A quarter of a century ago Lennon was taken from us

[TimmyB]

This past October I was in New York City for the dozenth time. All the previous times in the Big Apple I had never gone to Strawberry Fields in Central Park, or to the front gate where John Lennon was shot. This time I made sure to do so.

There is something in us that treats a quarter of anything with importance. A quarter of a dollar, a quarter of a football game, a quarter of a century. The latter made me realize that I should make a note to stop by Strawberry Fields this time around in 2005. As it has been a quarter of a century since Lennon was taken from this world.

Roses were on the ground and people stood around holding each other some even could be seen crying, and I believe that a quarter of a millennium from now people will still be doing the same.

There is power in music, real power and John Lennon showed us what can be done with it. Lennon showed us that music can change the world, and I still believe that it can and will continue to do so as long as the earth rotates around the sun.

Tim

From www.billboard.com

THIS DAY IN MUSIC for December 8, 2005

1980 - John Lennon is shot to death outside of his New York City home by Mark David Chapman. His biggest hit is "(Just Like) Starting Over," which was released the month before his death and becomes a million-selling No. 1 song. As part of the Beatles he is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. He is awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1991.

[ge-off]

There is power in music, real power and John Lennon showed us what can be done with it. Lennon showed us that music can change the world, and I still believe that it can and will continue to do so as long as the earth rotates around the sun.

Tim

well put..

strawberry feilds is a special & powerfull place.. a place of reflection..

last time i was in NYC (may) there was a solitary man was playing an acoustic guitar singing johns songs.

it stirred some strong emotions in me..

today i started my day with Sgt. Peppers & abbey road played back to back..

[Velvet]

Started my day with Double Fantasy today.

Last time I was in NYC I went to the Dakota for the first time.

sigh

[MarcO]

Thanks for starting The Quarry Men back in March of 1957, John.

You will always be remembered. Rest in peace.

[MarcO]

this station is playing nothing but Lennon all day long and you can listen on-line.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Thanks for the link, MarcO. Got it streaming right now, much to my daughter's delight.

Just ran across this -

For some reason this works better for me than, say, Bono with Paul Martin.

[TimmyB]

The second time I went the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame they had a temporary exhibit that Yoko Ono had lent the Hall for display of John's and her possessions.

The first thing I saw at the Lennon Exibit was their church pew bed, but the second thing I saw was those bloody glasses. I found it impossible to hold back emotions in that moment, when I saw those bloody glasses.

Tim

[greasyfizeek]

Great post. TimmyB, you are really tappiing into my psyche these days. Amazing how music really is a signpost for our lives.

I've been to Strawberry Fields in Central Park several times, but easily the most memorable was the first time, a blustery late February day in 1998, my first time in New York City. My best friend was the biggest Beatles fan growing up, and this was hallowed ground for him. Meeting the eccentric, devoted Lennonites that spent time at the memorial day, in day out was incredible. I have some amazing pictures.

That day we walked 100 blocks to find the Seinfeld restaurant, see Strawberry Fields in Central Park, stand outside of Radio City Music Hall for the Grammy's with a bunch of screaming Hanson fans, see Rent for 10 bucks on Broadway, and hop the last train to Philly from Grand Central Station.

A manic, beautiful day.

RIP John.

greasy

[can-o-phish]

Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven,

It's easy if you try,

No hell below us,

Above us only sky,

Imagine all the people

living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,

It isnt hard to do,

Nothing to kill or die for,

No religion too,

Imagine all the people

living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,

I wonder if you can,

No need for greed or hunger,

A brotherhood of man,

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world...

You may say Im a dreamer,

but Im not the only one,

I hope some day you'll join us,

And the world will live as one.

Writen by: John Lennon

Nothing Else Can Be Said...Except Thank You John

[Velvet]

The second time I went the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame they had a temporary exhibit that Yoko Ono had lent the Hall for display of John's and her possessions.

The first thing I saw at the Lennon Exibit was their church pew bed, but the second thing I saw was those bloody glasses. I found it impossible to hold back emotions in that moment, when I saw those bloody glasses.

