John Lennon - taken from us 25 years ago

[Number9Dream]

Though the sadness still feels fresh, Dec. 8th marks 25 years since John Lennon was taken from us. His murder stunned and saddened millions of my generation in a way that the loss of few other individuals did.
We can make the anniversary of this tragedy a positive thing by taking a few moments to remember John Lennon the man, his music, and his message of peace and brotherhood.

[Dances with Cats]

1. I remember where I was

when I heard the news...or more accurately remember where Iwent and the overwhelming sadness of the next two days. I observed the moment of silence in an old Aunts bathroom a couple days later. Even back then my right wing family would have riciculed me over the insignificant death of this hippie/commie.
I love you John, we need you now!
R

[acmejack]

3. Amen, my friend, amen!

Friends even called me long distance to console me, knowing what a fan of John's I was.

[Mabus]

34. I heard it from Howard Cosell

on ABC football. I was in college and always watched the games with my football loving granny. It surprised me a little that she was a stunned as I was. We cried together.

[ginnyinWI]

40. so do I

It's one of those moments. I was 28. My mom, at the time said she knew how I felt--that a lot of her favorite stars had died. I said, "yes, but how many of them were murdered?"

[calimary]

64. I do, too. Working at NBC radio. Actually I got called at home that night

after already having put in a full day. My husband and I were eating dinner in our bathrobes, expecting to turn in early and watch TV til we dozed off to it, per the usual drill.

The phone rang. It was a guy named Sherman Bazell, the night-side assignment desk person at NBC in Burbank. Sherman was this little old curmudgeony guy who walked with a VERY prominent limp, talked like he had gravel in his throat and he'd just gargled with Drano. I think he was about 60-ish, and he loved nothing more than to revel in the imitations various newsfolk around the office did of him. He thought it was hilarious. He was the stereotypical "crusty but benign" older character for which Central Casting fills requisitions in almost every ensemble cast. Like a Lou Grant-type character. Very good-natured and old-fart-ish, and we'd joke with him about his being an old fogey and out of it and he'd play along and throw zingers straight back at us. We all liked him, and EVERYBODY in the newsroom had his/her own version of the Sherman Bazell imitation.

So Sherman calls me at home, since I was with the rock radio network, and the people at NBC Radio headquarters were deploying people on the story posthaste. I picked up the phone. He said - in his growly, gravely voice - "ehh...calimary, er, uh, New York just called. One of the Lennon Brothers just got shot."

I didn't know what to do. Initially, I started laughing. But just as immediately, the other part of my brain went to - "oh, no... Lennon... nah, it COULDN'T be that. Could it?" So I called New York, confirmed the awful truth, and threw on some clothes, grabbed the car keys, and floored it off to the bureau to start calling around for reaction. The main story, of course, was being covered in New York, so as a "satellite" person, the reaction part of it was my responsibility, especially out here on the West Coast where the celebrities were. It was a Monday night. We all went around feeling sucker-punched for the rest of the week.

BTW - months later, I had the chance to interview Harry Nilsson, who'd hosted John during his "Lost Weekend" here in L.A. when he and Yoko were having some bad days. Since the subject of his beloved friend, John Lennon, came up, I shared the "one of the Lennon Brothers just got shot" story with him. It was in the NBC commissary where we'd gone for some sodas after the interview up in the studio. He laughed so hard he almost fell backwards out of his chair. He said John would have loved that story.

[calimary]

72. Dang - forgot to welcome you, Number9Dream.

Welcome to DU!

It's a global village where we can all Imagine.

[halobeam]

73. Thanks for the excellent recall/story.

I still have the front page of Newsday with his face on it, in a wooden frame. What a beautiful soul he had, having given to so many of us, in different ways... stories... we will all hear, forever.

[Crunchy Frog]

69. I was in a boarding school dormitory.

A friend who knew how much I loved the Beatles came into my room and simply told me to turn on the radio. I did, and instantly learned what had happened. I was in mourning for weeks. I remember most of the girls in the dorm refused to go to bed that night, and instead stayed up late blasting Beatle's music. We all got in trouble for it, but I didn't mind, feeling that it was doing honor to his memory.

