John Lennon
From RationalWiki
John Lennon (1940 - 1980) was the smartass Beatle. He got over it through many years of reparative therapy. He was also the pessimist (some say "asshole") Beatle, contrasting with the optimist (some say "sappy") Beatle, Sgt. Pepper Paul McCartney. John was the most (or only) publicly political member of the Beatles, opposing the Vietnam War and promoting peace in general. For this he was hounded by the FBI, who even put music reviews of his solo work in his dossier ("Lacking Lennon's usual standards" and "Yoko can't even remain on key.").[1]
He attracted fierce criticism from conservatives and the media for, among other things, his many LSD-influenced songs, his comment that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, appearing naked with his wife and partner Yoko Ono on the cover of an album of bizarre sound experimentation titled Two Virgins, and the chorus of "Ballad of John and Yoko", with its shocking (at the time) reference to Christ and crucifixion [2].
Critical opinion is divided over whether he was a revolutionary or just a dick, but as with most things the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, which is to say, he was both.
Contents |
[edit] Notable compositions and/or recordings
[edit] Meet With the Beatles
- Help!
- In My Life
- Norwegian Wood
- Tomorrow Never Knows
- Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
- A Day in the Life
- Strawberry Fields Forever
- I Am the Walrus
- Revolution
- All You Need Is Love
- Happiness Is a Warm Gun
- Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except For Me and My Monkey
- Revolution #9
- Come Together
[edit] Post-Beatles
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ While Nixon Campaigned, the F.B.I. Watched John Lennon New York Times, 21 September 2006
- ↑ The Ballad Of John And Yoko, LyricWiki
