Dropsafe

by Alec Muffett

1980: John Lennon shot dead

A 3rd-form British Schoolroom in 1980:

Dominic Byatt: (distraught, age 13+) “It’s terrible! John Lennon’s been shot! He’s dead!”

Alec Muffett: (age 12½) “Who?”

Really, it’s true. At that age I had no concept of Lennon outside of the Beatles, and frankly I still don’t. I find “Imagine” to be a tedious song, not least because I don’t need to be prompted to imagine such things, or worse to think that because I have to imagine them they are therefore somehow unattainable. Regardless of a previous girlfriend’s fixation with the tune it has no emotional overtones for me, it’s just a statement of the obvious.

Lennon may have been a soaring creative genius, and it’s a tragedy for prettymuch anyone to die a violent and unexpected death, but I still can’t bring myself to deify the man.

⊞

Comments

4 responses to “1980: John Lennon shot dead”

  1. Stephen Usher
    re: 1980: John Lennon shot dead

    I must admit that a lot of his “newer” matterial was rather, well, basic and samey. “Imagine” and “Woman” both have very simple melodies which are actually very similar.

    I think both Lennon and McCartney never had the same writing spark after they split. It was probably the tensions between them which gave them the edge and forced them to work harder.

    So, the best that Lennon could produce after The Beatles was “Woman” and “Imagine” and what did McCartney give us? “Band on the Run” and “The Frog Chorus.” I think that says it all, really.

    Reply
  2. acb
    re: 1980: John Lennon shot dead

    Butbutbut… John Lennon was a Holy Man, a Rock’n’Roll bodhisattva who sought to unite the world with peace and love. He was sort of the Michael Jackson of his time in that way.

    Apparently the Dalai Lama got a lot of the peace’n’love shtick he trots out for the benefit of gullible, moneyed westerners from John Lennon.

    Reply
  3. Ben
    re: 1980: John Lennon shot dead

    “but I still can’t bring myself to deify the man”

    For once, we agree!

    John Lennon was just a man… a bloody lucky, pretty media-savvy, reasonably skilled musician, but sadly murdered man.

    Ben

    Reply
  4. b

    thats my dad!

    Reply

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