[Borgnine]

2. His death happened nearly three years before my birth, but...

...I still feel shocked over it. That's the kind of resonance that the man had.

Was it any coincidence that Lennon's death coincided with the rise of conservatism in the '80s? Perhaps it's silly of me to think the world we live in now would be a better place had Lennon not been gunned down, but it would unquestionably be just a little brighter.

[Dances with Cats]

5. I read a really good book

which made a pretty strong case that Chapman might have been programmed by the CIA or FBI to "eliminate" Lennon. I wish I could remember the Title or Author for ya....

[femrap]

39. Stream 'DemocracyNow.org' that aired today....

There was a man on there who has researched Lennon.

He was killed by our government. Can't have anyone who was so idolized talking about peace and justice, now could we? Hell, John Lennon even understood women's fight for freedom. And the gov't was NOT gonna have that 'crap' discussed....can't have 'uppity women' around.

I miss him so much....I got to see The Beatles twice...once in Toronto and once in Cincinnati. They changed my life. And John was so kick-ass.

[pearl]

54. Here's to you John

a soul mate.

The name of the book you inquired about is
"Who killed John Lennon?" by Fenton Bressler
You can get it at your local library. or do a
google search, there are excerpts from it online.

[Dances with Cats]

77. That is the one

I'd recomend it to anyone....Thanks bunches for the help!
RW

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

9. Not only that, but only OUR people seemed to die when shot.

Sucked big time.

[Me.]

4. It Does Feel Fresh

A mark of the man.

[LWolf]

6. Yes.

I did that before I headed this way this morning; sitting alone at my computer at 4:30 am, remembering, and then pulling up some of his work on my playlist to listen to as I type.

The sense of disbelief, and grief, and appreciation, have not diminished with the years.

[the other one]

7. All You Need is Love

Thanks John


Love, Love, Love.
Love, Love, Love.
Love, Love, Love.

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game.
It's easy.

Nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time.
It's easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

Nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

All you need is love (All together, now!)
All you need is love. (Everybody!)
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.
Love is all you need (love is all you need).
Love is all you need (love is all you need).
Love is all you need (love is all you need).
Love is all you need (love is all you need).
Love is all you need (love is all you need).
Love is all you need (love is all you need).
Love is all you need (love is all you need).
Love is all you need (love is all you need).
Love is all you need (love is all you need).
Love is all you need (love is all you need).
Love is all you need.
Yee-hai!
Love is all you need.
Love is all you need.
Yesterday.
Love is all you need.
Oh
Love is all you need.
Oh yeah!
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah.
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah.
Love is all you need.
Love is all you need.
Love is all you need.
Love is all you need.

[niceypoo]

8. Hard to believe it was that long ago

I was a 19 year old sprout. Now I'm a 44 year old sprout (Slightly wilted).

[LeftHander]

12. I know, it has been a long time....I remember

I was 18 and was thinking..."Why would someone do this..."

Some of my earliest memories include using a chair to put on "Rubber Soul" album on our huge Hi-Fi console. I was probably 4...

John's voice has been with me my whole life. It is part of my lifes soundtrack. I was dumbfounded for days following his death.

It is funny that those of us "baby" baby boomers who were born in 60-63 seem to have been to late and too early for a lot of things. We were the baby brothers and sisters of the hippies.

Sometimes I still feel out of place. Remembering John and reflecting on how his music has influenced my life at such an early age has brought out those feelings again.

Add to it the war, air marshalls shooting the mentally ill, legal torture, legalized discrimination of gay people (legislature in Wisconsin will vote to put gay marriage ban on the ballot and alter the state constitution)...it all just makes me so despondent...

So many in the world want to silence the voices of love, hope and reason....why?

Why?

damn........

[graywarrior]

10. I've never really gotten over it.

In fact, the older I get, the more I feel the loss.

[Wind Dancer]

29. I know what you mean, graywarrior!

We lost a part of our soul when John died - thankfully his music and vision of peace can't be destroyed.

