Yeah, I know, a lot of my friends probably roll their eyes whenever I mention John or the Beatles.
I wish they could see what I see.
John was more than just some “dirty pothead hippie”, he was a humanitarian, a hero. When he died, a little piece of everyone’s soul died with him. Just watch the videos of the day after his death, where enormous crowds gathered, holding signs reading John Lennon Forever and WHY?, where even full-grown men were bawling their eyes out.
He created wonderful, powerful music that brought people together; almost all his songs were a call to the world to open their eyes and see the things going on around them, to put a stop to the monstrosities created by our own human race, or simply preaching peace and love. He urged the government to end the Vietnam War, with millions of fans as his backers, and in fact, he stirred up the American public so much that President Nixon tried to have him deported while he was living in New York! Now, what modern-day artist can do that?
He married someone despite the whole world pretty much hating her; he stuck up for her personally when even newspaper articles called her “ugly” and other insults. He took her surname and legally changed his name to include it, the opposite of what most married couples do. He called himself a “househusband”, due to his devotion to his family.
Sure he had his flaws; he had a temper, he was suspected to be an alcoholic, he had a feud with his former bandmember, Paul McCartney. But that just goes to show how human he was, I guess.
But it’s not just his absence that makes me sad. It was his death itself. Now, John was such a nice guy, his fans never bothered him. It didn’t annoy him that they stood around his home, he gave them all autographs. So when he was getting out of the car one night and someone asked to autograph an album, he happily obliged. And that was it. He was shot just outside his own apartment building, in front of his wife, by someone who called himself a fan. He was enjoying life after a long break from the music industry, was just getting home from working on an album. And just in the blink of an eye, some loon stole his life. His son, Sean, was five years-old, and his mother simply didn’t know how to explain to him that his father was dead.
31 years without you today, John. Rest in peace.
“I don’t believe in Beatles.
I just believe in me.
Yoko and me.
That’s reality.”
__________________
"Let me live in you..." ~ John Lennon
And it's the first time I've heard it. I was far, far from home. All I wanted to do was be in my room communing with my fellow John-loving, Beatles-loving, WNEW-loving New Yorkers. And it's SO TOUGH for me to hear this. Crying...
^ Thanks for posting, Spirit. I wonder why he kept playing Let It Be?
Scruffie, let me ask you a question. When you listen to these reports, does it make you cry? The reason I ask is that I can read accounts and I'm fine, but whenever I hear the actual announcement (by deejays or reporters or announcers), it just instantly makes me well up and cry... like reliving the moment I first heard the news. So, how does it effect you when you hear the accounts of it first being announced?
__________________ All I want is the truth
Just give me some truth...
^ Thanks for posting, Spirit. I wonder why he kept playing Let It Be?
Scruffie, let me ask you a question. When you listen to these reports, does it make you cry? The reason I ask is that I can read accounts and I'm fine, but whenever I hear the actual announcement (by deejays or reporters or announcers), it just instantly makes me well up and cry... like reliving the moment I first heard the news. So, how does it effect you when you hear the accounts of it first being announced?
Yes Spirit!!! Thank you for that. I won't listen until tomorrow and will share my thoughts effectively. Does it surprise me that they played LIB? You're talking to the girl who has to print out a list of songs not to include on John tribute CDs made
by casuals. It's always great when they say, "Omg! This song ["I Am The Walrus"] was written by John? I always thought it was a Pink Floyd song" Too much Beyonce and nothing else...
Maia, oh Maia...I break down with all of it. I get SO emotional. But the radio broadcasts and TV spots kill me. I didn't post any in here because I don't want to fray anyone's already-delicate nerves. You can't mess on December 8th. I left off the Yoko glasses pic out of respect for Colonel and Snoopy. I understand.
It's tough doing the tributes on this day Maia because it's SO sad. I have to pace myself.
What did you all think of the girl's song?
__________________
"Let me live in you..." ~ John Lennon
Last edited by Apple Scruff : Dec 08, 2011 at 09:22 PM.
I see now that we are NOT the only ones who adore John as we do...
Scruffie, I can't tell you how often I meet someone who tells me, "Oh, I'm a big John Lennon fan too!" Maybe it's 'cuz of my age or living in L.A., but I meet fellow travelers all the time! Just this week we had a Special Ed teacher visit my school and within 10 minutes of meeting, he was telling me how he and his wife are shown in the Imagine movie crying at a vigil here in L.A.
The song was lovely, btw.
__________________ All I want is the truth
Just give me some truth...
^ Thanks for posting, Spirit. I wonder why he kept playing Let It Be?
I wondered why for a moment too, but I think it was because he probably thought it was comforting. And I think Vin Scelsa, the DJ, started it on the turntable but was interrupted by the special report from NBC News. So he restarted it again. But it's what he said after the song that really got to me, especially what he said about John loving New York and New York loving him back.
Yes Spirit!!! Thank you for that. I won't listen until tomorrow and will share my thoughts effectively. Does it surprise me that they played LIB?
No, no no. It's not an eye-roll. Trust me. The guys at WNEW did NOT hold Macca in particularly high esteem at the time, especially in the late 70's-early 80's when he was coming out with disco crap like Goodnight, Tonight and getting thrown in jail for bringing a pillow-sized bag of weed into Japan.
Honestly, he was mostly seen as a joke at the station at the time. Fair or not, it's a discussion for another time and place. Don't apply the current popular viewpoints to this. There was no preference being shown in the selection of LIB. I'll bet it was the only McCartney song Vin Scelsa played that night. I think the quasi-Catholic vibe and the 'when I find myself in times of trouble' sentiment was the basic reason he put it on the turntable right then.
