The Greatest Beatle
The 25th Anniversary of John Lennon’s murder found me realizing that half the people in the office weren’t born yet when he was shot. Half of them don’t even know who Howard Cosell was, not to mention that he announced Lennon’s death to the world. It was quite a realization of how old I am. It was also sad, remembering how much I loved Beatles music.There isn’t another band that I can think of that had hits recorded and sung by each member.
The first album I ever bought was Magical Mystery Tour. At the time, I really liked “I Am the Walrus”: that was the only reason I bought that album. Still, it has so may other good songs on it. Blue Jay Way, Baby You’re a Rich Man, All You Need is Love, Strawberry Fields Forever, etc. Such a good album, even though it was panned by many critics.
I have to admit, I was more fond of The Beatles’ later albums, the ones influenced by drugs, Eastern Spirituality, and their internal bickering: The White Album, Let It Be, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road, Yellow Submarine, Revolver, and Rubber Soul. While their earlier albums are fun, and nostalgic in a way, I was really in love with their older music.
I would sit there with my little cassette radio, taping Beatles songs when they came on the radio. My favorite songs were by John and George, and ironically, they were the first two taken from us. I would play the tapes when I fell asleep at night. I would have the headphones on, so I could hear the music go from one ear to the other. Funny, how nowadays you don’t hear that sort of thing in music anymore. That’s really sad, how progressive they were, and how bland music is nowadays.
I cried after he was killed. Sitting alone in my parents barn as the cows looked on, I cried. It wasn’t right, that someone so talented, such a great person could be taken away so violently. The irony of it still gets me today. I made snowtracks in the driveway of his initials. I grew my hair long, and was called “Julian”, after his son, when I went to college.
And here it is, twenty-five years later, and what has happened to the world? It’s not a better place. I wonder what he would have said to Bush about the war in Iraq. I’m sure he’d have had a few choice words.
We need, in the spirit of John, to take it back. Bring back the peace. Bring back the love. Bring back the hope for the future.