It's a sad day!

[calimary]

65. Me, too. When it sank in, I remember feeling such desolation.

He'd been such a towering, creative, and unconventional anti-war advocate. It was after the awful election when Jimmy Carter got bounced by Ronald Reagan, and I was already dreading the dawning of the Reagan era. I remember thinking that NOW was when we were gonna need John MORE THAN EVER, and he was ripped away from us EXACTLY when his iconoclastic voice would have comforted us the most, and would have been a reminder to the public of some real truth in the face of all the Reagan smoke-and-mirrors that was already starting (and the guy hadn't even been sworn in yet). He would have been there as a beacon of truth, cutting through the republi-CON bullshit with his music and his statements if he'd lived. I remember Reagan being asked to comment on it, and saying some dumb-ass, meaningless tripe about how it was a tragedy but don't you dare take our precious fucking ever-lovin' damned guns away!!! The following March, Reagan himself would wind up on the wrong side of some asshole's handgun.

[Rex_Goodheart]

11. Screw John Lennon's memory, really...

"All you need is love"? Riiiiight. Tell that to his son, Julian, whom he royally fucked over.

I cried when I heard the news of John's murder. When I heard Julian's tale of being abandoned, however, I was angry that I had been deceived by that giant child-abandoning asshole.

I miss the glory of the Beatles. I miss George Harrison. I miss what I thought was John Lennon, but not the actual one.

[LeftHander]

13. Well....that's nice....but you miss the point

I think the idea is that John Lennon represents something about ourselves not so much John Lennon the individual person. We all have our faults. We have all made mistakes in how we live our lives.

We remember John because we only knew him through his music. Music that we played and listened to as part of OUR life. We remember our life when we remember his music. His art spoke to us all and that is how we remember him. We did not know him as we would know a close friend, spouse or child. He was a musician, that is who we loved.

[mattclearing]

16. Lennon would be the first to tell you he was a flawed person.

He famously said that you've got to be a bastard to get to the top and the Beatles were the biggest bastards there were. :D

[Rex_Goodheart]

17. Pity, really

I have zero tolerance for a child deserter.

By all accounts, Julian was a sweet child who loved his father endlessly. Because John never repented with his son that makes him an eternal asshole in my book. My wife feels the same way.

[mattclearing]

18. He probably meant to get around to it eventually.

That's the problem with being gunned down...no one knows what you had planned.

But yeah, there's really no excuse for his treatment of Julian.

I still think it's important to separate the art from the man...if we judged all art based on the people it came from, we'd be stuck with some really shitty art, and would have to throw out all the great stuff.

[mirandapriestly]

45. I agree, I think he was a hypocrite. nt

[catbert836]

56. Well, since I'm sure that

you haven't made any big mistakes in your life, I'll take your word for it. :eyes:

[ClusterFreak]

60. He sure as hell made his share of mistakes.....

....so have I.

How about you?

[Crunchy Frog]

71. He was a human being, with human faults and weaknesses.

He would have been the first to acknowledge that fact. Maybe that was one of the things that enabled him to connect with other people. None of us is perfect either.

Lennon was in fact abandoned by his own parents at a similar age. It is not uncommon for patterns like that to repeat themselves down the generations. There is also an eerie similarity between John and Julian's deaths of their respective abandoning parents, which happened at similar ages for both of them, and at a time when both were just beginning to rebuild that relationsip. The whole thing was very tragic, but I don't find any "assholes" there, just flawed and hurt human beings.

[BlueEyedSon]

74. He was very good to Sean. Divorces can be hell.....

[Missy Vixen]

14. I was in college

Rock and roll was considered "sinful" at the school I went to. At the same time, I still remember reading the accounts of John Lennon's death in the library papers and crying. His music is deathless.

Of course, these lyrics have to appear in this thread, today of all days.

Julie

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.

[Wind Dancer]

30. After 9/11,

"Imagine" was one of the songs Clear-Channel refused to play on all of their radio stations.