WNEW was John's radio home. The afterglow of his legendary visits there hung in the air forever. His presence was always felt and the hope was always there that he'd pop in for a visit. And that that hope was destroyed just blocks away that night makes hearing this so, so painful.
I don't have too many words to post at this moment. It's not an easy day for any of us. I'm wearing my Double Fantasy shirt my husband had made for me and broke out the Lennon Anthology to cry at all the beauty he brought into this world and try not to think about all the beauty he had yet to bring.
Obviously, as a John fan, I try to adhere to Yoko's wish that October 9th remain the day in which we reflect on John and his incomparable legacy. But I have to say, dear Yoko, that it isn't so for me. Perhaps because I am younger than many of you, but I remember John every day, and especially on October 9th AND December 8th.
There was a long period of years when December 8th would come and I would get upset because I wasn't able to see my favorite artist live or hear new music from him. I wanted to pick up a tabloid and see John walking casually around NYC or seen at some gig with Yoko. It isn't to be of course, but that doesn't stop me from getting hypothetical (sorry Julian).
This is from all of the fans to YOU John Lennon. Thank you for enriching our lives and this world with your amazing gifts. I'll quote Yoko in closing with this:
Wooow, Scruffie, thank you sooo much for the amazing work you've done (once more)
To read all those lovely messages from all around the world, made this sad day a bit brighter for me
I think it's very important that John isn't forgotten, even after 31 years, and it's nice to see in what lovely ways he's still remembered from fans. I found them deeply touching
I'm also grateful that Yoko reminds every year and points out what important dates the 9th October and the 8th December are Of course, huge fans like us, remember John more than just twice a year...
The most difficult isn't to listen to his musical legacy on such a day, but to think HOW MUCH more John could have achieved, if... Thus, I never forgot the so-true line of the song "Empty Garden" from Elton John: "It's funny how one insect can damage so much grain". Oh well, actually, it's not funny at all, but it's clear enough, what Elton meant
I've listened yesterday evening several times to "Life is real" from Queen, my favourite tribute song for John:
.... and yes, life is a bit** because John (and Freddie) had to leave us at such a young age.
My friends, I am stunned by the outpour. My frown is turning slightly upside down. At first, the reaction of those peasants on ONTD upset me so profusely on this day of all days. But then I realized, "Apple Scruff, they upset you all the time! Why would today be different? They are, after all, imbeciles."
That's the spirit Apple Scruff. Screw those thick-headed losers. Obviously they care enough to comment at all, and have absolutely NO comprehension of who/what John was/about and probably only own 1.
Remember this piece of advice someone gave me: the most awesome and revolutionary people are never the ones who are universally loved. Being such a person is like being a human sifter- you will lose the ones who haven't any understanding or are too "morally-superior" and square.
The children who post on the above blog are posers and faux cool. They have no real creds. They hide behind unintelligible cliches and Lindsay Lohan avatars because that is all they know. John doesn't need people like them as fans. That'd be like maggots crawling all over a gorgeous apple. They don't even care about Julian or Cynthia. It's all about hate. Hating someone who is iconic and who's stuatus can not be refuted is easy when you pick apart their mistakes. But people like that are not worth your f*cking time. Would we want to be around these people in real life? Hell the f*cking no. That is why they live on a blog devoted to worshiping passe celebrities. They are miserable and hate themselves and who they are. They suck.
__________________
"It does not matter how old you are, you're as young as you feel right now." John Lennon
Right on bitches. This is what I'm saying right here, and this:
i always liked the ol saying look at " the hand pointing fingers...three fingers are pointing back at you..." ...this speaking to marley's quote about pointing fingers.
There was no preference being shown in the selection of LIB.
I wasn't looking it as a preference... it just reminded me of this story that John told:
Quote:
I sat in a restaurant in Spain and the violinist insisted on playing 'Yesterday' right in my ear. Then he asked me to sign the violin. I didn't know what to say so I said, 'OK,' and I signed it, and Yoko signed it. One day he's going to find out that Paul wrote it. But I guess he couldn't have gone from table to table playing 'I Am The Walrus'.
__________________ All I want is the truth
Just give me some truth...
For Maia, 4iiiis, wilde, Snoopy, Colonel, and others who were old enough to remember.
There was this video posted that shows fans in the Central Park area which is now known as Strawberry Fields on the day directly after John's horrific murder. I don't want to bring up the sadness, but know that this thread is going to go on with more fan words and tributes. I had to share this with the ones who were alive and old enough to remember.
It's not YouTube so I have no clue how to embed. Just click:
Well, it appears John does have some devotees on that site. I have said that there are some people who stan hard for him and, most of the time, they are never around to defend him. But a few popped up late to share their words for the 31st anniversary:
__________________
"Let me live in you..." ~ John Lennon
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I am off to watch Imagine. Yes, I love the classics.
You're talking to the girl who has to print out a list of songs not to include on John tribute CDs made 
Too much Beyonce and nothing else...
Of course, huge fans like us, remember John more than just twice a year... 
Thus, I never forgot the so-true line of the song "Empty Garden" from Elton John: "It's funny how one insect can damage so much grain". Oh well, actually, it's not funny at all, but it's clear enough, what Elton meant 
I'm slipping. Next year I'm heading to Strawberry Fields and I'll bring a tambourine with me. I can't be upstaged like this.
Linear Mode
