Lennon, 25 years on: a brief note to a Boomer friend
When Lennon died, I really didn’t get it. I mean, I certainly knew who he was, and at an intellectual level I knew it was a big tragedy. But getting it in your head and getting it in your gut are different things, and I was young enough that The Beatles were more history than lived experience for me. When they split in 1970, for instance, I wasn’t even 10 yet. And frankly, aside from 33⅓, Band on the Run, and “Imagine,” none of them had done much as solo artists that matched the quality of their collective efforts, either. So when he was gunned down it didn’t really hit me like it hit a lot of my Boomer friends.
Since that time, though, I’ve come to better understand what it must have felt like to have a hero murdered. I think if I consider how I felt about the death of Freddie Mercury (who was a hero for me, but who didn’t die under anything like the circumstances of Lennon’s death), plus the shock of Cobain’s suicide (Kurt was an iconic talent who I respected even in moments where I didn’t like what he was doing), plus the sheer force of the gut-shot I felt with the Challenger and 9/11 tragedies, maybe I can triangulate the emotion you felt over John’s death. Last night Angela asked me what would be a parallel in my life, and I think the only thing that would approximate it would be if somebody had killed Bono. Lennon was too old, Kurt was too young, so Bono is the Lennon of the early- to mid-Gen X.
Anyway, while I still don’t quite feel the anniversary of John’s death like you do, please accept my condolences. I don’t think your generation is over it yet, and with the world spinning further and further from what he dreamed of with each passing day, I don’t know that you ever will be.
lullaby pit 
I’m of the age that should feel bad about Lennon’s untimely demise. I feel bad for the loss of life, but John Lennon wasn’t my favorite Beatle, George Harrison was. I mourned his death greatly. I don’t really think fans need condolences, and got into a strong debate with a peer yesterday on that topic.
When Keith Richard or Mick Jagger dies, I will feel bad.
Aloha,
Jeff
I’m of the age that should feel bad about Lennon’s untimely demise. I feel bad for the loss of life, but John Lennon wasn’t my favorite Beatle, George Harrison was. I mourned his death greatly. I don’t really think fans need condolences, and got into a strong debate with a peer yesterday on that topic.
When Keith Richard or Mick Jagger dies, I will feel bad.
Aloha,
Jeff
But when Keith dies, how will you be able to tell?
But when Keith dies, how will you be able to tell?
LOL:)
Aloha,
Jeff
LOL:)
Aloha,
Jeff
lennon and this boomer
Sam,
It’s been a few years and I’m not sure if I remember things from the doctoral program all that well, but I’d like to remind you of a writer (British or Czech, I think) who said something about history and that there were three things or kinds of ways you could look at history and the first one slips by me right now, and the second’s like grabbing a Pam-sprayed frog, but the third one, the one in which this guy says that what he called “lived history” is unique in that it is a history that can only be understood by those who passed through that framework in that particular time and experienced those particular events.
Wow. All that was one sentence.
Anyway, then came the postmodernists and you didn’t even have to fall for their full game to know that something they said was spot-on. Each person brings a world of experience and predisposition to everything they experience anew.
And putting these things together, I’m thinking that what you have done in drawing the analogy between the hero of that time and yours is a perfectly legitimate way of understanding the experience. It may be the only way we can share the sensation of a lived-history.
The problem we need to be careful of is in allowing the “lived history” of the other person becoming the only interpretation that we use to judge those times of the other person. Again, that damned postmodernism raises its ugly head, but we Boomers each have a different lived history and our perspectives will be different.
For me, the Beatles were the group. I never locked on to any one or the other of them until I heard “Here Comes the Sun,” by Harrison. I was in the army, just a week or so from getting my orders to send me to Vietnam or somewhere else, and there was this sense of impending gloom and impendingness.
The joy of the rising morning, the hope of a new day, spoke to me then. Harrison became the one who understood things, for me. And the other Beatles were just kind of there. My lived history of Lennon outside the Beatles was not one of greatness or heroism, though the Beatles were. And when I happened on that newsstand in Hawaii and saw the red-lettered headline announcing the killing, I was shocked and saddened.
But I never felt like a hero was passing.
Cody Barstow
lennon and this boomer
Sam,
It’s been a few years and I’m not sure if I remember things from the doctoral program all that well, but I’d like to remind you of a writer (British or Czech, I think) who said something about history and that there were three things or kinds of ways you could look at history and the first one slips by me right now, and the second’s like grabbing a Pam-sprayed frog, but the third one, the one in which this guy says that what he called “lived history” is unique in that it is a history that can only be understood by those who passed through that framework in that particular time and experienced those particular events.