Tim

Ditto.

[ollie]

Thanks for the link MarcO.

This day always brings me back to the morning I woke up to my mom in tears, kneeling beside my bed as the news was played over and over again on the radio.

[Kaidy Mae]

Dr. Evil Mouse, I'm so glad that someone dug up that photo. I met Peter Bregg (Chief photog for Maclean's, Trudeau's personal photog & the guy lucky enough to snap that photo) a year or 2 ago and he told me the story of this image. Apparently Trudeau's Centre Block office was stuffed with photographers (the only press allowed in to see the PM meet the John & Yoko) waiting to get a shot of the three. Bregg was kind of restless and went outside to stretch his legs, grab a smoke, whatever. He said that while he was outside the doors a car pulls up and John and Yoko get out (looking rather surprised that absolutely NO ONE is waiting for their arrival). Bregg said hello, chatted for a moment and then held the door for the couple. By the time John & Yoko got up to Trudeau, the place was nuts...just absolutely packed. Bregg was fucked! There was nowhere for him to squish in to get a shot. Trudeau gestured for him to come up to the front anyway. Bregg gets to the front, crouching on his knees so as not to block the other photographers when he hears Trudeau say to John, "This is my photographer, Peter." They all looked down at him and he was able to capture one of the greatest political photographs ever taken. It's one of my favourites.

I guess everyone else just got pictures of the tops of their heads.

I hope that he's finally found some peace.

[ollie]

Not meaning to be disrespectful but I hope the last guy featured in today's "Hey" section of Dose was just a really bad coincidence.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Hm? Couldn't find anything on their website.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

And Kaidy Mae - maybe Lacey's right, and you actually do know everybody .

[ollie]

Hm? Couldn't find anything on their website.

Guy's name is Mark Chapman and he bears a superficial resemblance. Synchronicity?

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

That's not the actor, is it, that they'd originally cast as Lennon in the first biopic? I remember everyone being whacked with the irony of that one.

I have a friend by the same name who has been dealing with the same jokes for the last 25 years.

[ollie]

Lennon remembered

It was 25 years tomorrow that John Lennon was shot dead in New York, and to commemorate the anniversary, Yoko Ono revisits the night he died and asks those who knew him best to recall his amazing life and times.

[TimmyB]

The second time I went the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame they had a temporary exhibit that Yoko Ono had lent the Hall for display of John's and her possessions.

The first thing I saw at the Lennon Exibit was their church pew bed' date=' but the second thing I saw was those bloody glasses. I found it impossible to hold back emotions in that moment, when I saw those bloody glasses.

Tim [/quote']

Ditto.

Hey Velvet,

Do you feel that Yoko Ono should have loaned the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame John Lennon's glasses that he was wearing when he was shot?

Tim

[Velvet]

Ummm...

Well, yeah, I guess so. John Lennon is much more than a man, he's an icon - he's history, and thus the focus of a museum exhibit.

I guess I would have to say the glasses are an important artifact, and as such are appropriate in an exhibit that chronicled his life. Death is, after all, a part of life.

Do you feel that they shouldn't have been there?

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

I can say that I got a much better handle on what atomic weapons were after I saw some of what was on offer at the museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki; one pair of glasses that are the aftermath of a devastating act of violence against someone who worked against even himself to promote peace is pretty powerful. It does help to remind us of what kinds of fucked up people our culture can produce, too.

I don't mean to conflate these two things, though as Simone Weil once said, a leaf falling in the forest shares in the same tragedy as the crucifixion.

Sorry, I'm rambling....

[TimmyB]

Ummm...

Well, yeah, I guess so. John Lennon is much more than a man, he's an icon - he's history, and thus the focus of a museum exhibit.

I guess I would have to say the glasses are an important artifact, and as such are appropriate in an exhibit that chronicled his life. Death is, after all, a part of life.

Do you feel that they shouldn't have been there?

No I feel, as you do that John Lennon's bloody glasses are an important artifact, that runs from his birth all the way to his death.

Tim