Tragedy Strikes
There are certain events in time that stick with a person forever. These can be happy events, like seeing your child born, or tragic events like deaths and disasters. I remember where I was when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, when planes flew into the World Trade Center and I remember the night John Lennon died.
It was a cold winter night on December 8th, 1980. The Miami Dolphins were playing the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football. Normally I would only watch the first half of a Monday Night game, due to school the next morning, but Miami was one of my favorite teams, so I stayed up longer than normal.
Howard Cosell was calling the game with Frank Gifford and Fran Tarkenton. It was the end of the game and New England was lining up for a game winning field goal. The broadcast crew had received tragic news. During the commercial break Cosell struggled with the decision whether to make the announcement or not. When they came back on the air, Gifford told Cosell he had to say it. That was when Cosell broke the news to the world that John Lennon had been shot outside his apartment building, the Dakota, and was dead on arrival at the hospital. Cosell was friends with Lennon and he was unsure at the time if it was the right setting to make that type of announcement.
A numb feeling came over me when I heard Cosellâs words. I could not believe what I had just heard. The Beatles were my favorite group and Lennon was one of my favorite singers. Since there was no 24-hour cable news in 1980, I stayed up after the game to watch ABCâs Nightline to hear more about Lennonâs death. Unfortunately, there were few details that first night beyond that he was shot by a deranged individual as he was leaving his limo and preparing to enter his apartment building.
The next morning, I caught a ride to school with my cousins. I asked them if they had heard that John Lennon was dead. They were shocked when I told them what had happened. We popped a Beatles cassette (the small rectangular thing before CDs) into the tape deck, I think it was The Beatles Second Album, and listened to it on the drive to school. Upon arriving at school, we sat in the parking lot talking about our love of the Beatles.
More details came out later that day. The killer, identified as Mark David Chapman, had flown from Hawaii to New York City. He had arrived a week before the shooting and was staying at a local YMCA. On the afternoon of the 8th, he went to the Dakota and waited for Lennon to exit the building. He approached Lennon and asked him to autograph a copy of the Double Fantasy album. Lennon willingly signed the album and departed for a recording session.
Chapman remained outside the Dakota waiting for Lennon to return later that evening. As Lennon exited his limo around 11:00 PM, Chapman called to him. When Lennon turned, Chapman shot him five times with a revolver. Lennon gasped, âIâm shotâ and staggered into the building. A patrol car was called and rushed him to Roosevelt Hospital where efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.
As word got out, fans began holding candlelight vigils outside the hospital and Dakota. Rarely does one personâs death have an impact on so many individuals. Several hundred fans held a vigil outside of Graceland in 1977 when Elvis Presley died. A week after Lennonâs death over 50,000 people held a 10-minute silent vigil in New York Cityâs Central Park.
Lennon’s death was an emotional moment for me. It is always sad when one of your childhood idols dies, especially when it happens in this way. You wonder what motivates someone to fly thousands of miles and walk up and shoot a person multiple times.
My Discovery of the Beatles
Most youths reject music, movies, and books from prior generations. They try to distinguish themselves separately from their parents. I never held this opinion and instead embraced the past. My favorite movies are from the ’30s and ’40s; favorite books are from the 18th and 19th century; and favorite music is from the ’50s and ’60s.
Growing up during the seventies, I was not a big fan of the decade’s music. Consequently, I started listening to older albums that my parents owned. One day I came across the Meet The Beatles album and played the beginning of each song. It didn’t have any initial impact on me but a few weeks later I played a little more of the album. By the third time through the album, I was hooked. This was my discovery of the Beatles.
I did not have the happiest childhoods. One of the ways I survived was by using music as an escape, especially Beatles music. Whatever mood I was in at the time, there was always a Beatles or Lennon or McCartney song I could listen to which matched that mood. If I was down or feeling sorry for myself, there was “Help” and “Iâm A Loser“. When I was in love, there was “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “If I Fell” and “Till There Was You“. For times when I was feeling pumped, there was “Back in the USSR“, “Helter Skelter“, and “Revolution“.
During my freshman year of college, I had an eccentric professor whose idea of an English Composition class was studying the music and lyrics of Bob Dylan. Our first assignment was to write a paper about a musical artist. The topic I chose was how the Beatles changed and influenced British and American culture. This included music, hair styles, clothing, views on social issues, attitudes towards drugs, musical marketing, etc..
My former next-door neighbor, country star Frankie Ballard, once said there are two types of people, Elvis people and Beatles people. I think this reflects on one’s personalities and views as well. Elvis fans in my opinion tend to be “me” oriented, concerned more with their own interests, whereas Beatles fans tend to be “we” oriented, concerned with the interests of society. I would imagine this extends to political party preference as well.
It was Lennon songs like “Imagine“, “Gimme Some Truth“, “Give Peace A Chance“, “Instant Karma“, “Mind Games“, etc. that helped to shape my beliefs and attitudes. It’s easy for someone like myself, who was brought up in a middle class environment, to lack empathy towards others who were less fortunate. However, these songs made me think and look at the world from a different perspective. I realized there things that are bigger than personal self-interest. People being forced to die for causes they didn’t believe in. Children suffering from hunger on a daily basis. The elite accumulating massive amounts of wealth while others lived in poverty. Individuals being treated differently because of the color of their skin or religious beliefs.
Stolen Comeback
Lennon realized that he had not been a very good father to his first son, Julian. After the birth of his second son, Sean with his wife Yoko Ono, he took a break from the music business to spend time with his son. He remained at home taking care of the house and letting Yoko take care of business affaires.
After a several year break, Lennon was planning his comeback. He recorded Double Fantasy, which was his first album in five years. The first song off the album was “(Just Like) Starting Over” which was released in Oct 1980, a little over a month before his death. This turned out to be his third and last number one song as a solo artist. Starting Over seemed like an appropriate title since it seemed like this was what we were all going to see, John Lennon starting fresh with more to say to the world.
I often wonder what would have become of Lennon’s career if his life wasn’t cut short. Paul McCartney had the most successful solo career of all the Beatles. However, this was because he had a career that spanned five decades. In my opinion, Double Fantasy contained some of Lennon’s best work with some of his best lyrics since his Beatles days. I think his career, if continued for five decades, would have been as successful as McCartney’s.
Those of us born in the sixties and later never had a chance to see the Beatles perform live. The closest I came was attending a tribute show, Beatlemania, which was my first concert. Interviews with all the Beatles, including Lennon, show that there was a mutual desire by all to work together again. They just could never all agree at the same time. What a sight that would have been to see John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr on stage one last time.
Messiah or Narcissist
There are many differing views on John Lennon. Articles from blogs and magazines produce opinions ranging from him being a saint or messiah to that of a narcissistic hypocrite. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. You can apply a glass half-empty or glass half-full analogy to Lennon. He can be remembered for the positive things that he did such as being an inspiration for a generation, bringing attention to social issues like feminism, minority rights, and anti-war protests or you can remember him for the negative aspects of his life like being abusive, being a bad father, and yes, breaking up the Beatles. I choose to take the former perspective. I believe the good he did outweighs the bad he did.
At the time of his death, Lennon was living permanently in New York City and was pursuing US Citizenship. Even though he was a huge star, he walked around the city without a bodyguard and was known by the area residents. Lennon was just the latest of public figures to be murdered. The previous 20 years saw the murders of President John F. Kennedy, Sam Cooke, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, and Bobby Kennedy. Lennon’s death brought renewed attention to gun control which ultimately failed. Ironically these were opposed by President Elect Reagan who was shot and nearly died the following year.
New Generations of Fans
Itâs been 56 years since the Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and 40 years since the death of John Lennon. They continue to influence generation after generation of musical artists and continually expand their fanbase. I have managed to pass my love of the Beatles on to my 18 year-old son, who also has friends that love the group. Like classical music, which continues to transcend time, I think people will still be listening to the Beatles several generations from now.
I don’t listen to The Beatles or solo members of the group nearly as much as I once did. These days it’s more Green Day, My Chemical Romance, and Taylor Swift. However, thanks to Apple Music and the SiriusXM Beatles channel, their music is always with me when I’m feeling nostalgic or when something triggers memories from the past. Below are some of my favorite John Lennon songs as a solo artist and with the Beatles:
Post by Scott Raymer (Website | Instagram | Facebook)
What is your favorite Lennon song? Comment below.
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