John Lennon

Today John Lennon would have been 67 years old.

I first started listening to the Beatles in 1975 and instantly became a rapid fan. While I've always liked all of the members of the Beatles and a lot of their solo work, I'd say my favorite Beatle was John Lennon because his songs seemed more intospective and intelligent.

My favorite Beatles song is Across the Universe, just look at this first verse:

Words are flying out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy
are drifting thorough my open mind
Possessing and caressing me

My favorite song of all time is John Lennon's Imagine, here's the first two verses:

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

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

I was a senior in high school (San Antonio, Texas) in 1980 when John Lennon was killed. I remember that night I was watching the Johnny Carson show when they broke in with the news that Lenon had been shot (most of the country was watching Howard Cosell Monday Night Football) and I was in shock. John Lennon had just returned to music after a hiatus with his newly released Double Fantasy album with his wife Yoko Ono. On Double Fantasy, John Lennon was singing about the happy place he finally viewed his life to be and the songs were odes to Yoko and his son Sean (and Yoko's odes to John and Sean). I remember going to school the next day and to me it seemed that none of my fellow students cared (I'd only gone to that school during my senior year so I didn't really know that many people as my other three years of high school was in Germany), so that made the day even worse because I had no one to share this huge loss with until I got home and turned on the radio where several stations were playing John Lennon / Beatles songs around the clock. Still today, whenever I hear a song from Double Fantasy, especially (Just like) Starting Over, a well of sad emotions will sweep over me as I think about what a huge loss John Lennon's death is and what could have been.

Check out www.beatlesradio.com to listen to great Beatles music around the clock. Amnesty International recently released a benefit double cd called Instant Karma The Campaign To Save Darfur which has 23 John Lennon songs covered by artists such as Regina Spektor, Corinne Bailey Rae, R.E.M., Ben Harper, Lenny Kravitz, Jackson Browne, Snow Patrol, Flaming Lips, and many others.