December 8th - A John Lennon Remembrance

Here come old flattop, he come grooving up slowly
He got joo-joo eyeball, he one holy roller
He got hair down to his knee
Got to be a joker he just do what he please

Sounds like nonsense. Many of his lyrics sounded like nonsense.

Semolina pilchard climbing up the Eiffel Tower
Elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna
Man you should have seen them kicking Edgar Alan Poe
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen
I am the walrus, goo goo goo joob goo goo goo joob

What does it mean? It means nothing. It's poetry combined with music and sound to create a vibration that resonates within. What's wrong with that?

When these songs came out the world was a different place than it is today. America was less capitalist and less commercial. It was much more idealistic and yet heartbreaking. Assassination of heroes was the terrorism of the day. In a five year period from Novemeber 1963 to June 1968, John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy were all murdered. The Viet Nam war was in full bloom with no end in sight. Nonsense songs were a reflection of not being able to make sense of a senseless world.

I loved the music. It is not an over statement or cliche to say that the Beatles were the sound track of my adolescence. I listened to other music as well, but it was the Beatles that soothed, amused, amazed and opened my mind. Every LP that came out was a leap forward that brought me along with them. There was hardly anything more exciting in my youth than the prospect of a new Beatles LP coming out. They were the only albums I listened to every track on. At that point in the music industry, albums were showcases for one or two single records that sold well, the rest of the album were cover songs and mostly dreck. The Beatles changed that. Every song was a gem. Every song was original. They never put their hit singles on their albums. The albums were all new material that had a feeling and mood that was distinct to that album. Beatles For Sale (known as Beatles ‘65 in the US), Rubber Soul, Revolver, all great LPs that paved the way for Sgt Pepper.

John Lennon was a spiritual, thoughtful, artistic man who could also be cruel, emotionally abusive to women and narcissistic. He was anti-Semitic, insecure, and brilliant. I loved his Beatle music and his solo music too. I'm glad I did not live in his shadow - it is so much more pleasant to have an idealized remembrance of him. But, having said that, it is my own life I remember when I think of Lennon or the Beatles. It is my own idealism and excitement of creativity that brings warmth to my thoughts and memories. And he can still do that with his music.

There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain

Songs sited are © Lennon/McCartney and published by Northern Songs Ltd.:
Come Together
I am the Walrus
In My Life