[mattclearing]

15. Recommended.

Edit to add the lyrics to Love:

Love is real , real is love
Love is feeling , feeling love
Love is wanting to be loved

Love is touch, touch is love
Love is reaching, reaching love
Love is asking to be loved

Love is you
You and me
Love is knowing
we can be

Love is free, free is love
Love is living, living love
Love is needed to be loved

[MadHound]

19. Oh the memory of the night still rips my heart

I was a college DJ at the time, and Monday nights were the nights that we played new albumns in their entirety. Had just finished playing the first half of Double Fantasy, which Lennon had issued only a little over a week earlier, and was thinking it was a great comeback albumn for John. Loved "Just Like Starting Over" and the rest of the material was pretty good too, even Yoko's stuff. Had the carts in, playing PSA's, had the second side of Double Fantasy cued up and ready to go, when all hell broke loose. Both of the news tickers starting sounding their alarm bells and spewing out the news. . . "AP Wire Service News Bulletein. . . . New York, NY. . . John Lennon was shot tonight in front of his apartment on W 72nd. He was rushed to the hospital after the shooting, but died from his wounds. His killer is said to. . ."

My heart cried, and as I ripped the paper off the ticker and rushed back to the mike, I felt like Walter Cronkite the day they shot Kennedy, trying valiantly to hold it together, but breaking up inside. My voice cracked and wavered as I rushed the news out over the air, and then finished playing the albumn as a tribute to John. In fact that was all I played that shift was Lennon's albumns. It seemed the most appropriate thing to do, the only thing I could do at the time. Last I knew, the station I worked for still has my playlist from that night, with the words "OhmyGod John's been shot dead!" and under the slot for the music I played, I just put down "John" with an arrow through the rest of the spaces. I cried that night, and when I went on air, tears were running down my face. And to this day, John's murder is still a weight on my soul.

Who knows what would have happened had John lived, one can play that what if game endlessly. But I do know that this world would be a better place with him in it, and Lord knows, we could use him with us now. But all we have are memories and his music.

RIP John, we love and miss you, even after all this time.

[JPZenger]

20. If Chapman had only aimed 3 feet to the left ...

If Chapman had only aimed 3 feet to the left, he would still be considered an international hero.

I was in college when Lennon was shot. I ran outside and yelled "They got Lennon!"

He'd be 65 years old.

[mattclearing]

22. What a fucking horrible thing to say.

And nice one, getting "the name which we must never speak" in there as well.

You can't possibly care that much for John Lennon if you'd wish Yoko dead.

[mattclearing]

24. Great story.

Sorry that you had to go through that. I'm sure your listeners appreciated your respect and reverence for the moment.

[Mad_Dem_X]

21. Tragic, terrible day

I know that if he were alive today, even at the age of 65, he would be fighting along side us for the rights of the common man. He loved America. Fortunately, we still have our memories...and the music, which will never die.

God bless you, John. We're still trying to Give Peace A Chance.

[Nickster]

23. Remember, if you have Sirius, they have a John Lennon tribute concert

live at 2pm Eastern on channel 18.


Added program description from website:

Lennon Live: A Tribute to John Lennon
Today 2:00 pm ET
Join SIRIUS when we pay tribute to the memory of John Lennon on the 25th anniversary of his death. You’ll hear an hour-long documentary including an exclusive interview with Yoko Ono, plus performances of Lennon’s music by artists including Dave Matthews, Jamie Cullum, Daryl Hall, Stereo MCs, Paul Weller, Lulu and Dr. John from the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London and SIRIUS Studios in NYC.

[G_j]

25. I went to Central Park

& joined in the moments (5 min. as I recall) of silence.
I have never seen so many grown people weeping.
One could not be there without having their heart wrenched open.
That profound experience lives within me to this day.

[stevedeshazer]

26. He's been gone half my life now.

I can't believe it. He still speaks for me.

I still think of the ruling class every time I hear this song:

Nowhere Man

He's a real nowhere man,
Sitting in his nowhere land,
Making all his nowhere plans
For nobody.

Doesn't have a point of view,
Knows not where he's going to,
Isn't he a bit like you and me?