Wow. All that was one sentence.
Anyway, then came the postmodernists and you didn’t even have to fall for their full game to know that something they said was spot-on. Each person brings a world of experience and predisposition to everything they experience anew.
And putting these things together, I’m thinking that what you have done in drawing the analogy between the hero of that time and yours is a perfectly legitimate way of understanding the experience. It may be the only way we can share the sensation of a lived-history.
The problem we need to be careful of is in allowing the “lived history” of the other person becoming the only interpretation that we use to judge those times of the other person. Again, that damned postmodernism raises its ugly head, but we Boomers each have a different lived history and our perspectives will be different.
For me, the Beatles were the group. I never locked on to any one or the other of them until I heard “Here Comes the Sun,” by Harrison. I was in the army, just a week or so from getting my orders to send me to Vietnam or somewhere else, and there was this sense of impending gloom and impendingness.
The joy of the rising morning, the hope of a new day, spoke to me then. Harrison became the one who understood things, for me. And the other Beatles were just kind of there. My lived history of Lennon outside the Beatles was not one of greatness or heroism, though the Beatles were. And when I happened on that newsstand in Hawaii and saw the red-lettered headline announcing the killing, I was shocked and saddened.
But I never felt like a hero was passing.
Cody Barstow
Re: lennon and this boomer
You need to be writing stuff like this for your blog.
Re: lennon and this boomer
You need to be writing stuff like this for your blog.
strangely, John Lennon’s death hit me particularly hard. i was a big fan since pretty much birth, courtesy of my mother. i look back at a lot of the self-sabotaging things i’ve done and i think a lot has to do with fearing fame because of what it did to Lennon.
strangely, John Lennon’s death hit me particularly hard. i was a big fan since pretty much birth, courtesy of my mother. i look back at a lot of the self-sabotaging things i’ve done and i think a lot has to do with fearing fame because of what it did to Lennon.
In My Life
Last night for some reason I was talking to myself while watching some news about the 25th anniversary of Lennon’s death, and I blurted out “why the hell would someone kill Lennon.” Like it happened yesterday! I was only four when he got shot and I couldn’t care less then, but like most people my age (gen X) you either find Jesus or the Beatles. Thankfully I found the Beatles. To this day I’m amazed at the amount of great songs those guys wrote. I even find myself saying “Lennon sings that song” when I hear a song that I recognize, but in my ignorance I was never aware that it was a Lennon song. I’m a picky guy when it comes to music, and there are a few Beatles songs I dislike, and there are defiantly a few Lennon songs I hate as well. However there are so many songs that I love I’m just blow away every time I think about it. It’s almost like when you look into a night sky and you finally realize how small we are and how big the universe is, or how you fathom that the Bills could go to 4 Superbowls and lose them all. Not only were the Beatles great, they got better. How can someone be this creative and actually get better as their career goes on. Look at all the bands that tour based on older material despite having new albums that sell like shit. (Stones, Metallica) Ok enough blowing the Beatles, everyone does it and it’s getting old. However here’s a quick story about my visit to Attica Prison, home of Mark David Chapman for the past 25 years. When I was in high school (1993ish) I had the opportunity for a class to visit inmates at the lovely maximum security facility. My class got to talk to inmates about life, drugs and the non stop ass raping that goes on in jail. Needless to say it was quite entertaining. The inmates all knew that there was one question that everyone wanted to know, it was a no-brainer. “Have you ever met Mark David Chapman” Of course they haven’t, Chapman was in isolation because he would get killed in a second if he got put in to general pop. However the answer that we got was proof that Lennon crossed lines of music, class and race. Of course the majority of the inmates were large black men who fit every black stereotype imaginable. When asked what would happen to Chapman if they met him, or if he got put in general pop? A 350 lb black guy awnsered “ Lennon wrote Imagine, you don’t kill the guy who wrote that .” No matter if you are a convicted child molester, rapist, or famous killer, you will get killed if you get put into general population. However in this case the inmates were actually passionate about the work Lennon did, and would beat him to a pulp because he killed their hero. In no way would Chapman last a night anyways, it’s just amazing to me that in the worst possible place in the world (prison) these guys who wold normally kill for pride and respect, would kill a guy as if it was a personal revenge. They actually talked for a good five minutes about what a great song writer he was. It’s funny that douche bags like Diddy keep trying to make money off of marginally talented dead rappers like Biggie. That ass keeps trying to drum up some sort of false greatness for a person that most people never heard of before his death. It’s also no surprise that MTV had no mention yesterday of Lennon’s death anniversary. It seems as though MTV might be unaware of their audiences musical sophistication. Yes they might listen to “My Humps” but I guarantee they have a Beatles, or a Lennon song on their MP3 player. I also guarantee that they love a song that they were unaware was written by John Lennon.
