Thursday, December 08, 2005

Lennon Addendum

Imagine crystalled John's dream. It crystallized his idealism. It was something he really wanted to say to the world.
Yoko Ono-Lennon, John's wife

Q (from Simply Put) and I were having an offline conversation (corporate speak) about Lennon tunes, which brought to mind two items: one, my favorite post-Beatle Lennon songs, and, two, where I was when I heard the news about Lennon’s death. Check out the photo from Yoko that Q posted, very sad.

I read the news today, oh boy…
I was proofreading in the newsroom of our local newspaper when the photographer came in and asked why the radio was playing Lennon and Beatle songs. I replied with the shocking news, so I guess if he doesn’t remember my name he’ll know remember some guy in the newsroom told him the news. Where were you when you heard the news?

My favorite Lennon songs are:
Watching the Wheels
Nobody Told Me
Jealous Guy
Working Class Hero
Imagine (trivia: Phil Spector sang backup on this song)
Nobody Loves You When You’re Down and Out
Borrowed Time
Starting Over
God
How Do You Sleep (trivia: this is about Paul McCartney responding to McCartney's dig on "Too Many People")

What are your favorite Lennon songs?

Nothing will stop me, and whether I'm here or wherever I may be, I'll always have the same feelings [and] I'll say what I feel.
John Lennon

2 comments:

stc said...

A friend of mine sent the following link to Rolling Stone's pick of the best post-Beatles Lennon material.

Cold Turkey is a great song, although its descent into hell portion makes it tough to listen to if anyone is around! Other choices:

Instant Karma
Mother (complete with primal screaming)
Isolation
Working Class Hero
Imagine (of course!)
Crippled Inside
How?
Oh My Love
Aisumasen (closes with an awesome guitar solo)
Nobody Loves You (trivia: John tried to interest Frank Sinatra in this song — he was convinced it was a perfect arrangement for Frank)

I remember going to school the day after Lennon died. My fellow classmates didn't care very much — I remember one guy made a joke about it. I was depressed, and it was terrible that no one in that environment shared my grief with me.

I should have talked to some of the teachers. They were young adults in the sixties; I bet they were feeling it very deeply. In our Christmas assembly that year, one of the teachers played piano while several of them sang Imagine in Lennon's honour.
Q

Janet said...

Imagine is a definite classic, as are much of Lennon's songs, but I've always been partial to Jealous Guy. There's something sadly romantic about that song.