(from an email I sent around. Not doing much blogging lately, so I thought I'd put it up here.)
John Lennon died 25 years ago today. There have been numerous articles and memorials about this, but something I heard today on public radio was so remarkable I wanted to share it with a few people.
http://www.hearingvoices.com/special/2005/lennon/
This hour-long program has two segments: one features interviews with Lennon and a rather non-linear recounting of his life in and out of the Beatles, the second is a series of memories from different people about when they first heard that he had died. Both segments are astonishing in different ways. What’s also amazing, to my ears, is the use of demo, live, and home recordings both in the background and as segues. At one point we hear "She Said, She Said" evolve from a primitive home recording to a full band version in about 10 seconds.
I heard this program as I was leaving work for lunch, and I immediately changed my plans, went through a drive-through and sat in my car for an hour so as not to miss anything. Also so I could laugh and cry in peace.
Perhaps the most touching moments (for me) were John and Sean Lennon discussing Beatles songs, or John just talking about how much he enjoyed being a father. (Sean was five when Lennon died at age 40). Or one of his fans talking about how her politics and values were influenced by his words and his work.
For those of you in Milwaukee, there have been some good Lennon articles recently. Dave Tianen at the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel did this one:
http://www.jsonline.com/onwisconsin/music/nov05/374332.asp
My friend Blaine Schultz at the Shepherd Express did a piece on
Milwaukee musicians reflecting on Lennon’s death, and was kind enough to include me as one of the people he interviewed:
http://www.shepherd-express.com/12_8_05/cover.htm
One thing I couldn’t stop wondering when I listened to the radio special was what would John Lennon think of the world today. Would he be discouraged? Would he be speaking out, agitating for peace as he did in the 60s and 70s? It’s hard to say. The world has changed since his death; one of the things that changed it was his death.
That’s too negative a note to end on, so I’ll remember what someone said once, that you’re never really dead as long as there is someone who remembers you.
John Lennon will never die.
