"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."
John Lennon was unique and, 25 years after his murder in New York, there are plenty of bands touring across the world today, who decide to play an obscure Lennon track in the middle of their set. You just have to listen to Oasis's "(What's the Story) Morning Glory" and there's plenty of Lennon in there, from Liam Gallagher's nasal resonance to "Don't Look Back in Anger". It could be "Imagine" re-incarnated.
"Part of me suspects that I'm a loser, and the other part of me thinks I'm God Almighty."
Lennon had a sharp tongue, was extremely sarcastic & arrogant. These days the PR machine of any record company would probably welcome all of that believing the mystique of a troubled artist would help boost sales. Back in the 60s, it was almost a nightmare for Apple Records' PR department to keep a lid on Lennon. Busy executives in smart suits then had a difficult job explaining his independent wit to journalists writing for a docile 60s pop-buying public.
"The more I see the less I know for sure."
And there is the image of Lennon - if you fly into Liverpool, you are confronted by his image as soon as you step off the plane at Liverpool John Lennon Airport. OK, that's a bad example, it's the place of his birth and Liverpudlians are naturally proud of the man. But I suspect, if you are having a coffee say in Kathmandu, it wouldn't be completely out of place to see a poster and Lennon's image (the glasses & the hair) and the message: Give Peace a chance.
"As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot."
Yoko!
Many blame her saying she was responsible for the break-up of the Beatles. But by the mid-sixties, it was clear that Lennon was fed up of the Beatles' machinery anyway and Yoko gave him a new focus, a new direction and the creative release he needed. Far from being a talent-less groupie, she was a renowned avant-garde artist in her own right - some even suggest that after she got together with Lennon, her own work went downhill overnight.
"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives."
The peace movement used "Give Peace a Chance" as their anthem. It was beginning to irritate US republicans who were worried about their beloved Richard Nixon's chances of being returned to office if Lennon became a superhero anti-Vietnam War activist. This was a time when the voting age had been lowered from 21 to 18 and many were buying Lennon songs and waging student protests. The FBI put a tail on him and a memo was circulated in high Nixon circles suggesting that it was time for Lennon's visa to be revoked. After Nixon got re-elected though things cooled down slightly.
"You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die."
The last thing Lennon wanted was to be thrown out of the US. And it's said for a personal reason. Yoko had a daughter and her ex-husband had abducted her taking her to America. If John and Yoko were thrown out of the US that would be Yoko's last chance to track down her missing child.
"The postman wants an autograph. The cab driver wants a picture. The waitress wants a handshake. Everyone wants a piece of you."
The Vietnam War ended and Lennon & Yoko settled down to suburban life in New York. He liked the peace it offered him compared with the madness of London, the irony being, that peace was relatively short-lived, New York being the place where he was shot outside his apartment.
And what about the legacy?
In London, he had the world at his feet, all the excesses of sex, drugs & a rock'n'roll lifestyle. The grand guru of sound recording George Martin was producing his work. But he drifted away from all of that in New York and virtually re-invented himself as lone solo artist, home-taping his work and producing what he wanted. Ultimately, he had an electric mind, bags of talent and was socially conscious ... in John Lennon's own words:
"You don't need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!"
Vienna | 3.12.2005 | 15:53 
