‘Merry Christmas every bottle.” John Lennon
"My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all." John Lennon
Every year on December 8th I take the time to say a little prayer for someone who still means a great deal to me. It grates against everything I hold dear to see our poor John Lennon being lumped together with others into the dusty old category of Dead Rock Stars. This heroic young person who gave to all of us so much genuine goodwill and hope throughout his time on the planet. Who, over and over and over, provided us with perfectly sane reasons to get along with each other instead of fighting all the time. (Life is very short/and there’s no time/for fussing and fighting, my friends.) We were a world in mourning when the Beatles came along and lifted our falling hearts to the possibility of joyous spirits again with their timeless gift for making great folk art out of rock and roll, creating a sweet sound that touched on every level of human emotion and helped celebrate it around the globe and in every culture. Records, movies, books and everything else under the sun. It was fun.
Look, we all know John wasn’t perfect, but he was a supremely gifted artisan, a compassionate and good man, and really funny and charming, and sometimes silly, and often too serious, an outstanding creative guitarist, a poet, a writer, an actor, a philosopher, etc. The list is endless, as it is with most people like John. They aren’t just one thing. I liked him a lot, I trusted him, and I miss him today more than ever. I miss his honesty. When he died, Yoko simply said, “He was one of us.” And I think this is the major point I want to make here about John this time. He never saw himself as being better than others just because he was more famous. He was the one who was upset when the band couldn’t meet the regular kids who had come to their concerts, they always had to shake hands with the mayor’s children. When the migrant farm workers were marching down the streets of New York asking for fair work wages he didn’t just send a check, he went down and marched with them. John had his problems, and I don’t mean to indicate otherwise. He made some naive decisions about different causes he was asked to support, but I don’t blame him for that. He almost always saw the light eventually. His heart was always in the right place. He never wanted anybody to think so highly of him that it diminished their own self-worth in any way. He liked cats.John believed in our potential to change things through the power of love. Imagine that!
I wish I could be more like John Lennon, but I can’t, I’m not. I’m just not that talented or brave. Maybe I could be, I don’t know. Time will tell. Or more like Paul McCartney maybe—always trying to make everyone else happy all the time. I’m pretty sure I could never do that either. But Paul is a master at melody and knows how to create harmony in a room, any room, anywhere, any time. The fact that these two were partners is kind of amazing when you think about it. Remember in the Peanuts musical when Lucy sings about her happiness? She’s basically saying happiness is anyone and everything you love. The Beatles were a very large part of my happiness for a very long time. Their music made me happy. Their movies made me happy. Their antics made me happy. Their faces made me happy. It’s hard to explain, but it’s still there after all this time. And for me it all started with John. So Thank You John Lennon. You are not forgotten.By me. You will always be loved. By me. See you next year.
Look, we all know John wasn’t perfect, but he was a supremely gifted artisan, a compassionate and good man, and really funny and charming, and sometimes silly, and often too serious, an outstanding creative guitarist, a poet, a writer, an actor, a philosopher, etc. The list is endless, as it is with most people like John. They aren’t just one thing. I liked him a lot, I trusted him, and I miss him today more than ever. I miss his honesty. When he died, Yoko simply said, “He was one of us.” And I think this is the major point I want to make here about John this time. He never saw himself as being better than others just because he was more famous. He was the one who was upset when the band couldn’t meet the regular kids who had come to their concerts, they always had to shake hands with the mayor’s children. When the migrant farm workers were marching down the streets of New York asking for fair work wages he didn’t just send a check, he went down and marched with them. John had his problems, and I don’t mean to indicate otherwise. He made some naive decisions about different causes he was asked to support, but I don’t blame him for that. He almost always saw the light eventually. His heart was always in the right place. He never wanted anybody to think so highly of him that it diminished their own self-worth in any way. He liked cats.John believed in our potential to change things through the power of love. Imagine that!
I wish I could be more like John Lennon, but I can’t, I’m not. I’m just not that talented or brave. Maybe I could be, I don’t know. Time will tell. Or more like Paul McCartney maybe—always trying to make everyone else happy all the time. I’m pretty sure I could never do that either. But Paul is a master at melody and knows how to create harmony in a room, any room, anywhere, any time. The fact that these two were partners is kind of amazing when you think about it. Remember in the Peanuts musical when Lucy sings about her happiness? She’s basically saying happiness is anyone and everything you love. The Beatles were a very large part of my happiness for a very long time. Their music made me happy. Their movies made me happy. Their antics made me happy. Their faces made me happy. It’s hard to explain, but it’s still there after all this time. And for me it all started with John. So Thank You John Lennon. You are not forgotten.By me. You will always be loved. By me. See you next year.
