We have come to expect that a lost loved one is mourned less and less over time, and that the aggrieved are eventually healed - and it is often the case. The same might be true with you John, if it weren't for the times in which we now find ourselves. If you were still alive there'd be an intense focus on you right now I'm sure. Even with you dead and gone these 26 years, I find my thoughts turning more and more to you, your message of peace and love, and all you tried to do for us back in the day. We sorely need you at this moment in history brother, but sadly must make do with our memory of you. Thank you for that my friend - thank you for that.
(more below the fold...)
Some say the Beatles were over-hyped, and there's some truth in that - but there's no denying that they affected us like no band before them, and arguably, like none since. I'm going to skip their history and musical accomplishments. Suffice it to say they rocked the planet. But what I really want to speak to is John's enthusiasm and advocacy for peace - for above all else John Lennon was a man of peace.
Like everyone in our generation, John was appalled at the carnage in Vietnam. John counseled peace constantly.
"It just was a gradual development over the years. I mean last year was 'all you need is love.' This year, it's 'all you need is love and peace, baby.' Give peace a chance, and remember Love. The only hope for us is peace. Violence begets violence. You can have peace as soon as you like if we all pull together. You're all geniuses, and you're all beautiful. You don't need anyone to tell you who you are. You are what you are. Get out there and get peace, think peace, and live peace and breathe peace, and you'll get it as soon as you like."
John Lennon
When John hooked up with Yoko it was bad news for the band - as it turned out. The band broke up soon afterward. A lot of people blamed Yoko for the breakup of the Beatles. Whether or not that was fair, one thing was clear; John Lennon was in love.
"Before Yoko and I met, we were half a person. You know there's an old myth about people being half and the other half being in the sky, or in heaven or on the other side of the universe or a mirror image. But we are two halves, and together we're a whole."
"Everything is clearer when you're in love"
"We've broken down a few barriers between us. which we had to do because we had two big egos - two individual artists - and with love we overcame that."
John Lennon
A lot of people hated Yoko, but John dug her and that's what mattered. Together they set out to raise consciousness and promote peace.
"If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliché that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal."
John Lennon
Sadly, on the eighth of December 1980 John Lennon was murdered by a deranged gunman named Marc David Chapman. Some people say that the FBI had him killed. I'm not familiar with any evidence for that other than that they did consider him an enemy of state (as will be made clear in the upcoming special, The U.S. vs. John Lennon).
What could be so drastically wrong with our government that they would view the man who wrote All You Need is Love as an enemy of the state? It's enough to confound the wise.
All You Need is Love
~ John Lennon
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy.
There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be in time
It's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
There's nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
All you need is love (all together now)
All you need is love (everybody)
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Tragically, John was taken from us in December 1980. The heartbreak of it encircled the planet. Virtually everyone in my generation loved him profoundly, and many of us mourn him still. We could sure use a man with his charisma, vision, and dedication to peace today, but unless we are very lucky we may never again see his equal. We are all of us poorer for his loss. The world became less when he left it. John Winston Lennon was a working class hero, a treasure and a gem - a rare jewel indeed.
Thank you for everything John. We miss you brother. We hardly knew ye.