Nowhere man, please listen,
You don't know what you're missing,
Nowhere man, the world is at your command.

He's as blind as he can be,
Just sees what he wants to see,
Nowhere man can you see me at all?

Nowhere man, don't worry,
Take your time, don't hurry,
Leave it all till somebody else
Lends you a hand.

Doesn't have a point of view,
Knows not where he's going to,
Isn?t he a bit like you and me?

Nowhere man, please listen,
You don't know what your missin,
Nowhere man, the world is at your command.

He's a real nowhere man,
Sitting in his nowhere land,
Making all his nowhere plans
For nobody.

[Wind Dancer]

27. Amy Goodman pays tribute.

The U.S. government saw Lennon as such a serious threat that President Nixon attempted to have him deported in 1972. In addition the FBI closely monitored his actions and amassed a file on Lennon of over 400 pages.

Today -- on the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death -- we speak with historian Jon Wiener about Lennon's politics and his FBI files.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/08/1421215


Light a candle for peace in John's honor!

[Arugula Latte]

28. I remember being furious that Reagan had lived and Lennon had died.

If someone had to die, I wished fervently that it would have been the reverse ...

A great man, taken much too young. And, it's funny, at the time I was 14 and thought of 40 as being young to die but old in general. I turn 40 in a few weeks ...

[helderheid]

31. My mom raised me on the Beatles. She always told me they were my uncles.

I was devastated at age 6 to hear my Uncle John had been murdered. So tragic. I feel so badly for his children.

[Robert Cooper]

33. My mother and grandfather are/were from Liverpool...

...when the Beatles came out, they were 'home-town boys' around our place.

Hurt like hell when they broke up, but we could still hope for a reunion until they took John.

[Robert Cooper]

32. I recall that day...

...I wrote on a bench "John Lennon died today". I didn't work at all, just walked around in a daze.

He spoke for a lot of us: about war, about love, about peace.

We still have war. We still have violence. We still have hatred. And we don't have John.

The world is a poorer place.

JFK, RFK, MLK, and John.

Thanks for remembering him.

[Wind Dancer]

35. Kick!

[GrumpyGreg]

36. It was just a blip on my life---After JFK and RFK the death of

a musician was meaningless.

[mattclearing]

38. Perhaps so, but Lennon's music and the Beatles

will be remembered more vividly in a hundred years, a thousand years, than any political leader of this time.

[GrumpyGreg]

41. With all due respect to the Beatles--I doubt if their music will

last 1000 years.

Even when they were alive their music appealed to just a certain demographic,which was less than half of the population.

The idolization of John Lennon is a classic example of the "died young syndrome".

If he were still alive he would be just another wealthy old grandfather musician and the world would be the same as it is now.

[mattclearing]

42. Nonsense.

Do you think that Mozart, Bach, or Beethoven will be forgotten in 500 years? The Beatles' music is as timeless, and more accessible to an English-speaking audience that continues to grow, not diminish.

[Borgnine]

44. Exactly.

The Beatles weren't just any ordinary band, and John Lennon wasn't just any ordinary musician. While I'm not comparing him in greatness to MLK or RFK, Lennon's messages of peace will transcend time through his music.

Hell, I'm 22. That's pretty far removed from the Beatles generation, yet I and many of my generation have discovered their music. I strongly believe that their output, especially their later albums (Sgt. Pepper through Abbey Road) will hold up hundreds of years from now.

[mattclearing]

46. As far as comparisons go, they are apples and oranges.

Lennon was an artist, first, and a political figure a distant second. The JFK/RFK/MLK's were political figures pretty much exclusively.

Lennon was by all regards a political extremist whose basically socialist views never caught hold in the western world. In this regard he was not nearly as effective as MLK, who galvanized the civil rights movement into forcing an integrated society.

But musically/lyrically, John Lennon was a genius whose collaboration with Paul McCartney is the stuff of legend. He will not be forgotten by human civilization.

[GrumpyGreg]

47. He will not be forgotten by human civilzation? Wow !

[karynnj]

57. For those of us of the right age, John, Paul and George

wrote the music that was there for us in our adolescence in a time that was even more turbulent than today. The songs seemed to unite us in a way that nothing else this. They were basically happy, but not silly songs and they made a troubled time far more fun.

