob Dylan must be regarding his son’s musical choices.
His wife, Yoko? Puh-lease! The only good thing that can be said about her is that she helped cause the Beatles to break-up. Truly, she was sent from God!
an interesting topic. today is a day to mourn the loss of john lennon. he was a fine musician and a fine songwriter. i am not as sure of the influence of his ideology.
i believe he was sincere in his desire for peace. i think the way he chose to express his ideology to the world made it seem absurd. yoko was a very bad influence on john. her mixture of politics and weird performance art made john look foolish.
“don’t get strung out by the way that i look, don’t judge a book by it’s cover” (tim curry as dr. franknfurter in rhps)
longhair75: I go there every five years to mourn. I have been to Strawberry Fields in 82 85 90 and 95. In 95 I ended up on tv in new york singing beatles songs, yeah, longhair, I still miss him…
I agree with the majority that Lennon’s music was great, and the other stuff was pretty unimportant. I still rate the Beatles up at the top of my list, and John as the most interesting musician of them. Unlike some others, I liked the rock, not the slow slop.
As for his killer, he of course killed him because he was a loony killer, not for any other real reason. But even from the standpoint of loony morons’ delusions supposedly being related to the real world, I don’t recall anyone (but the tabloids maybe) claiming that the killer was driven by the old comment about bigger than Jesus. The (bogus) motivation was supposed to be because the killer sort of thought he himself was Lennon and thus had to kill the real Lennon once he had re-entered the public eye.
Yes,I was old enough to remember!He was killed 19 years ago!I’m 41.I was eating spaghetti on the couch,my dad was watching the football game,when Mr. Cosell announced it.
David B: where can I redeem those 2 points? And for what?
I was walking into a tavern in the mountains when I heard the news. The Beatles were and are my favorite all-time band and I am forever bummed by that loss. I liked his ideology, but I don’t think he was a huge influence on our culture. At least, not in the way Bob Dylan was. I think the music was what was important to Lennon, whereas I think the message was more important to Dylan (God knows ol’ Bob could have used some divine intervention in the vocals department!). Regardless, when I think of the 60s, I always a picture of John Lennon in that montage.
Nothing.
At least as far as I am concerned because I did not like Lennon, I’m not real crazy about Yoko and couldn’t care less about his son. I liked the Beatles but together as a group and I saw that shot of a nude Lennon in bed with a covered Yoko and it kind of turned me off.
Dear Sake Samurai:
I’m not a big Beatles fan, but when you say John is as deep as Jim Morrison, you slander the man.
And the poor bastard isn’t even alive to defend himself from your insult!
astorian, the fact that John Lennon was all the things you say (and I’m not going to dispute that, although he was probably smarter than you give him credit for) certainly doesn’t PRECLUDE him from having anything important to say. Hell, I remember this hokey B-movie actor who wasn’t all that sharp and yet became President of the United States of America . . .
I invite everyone to list in this thread the important, interesting things John Lennon said. I don’t have an ax to grind here - I’m just curious, because everything I have heard has been good sentiment, but neither deep nor significant.
Okay, Sake Samurai:
I don’t think much of Lennon’s political ramblings. However, here are some of his songs I admire:
“Money” – one of the most demonical singing performances any rock ‘n’ roller offered. A brilliant performance, but sadly they quit playing it on the radio.
“Julia”
“She Loves You”
Rubber Soul – ANYTHING he does on this album is great. This was the Beatles’ finest moment IMO.
“Happiness is a Warm Gun”
“Mind Games”
“I Am the Walrus” tho’ I must admit I like this song for personal reasons that have nothing to do with its musical quality.
“She Said, She Said”
“Tomorrow Never Knows”
that long medley of songs on Abbey Road’s second side. This was the Beatles third-finest moment, IMO; A Hard Day’s Night is the second.
I, too, heard about John Lennon’s death on Monday Night Football from Howard Cosell. Lennon was once a guest on MNF and they play a clip from his interview during the commercial breaks on MNF now.
<< Hey, Peyote, it’s just my opinion. But it’s true. >>
Nah, I think Lennon was lots deeper than Morrison.
<< I invite everyone to list in this thread the important, interesting things John Lennon said. >>
“Give peace a chance.”
Granted, he wasn’t Winston Churchill, or Metternich or something, but I don’t know if you can come up with a more influential musician, and I know I listen to a lot of music, so yeah, he obviously affected our lives in some important way. I don’t think he ended segregation, no, or won World War I, but so? Are those the only sorts of influences or importances there are? It’s also probably easy to overestimate his social activism, but it’s there nonetheless, so…Hey, Nixon had him on the enemies list, so there you go.
<< I don’t have an ax to grind here - I’m just curious, because everything I have heard has been good sentiment, but neither deep nor significant. >>
I think Lennon’s impact on fashion, youth culture, and popular music are deep and signifigant.
