John Lennon

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Imagine-
if you lived.

peace on earth
reunion
anniversary
dreams realized
sleepy Sundays
backyard family days

Seeing what touched you
ran circles around my head
tore at my soul-you gave many their wings
unlocking inhabitions
stepping out of the spotlight

She was your inspiration
you remain hers

Novelty remains the calling card of America
dial up any whim-it's yours to keep
The karma came back to nip at our feet,
the tainted glasses brought me to my knees...

You still shine on.

You're forever the moon the stars and the sun.

 

[Sicy]

Wow I like that.

 

[foray]

"the tainted glasses brought me to my knees..."
I know you meant this as Lennon's famous shades, but 'tinted glass' and 'knees' made me think of church.

Nice tribute

foray

 

[ACROB@T]

Novelty remains the calling card of America
dial up any whim-it's yours to keep
The karma came back to nip at our feet,
the tainted glasses brought me to my knees...

 

[Basstrap]

I like John's music and writing but the guy himself was a bit off.

The funniest thing he ever did was "protest" violence and war by staying in bed with his wife eating 3 square meals a day while entertaining the media.

 

[The Wanderer]

I've always had issues with how Lennon didn't quite follow through in his own life with many of the things he was preaching; personally I've always admired Paul a lot more, now that's not to diminish the things Lennon wrote about, but people tend to worship him a little too much for my comfort, it's the same thing with Bono, but I think Bono has taken great strides to live up to his end of the bargain, especially in the last few years, as he's matured he's been more about doing and less about talking, ok well Bono will always talk! but he's doing more and more now to substantiate his talk (please don't take offense, I'm not trying to ridicule you or Lennon, this is a touching tribute to someone who means a lot to so many people, but I'm always trying to reconcile things about Lennon's life that seem very inconsistent with the words that he spoke, but I won't argue that he touched millions of people and maybe even changed a few hearts and minds along the way, who knows, and that's a pretty amazing thing if indeed he did do that; i guess it all comes back to the pen vs. the sword argument)

but I'm interested in what some people have to say on this, since obviously there are some big Lennon fans among us; what do you think? did Lennon make a difference? should one ignore some aspects of his personal life and just take the lyrics for what they are? what would John be doing today? would he be right along side Bono in Africa? would he be fat and unispired? did wisdom not have the opportunity to catch up to his ideals?

Seeing what touched you
ran circles around my head

I love these lines, and I think this might be the essence of it, through Lennon's songs and words, did we see the world as we wished it could be? was it hope? was it comfort? was it a voice? but in the end, did Lennon's inspiration to his fans really change much in the world? I don't know the answer to that, I hope it's 'yes,' but I'm not so sure that's the right answer...

 

[brettig]

great post Mr Cash, Lennon the person troubles me in that while he was prettymuch canonised for alot of his words and ideas, in reality he was your classic selfish rockstar who never stayed true to things for long or saw anything through. I don't know if he changed the world, but he certainly changed music.

As for Lennon's vision, I know Imagine presents an image, but really the man didnt know what he believed or what he wanted, which is why his public/personal life was so fragmented and why he never seemed to stay with one thing for any length of time.

Hope my thinking out loud doesn't make anyone mad...

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Thanks everyone for your comments and thoughts. I think this is the first time one of my poems has inspired a discussion like this.

I think overall I view Lennon in the light I do for the music he brought to us and his idealistic view of what we could all become, and later, the disillusionment we all eventually have to come to terms with.

 

[foray]

If I were to believe May Pang's (Lennon's girlfriend) book on Lennon, I'd say he was BOTH incredibly loving and very callous to his loved ones, depending on his state of mind. He had his moments of genius and his moments of disillusionment. But I don't know the real story, I don't even know if the things he did to May were true.

I respect Bono more because he is more consistent and I feel I could really learn from a guy like him. Even though Lennon may be that much more brilliant than Bono, the latter guy has what the former does not have: humility.

There's no question that Lennon has influenced, and is still influencing, people today for the better, though. Take a look at the tribute concert held in his honour after Sept 11. The people were bound together with a love for Lennon's simple message of peace and love.

However, I tend to think... and please don't anyone be angry with what I say next... I tend to think that Bono's message of peace is more founded (excuse bad grammar). Why? -- Because 'Imagine', which could be considered the anthem for Lennon's ideas of peace and love, has lyrics that are too idealistic and is phrased in such general terms that the idea of peace is rendered vague. "Imagine there's no heaven/It's easy if you try/No hell below us/Above us only sky". "Imagine there's no countries/It isn't hard to do/Nothing to kill or die for/And no religion too". The song gives a hypothetical world where people don't have any cause to fight for anything. It talks about "sharing the world" and the world living as one. If only things were that simple. However, due to the laws of balance and capitalism, this world will always have these things (heaven, hell, greed etc) that the song renounces. The song, as well as Lennon's words during interviews (I've heard a couple) doesn't offer real solutions, it is not a real kind of peace. He just says things like "we shouldn't fight, we must love each other".

Bono's version of peace is more real because he acknowledges the pain that comes with the world (as in the song Peace On Earth) AND offers realistic, very very specific solutions, through his work with DATA, Drop The Debt.

I guess I could sum it up by saying that Lennon's ideas remain just that: ideas. When you hear them, they sound nice and give feelings of hope, but ultimately they remain in the mind. With Bono, the feelings of hope are given hands and feet.

Just my opinion. I still very much enjoy Lennon's music.

foray

 

[brettig]

I guess I could sum it up by saying that Lennon's ideas remain just that: ideas. When you hear them, they sound nice and give feelings of hope, but ultimately they remain in the mind. With Bono, the feelings of hope are given hands and feet.

Just my opinion. I still very much enjoy Lennon's music.

foray

Bono might be the dreamer of U2, but compared to Lennon, hes pretty darn pragmatic!

 

[~LadyLemon~]

Wow, April. I love this.

 

[U2Kitten]

What a nice tribute.