financeguy
ONE love, blood, life
Quite abstract and difficult to judge. Either way, not something he could do by himself.
How did he change the way people thought about the world?
Again, we are comparing this to Bono's concrete results, as attested to by the people who actually control where the money goes for causes like debt relief, AIDS treatment/prevention, education, water treatment, etc. Bono's successful philanthropic ventures as well.
What did Lennon do personally, besides drugs?
It seems to me that people give Lennon the credit that maybe MLK and RFK deserve more of. But thats just me.
No doubt the Beatles had more cultural impact, never argued that.
As for musical impact, its a tough one. The Beatles influenced a ton of artists, U2 included for sure, but U2 has in turn influenced countless artists as well. I think time will tell on this one.
Ok to respectfully disagree, and again, I'll quote myself:
I don't disagree, but I think a lot of people underestimate how big an influence the Beatles and Lennon's solo material have been on U2, particularly Bono. There are just so many u2 tracks and lyrics and ideas that are heavily influenced by the Beatles. I only really discovered this in recent years when I finally got around to listening to the Beatles' back catalogue, having been previously only familar with the bigger hits (For example, Mofo was basically a rewriting of Lennon's Mother - that's an obvious example that springs to mind, but there are many others.) Plus the fact that Lennon died at 40, and may have done a lot more in the way of political activism had he lived, and Bono is on record as saying Lennon wrote the rulebook for an artist that wants to get involved in political campaigning.
Now, personally, I'd rather lesson to Pop than pretty much any Beatles record with the possible exception of Abbey Road, but give the man his due.