John Lennon's 70th Birthday
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The_Iceflash
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John Lennon's 70th Birthday
Today would have been John Lennon's 70th Birthday. Discuss.
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TheValentineBros
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You know, the murder of John Lennon has shocked me more than any other --and I wasn't even born then.
I was 16 years old when Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn got gunned down, and I watched them reanimate him live on tv, which didn't help anymore. I was 18 years old when Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh got murdered in the streets of Amsterdam, and on tv I saw how the forensic experts in their white suits were moving around Van Gogh, who was covered with a white drape. While I was here to see it and experience the aftermaths, it never shocked me the way Lennon's murder shocked me retroactively.
This may seem silly, but let me explain. I've read extensively on the lives and deeds of figures like Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and John and Robert Kennedy. All people working for peace who got murdered for what they believed in. And even though they were fighting the good cause, I could see (not understand, not condone, not justify, but I could see) how these persons would get vehement political opposition and how their enemies would want to get rid of them. Because these persons all threatened vested interests. And so they had to go.
But John Lennon was 'only' a singer; a writer and composer of songs. He did bed-ins in Amsterdam with Yoko Ono for world peace. He wrote songs like 'Imagine', calling on a better world (he once said it was really the communist manifesto, but sugar-coated to make it acceptable to the public). Who would ever oppose such a man? Who would murder a songwriter who sang about peace? Oh, I know the FBI had extensive files on him --but they had such files on many artists, and I know Nixon wanted to have him deported, but I don't believe in any conspiracy by the government to take him out. They were too busy plotting to oppress the peoples of Latin-America to pay too much attention to a 'small fry' like Lennon. And if the government wanted to kill of radical songwriters, why was Dylan still alive?
No, I never understood the murder of John Lennon and that shocked me so much. I mean, if even a peaceful songwriter likes Lennon gets murdered, then what kind of world is this? I don't want to get too philosophical, but I think that's the kind of question worth pondering for a while. If even Lennon had to go, then what does that say about society?
I always thought Lennon was a musical genius. He and Paul McCartney changed pop music forever, and every pop musician since is deeply indepted to him. My favorite song of his is not 'Imagine', but the much darker, biting social critique 'Working class hero'. If there ever was a better song to describe 'the system', I would like to hear it. 'Cause can't think of one...
I was 16 years old when Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn got gunned down, and I watched them reanimate him live on tv, which didn't help anymore. I was 18 years old when Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh got murdered in the streets of Amsterdam, and on tv I saw how the forensic experts in their white suits were moving around Van Gogh, who was covered with a white drape. While I was here to see it and experience the aftermaths, it never shocked me the way Lennon's murder shocked me retroactively.
This may seem silly, but let me explain. I've read extensively on the lives and deeds of figures like Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and John and Robert Kennedy. All people working for peace who got murdered for what they believed in. And even though they were fighting the good cause, I could see (not understand, not condone, not justify, but I could see) how these persons would get vehement political opposition and how their enemies would want to get rid of them. Because these persons all threatened vested interests. And so they had to go.
But John Lennon was 'only' a singer; a writer and composer of songs. He did bed-ins in Amsterdam with Yoko Ono for world peace. He wrote songs like 'Imagine', calling on a better world (he once said it was really the communist manifesto, but sugar-coated to make it acceptable to the public). Who would ever oppose such a man? Who would murder a songwriter who sang about peace? Oh, I know the FBI had extensive files on him --but they had such files on many artists, and I know Nixon wanted to have him deported, but I don't believe in any conspiracy by the government to take him out. They were too busy plotting to oppress the peoples of Latin-America to pay too much attention to a 'small fry' like Lennon. And if the government wanted to kill of radical songwriters, why was Dylan still alive?
No, I never understood the murder of John Lennon and that shocked me so much. I mean, if even a peaceful songwriter likes Lennon gets murdered, then what kind of world is this? I don't want to get too philosophical, but I think that's the kind of question worth pondering for a while. If even Lennon had to go, then what does that say about society?
I always thought Lennon was a musical genius. He and Paul McCartney changed pop music forever, and every pop musician since is deeply indepted to him. My favorite song of his is not 'Imagine', but the much darker, biting social critique 'Working class hero'. If there ever was a better song to describe 'the system', I would like to hear it. 'Cause can't think of one...