I was devastated when JFK died. I was horrified to see the country we were when MLK died. and then RFK. This is the time the Beatles music spanned. When I look back at that time, my first thought is not the deaths, the riots, the generation cap or the confusion, it's the intelligence, fun upbeat music of the Beatles.

When John died in 1980, I sat in front of the TV watching the historical footage crying. My parents called me as did some of my siblings. John wasn't my favorite Beatle - Paul was, but that didn't matter. The idea that someone killed someone who brought so much happiness to others was very hard to take. It was also losing part of my adolescence. It didn't seem fair. "and in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make"

[Tom Joad]

37. I was going to an anti-arms trade protest that day. eom

[Clara T]

43. A noteworthy article on Lennon's assassination

On the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's assassination, imagine . . .
By Jerry Mazza
Online Journal Contributing Writer

Dec 7, 2005, 01:08

Imagine that the classic lone gunman could be Mark David Chapman. And if so, you may be as mind-controlled by system hype as he was that Monday night at 10:50 pm, December 8, 1980, just one month after Ronald Reagan was elected president.

Imagine that night John Lennon took four of five shots fired from a .38 caliber snub nose revolver: two in the left shoulder, two in the upper left side of the back, as he walked through the dark entryway of the Dakota at West 72nd Street and Central Park West. What's strange is that afterwards three bullet holes were found in the glass lobby doors.

<snip>

Who Was Jose Perdomo?

Imagine Jose Joaquin Sanjenis Perdomo. According to Cuban Information Archives and Salvador Austucia, author of Rethinking John Lennon's Assassination, Perdomo was also known as "Joaquin Sanjenis," and "Sam Jenis." He was mostly known as an anti-Castro Cuban exile and a member of Brigade 2506 during the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961, a miserably failed CIA operation, which cost Company Head Allan Dulles his job, and maybe John F. Kennedy his life, also by a mythic lone gunman, who turned out to play patsy, too. In fact, during that evening, while Chapman waited hours for Lennon's return, Perdomo had spoken at length with him about the invasion and Cuban American politics. Strange topics for strangers, one waiting for a rock star.

<snip>

Imagine, on an equally dark note, Mark White in his political comic strip, Dead Silence in the Brain, reports that as a young man Mark Chapman began working at a Laotian refugee camp. The camp was run by World Vision, an evangelical charity which runs refugee camps worldwide. It has assisted in numerous CIA operations. Its camps along the Honduran border, for instance, were used to recruit the death squads of El Salvador . . . Researcher John Judge writes, "World Vision appears to be an elaborate cover for the recruitment, training and placement of assassins worldwide." So I don't think Chapman was picked from a hat from the general population. I think he had had intense behavioral conditioning for the Lennon assassination, though I don't think he was the triggerman. I believe he was too much of a risk as a Manchurian Candidate, even at close range. So Perdomo & Associates lent a helping hand.

More...
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_300.sht...

[TheUnspeakable]

51. Clara-Thanks for this !!!!......Even John's son thinks it was the Gov.!

I've been looking into this for a while and had come across Perdomo's name- but finding out he was
CIA/Bay of Pigs is VERY interesting!!!! (something is wrong with the link-here it is <http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_300.shtml>


John's son Sean says it was the government (snip)he told New Yorker magazine that the ex-Beatle was a "counter-cultural revolutionary" who the American government could not ignore. He said: "He was dangerous to the government. If he had said, 'Bomb the White House tomorrow', there would have been 10,000 people who would have done it. These pacifist revolutionaries are historically killed by the government.