In My Life
Last night for some reason I was talking to myself while watching some news about the 25th anniversary of Lennon’s death, and I blurted out “why the hell would someone kill Lennon.” Like it happened yesterday! I was only four when he got shot and I couldn’t care less then, but like most people my age (gen X) you either find Jesus or the Beatles. Thankfully I found the Beatles. To this day I’m amazed at the amount of great songs those guys wrote. I even find myself saying “Lennon sings that song” when I hear a song that I recognize, but in my ignorance I was never aware that it was a Lennon song. I’m a picky guy when it comes to music, and there are a few Beatles songs I dislike, and there are defiantly a few Lennon songs I hate as well. However there are so many songs that I love I’m just blow away every time I think about it. It’s almost like when you look into a night sky and you finally realize how small we are and how big the universe is, or how you fathom that the Bills could go to 4 Superbowls and lose them all. Not only were the Beatles great, they got better. How can someone be this creative and actually get better as their career goes on. Look at all the bands that tour based on older material despite having new albums that sell like shit. (Stones, Metallica) Ok enough blowing the Beatles, everyone does it and it’s getting old. However here’s a quick story about my visit to Attica Prison, home of Mark David Chapman for the past 25 years. When I was in high school (1993ish) I had the opportunity for a class to visit inmates at the lovely maximum security facility. My class got to talk to inmates about life, drugs and the non stop ass raping that goes on in jail. Needless to say it was quite entertaining. The inmates all knew that there was one question that everyone wanted to know, it was a no-brainer. “Have you ever met Mark David Chapman” Of course they haven’t, Chapman was in isolation because he would get killed in a second if he got put in to general pop. However the answer that we got was proof that Lennon crossed lines of music, class and race. Of course the majority of the inmates were large black men who fit every black stereotype imaginable. When asked what would happen to Chapman if they met him, or if he got put in general pop? A 350 lb black guy awnsered “ Lennon wrote Imagine, you don’t kill the guy who wrote that .” No matter if you are a convicted child molester, rapist, or famous killer, you will get killed if you get put into general population. However in this case the inmates were actually passionate about the work Lennon did, and would beat him to a pulp because he killed their hero. In no way would Chapman last a night anyways, it’s just amazing to me that in the worst possible place in the world (prison) these guys who wold normally kill for pride and respect, would kill a guy as if it was a personal revenge. They actually talked for a good five minutes about what a great song writer he was. It’s funny that douche bags like Diddy keep trying to make money off of marginally talented dead rappers like Biggie. That ass keeps trying to drum up some sort of false greatness for a person that most people never heard of before his death. It’s also no surprise that MTV had no mention yesterday of Lennon’s death anniversary. It seems as though MTV might be unaware of their audiences musical sophistication. Yes they might listen to “My Humps” but I guarantee they have a Beatles, or a Lennon song on their MP3 player. I also guarantee that they love a song that they were unaware was written by John Lennon.
Re: In My Life
Great comment. Go over to and post this comment on the xpost there, would you?
Re: In My Life
Great comment. Go over to and post this comment on the xpost there, would you?
Lennon helped define a generation of social change… he really was a hero and offered something that I really don’t think younger generations will experience to such an extent. I fully realized this when I stood at the gate of The Dakota with my dad last year, where he was immediately speechless and nearly in tears upon standing where it happened. I was born in the year Lennon was killed, so I definitely didn’t get it until seeing such a strong reaction so many years later.
Lennon helped define a generation of social change… he really was a hero and offered something that I really don’t think younger generations will experience to such an extent. I fully realized this when I stood at the gate of The Dakota with my dad last year, where he was immediately speechless and nearly in tears upon standing where it happened. I was born in the year Lennon was killed, so I definitely didn’t get it until seeing such a strong reaction so many years later.
Lennon
See the Truffle for a take.
Lennon
See the Truffle for a take.