"Anybody who thinks that Mark Chapman was just some crazy guy who killed my dad for his personal interests, is insane. Or very naive. Or hasn't thought about it clearly. It was in the best interests of the United States to have my dad killed. Definitely. And, you know, that worked against them because, once he died, his powers grew . . . They didn't get what they wanted."
<http://www.john-lennon.com/washingtonkilledlennon.htm>

[catbert836]

58. That was after Reagan got elected

The CIA didn't want someone like Lennon around who could have led the movement to bring Reagan down. Preemptive strike.
And it always kind of bothered me that Mark David Chapman was a dirt-poor camp counselor in Hawaii who manged to withdraw $5000 from the bank to pay for the flight and lodgings in New York City. Also, he had a strange obsession with the book "The Catcher in the Rye". I think it might've been his trigger.

[xxqqqzme]

48. at the time we were living in the middle

of West Virginia. The NBC affiliate was so right wing even then that they did not show Saturday Night Live - Live; it was re-broadcast on Monday night after it was OKed for content - I kid you not...I was rocking my son to sleep cuz he was running a fever when SNL was interrupted w/ the news. At first, I thought it was a skit - cuz at the time Don Novello had a running skit, as Father Guido Sarducci, w/ being outside the Dakota certain that John would come out any moment & he would interview him...it took me a few seconds 2 realize it was real.

I was devastated and still feel the pain of that horrible moment.

Last summer, my brother was going thru old boxes of stuff @ my mom & dad's and found 'A Spaniard in the Works' and sent it to me....he might be a rong wing nut-job but he does have a heart.


I remember reading an article about ch**man a few years ago that said he had found jesus, his wife visits him every week and they pray together and isn't it all just inspirational. That fucker robbed THE WORLD of genius & an article gets written about him?!?

[mattclearing]

50. One problem with that...it happened on Monday.

Cosell interrupted Monday Night Football with the announcement.

[Don Claybrook]

53. he said snl was rebroadcast in his area on Mondays n/t

[the other one]

49. Revolution - don't you know its gonna be alright?

You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it’s evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don’t you know that you can count me out? (In!)

Don’t you know it’s gonna be
Alright?
Alright?
Alright?

You say you’ve got a real solution
Well, you know
We’d all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We are doing what we can
But if you want money for people with minds that hate
All I can tell is, brother, you’ll have to wait

Don’t you know it’s gonna be
Alright?
Alright?
Alright?

You say you’ll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it’s the institution
Well, you know
You’d better free your mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of chairman mao
You ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow

Don’t you know it’s gonna be
Alright?
Alright?
Alright?
Alright?
Alright?
Alright?

[Wilms]

52. .

[Hidden Stillness]

55. I Miss John, and I Miss Them Both, as a Team

Sometimes the anniversary is sad, and feels like the grief of that day all over again; sometimes it seems very far away, long ago, and just passes quietly by. It feels horrible and painful again this year. I remember the shock, not believing it could have happened, the feeling that all the good in the world had ended. The next day's newspaper had a headline of the murder, and I was horrified at it, and could never look at it. Then a couple of days later, on Sunday, Yoko asked people to sit quietly and meditate for 10 minutes starting at 2PM, and my brother and I, along with countless millions, did. Incredible unity. The corporate media has no problem telling about John and Yoko's quest for peace, or their generosity, but none of them ever mention their exciting, fabulous feminism. Here is that amazing song which everyone should hear--these words are thrilling when sung:

Woman is the Nigger of the World
John Lennon & Yoko Ono
Woman is the nigger of the world
Yes she is...think about it
Woman is the nigger of the world
Think about it...do something about it
We make her paint her face and dance
If she won't be a slave, we say that she don't love us
If she's real, we say she's trying to be a man
While putting her down, we pretend that she's above us
Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don't believe me, take a look at the one you're with
Woman is the slave of the slaves
Ah, yeah...better scream about it
We make her bear and raise our children
And then we leave her flat for being a fat old mother hen
We tell her home is the only place she should be
Then we complain that she's too unworldly to be our friend
Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don't believe me, take a look at the one you're with
Woman is the slave to the slaves
Yeah...alright...hit it!
We insult her every day on TV
And wonder why she has no guts or confidence
When she's young we kill her will to be free
While telling her not to be so smart we put her down for being so dumb
Woman is the nigger of the world
Yes she is...if you don't believe me, take a look at the one you're with
Woman is the slave to the slaves
Yes she is...if you believe me, you better scream about it
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance

[omega minimo]

75. Thank you, Hidden Stillness

I was on the beach that day, joined with the millions. His unifying power is the reason they took him. The power of the (egalitarian team) message of Double Fantasy was a red flag......
:hug:


"We insult her every day on TV
And wonder why she has no guts or confidence
When she's young we kill her will to be free
While telling her not to be so smart we put her down for being so dumb"

[gassed]

59. Yes...I remember my brother calling me

from the Plaza Tavern. I had been asleep for a couple of hours when the ringing phone woke me up. When I picked up the phone my brother said "Lennon was assassinated", and I being half asleep said "what are you talking about...Lenin dies years ago."

I remember not being able to get back to sleep that night. When I tell me son, who is 24 now, that the Beatles literally changed the world overnight for many of us he has some difficulty understanding exactly what I mean.

I bought the John Lennon Imagine dvd yesterday, and there is a point near the end where he was doing an interview for Double Fantasy, and he says that the album was like a letter to all of the people whose lives had changed, like his, through the years. At one point he asks something like wasn't the 70's a drag...and all I could think was...if he didn't like the 70's, its probably good that he didn't have to experience the 80's.

[LibDemAlways]

61. John Lennon was so much a part of my

life growing up that I felt I lost a friend that night. It was so sad and shocking. He left behind a significant musical legacy. Songs don't get much better than "In My Life."

[FarLeftRage]

62. ...

So long ago
Was it in a dream, was it just a dream?
I know, yes I know
Seemed so very real, it seemed so real to me

Took a walk down the street
Thru the heat whispered trees
I thought I could hear (hear, hear, hear)
Somebody call out my name as it started to rain

Two spirits dancing so strange

Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè
Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè
Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè

Dream, dream away
Magic in the air, was magic in the air?
I believe, yes I believe
More I cannot say, what more can I say?

On a river of sound
Thru the mirror go round, round
I thought I could feel (feel, feel, feel)
Music touching my soul, something warm, sudden cold
The spirit dance was unfolding

Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè
Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè
Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè

Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè
Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè
Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè
Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè
Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè
Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè
Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè
Ah! böwakawa poussè, poussè

[LittleClarkie]

63. It's gotten fresher since I've lost other people in my life

and realized what it was like for anyone to lose a father or a husband, famous or not.

Had never been much of a Lennon fan. I loved the Beatles, but related more to Ringo's common touch. But to hear him sing about watching his kid grow up, to hear him sound so happy and hopeful, and then for him to die just when he'd gotten what he'd always wanted all his life, which was just to be happy and pain free, was just heartwrenching.

Maybe that was the point though. Go out when you're at your best, before life has the chance to spit in your face again, I guess.

But still, it hurts to think about it sometimes. And I still remember where I was, just like the generation before me knows where they were when JFK got shot.

[calimary]

66. Kick - for us older ones.

I thought about John all day, wondering what a difference he would have made if he'd lived. He'd be writing songs excoriating bush today, in the wittiest and probably somewhat cryptic way. I bet he and George are jamming together at this very moment. When I die, he's one of the first ones I want to look up.

[orpupilofnature57]

67. John would have had a Field day with Shrub, and screaming blue meanie

Kkkarl.

[MadisonProgressive]

68. No longer riding on the merry-go-round...

People asking questions lost in confusion,
Well I tell them there's no problem,
Only solutions,
Well they shake their heads and they look at me as if I've lost my mind,
I tell them there's no hurry...
I'm just sitting here doing time,

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round,
I really love to watch them roll,
No longer riding on the merry-go-round,
I just had to let it go.


Bless his soul. John, I'll always miss you dearly... :cry:

[lucca]

70. Beautiful John Lennon.

You are sadly missed more than ever...

What you gave us all, was quite magnificent...

Peace.

[proud patriot]

76. I was 11 years old

I was a beatles fan .

I had a couple 45s that I used
to play and I would sing and
dance to them .

for my 12th birthday my mom
gave me imagine .

[progressoid]

78. Heard "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" on the radio today.

:cry: