... I cried all night long over someone I'd never met, but who had been a part of my life for as long as I could remember.
A woman lost the love of her life. Two boys lost their father. The world lost one of its most brilliant voices.
A working class hero, a genius, an anarchist and an icon was frozen at age 40, with the remainder of his potential to be forever unknown.
Thirty years later, I still get tears in my eyes.
Miss you, John. Still.
Ahhhhhh... sighs ...Long ago.. when I was in the 5th grade.. a girlfriend of mine that 'sorta' played the guitar.. had me and two other girls join her every day on the playground.. and instead of playing kickball.. we were over on the side.. singing our little happy-go-lucky, totally in love with the Beatles hearts out ... while she strummed on that cheap piece of crap that looked more like Ukulele.. I can still hear us...
ReplyDelete♫
You think you've lost your love
Well, I saw her yesterday-yi-yay
It's you she's thinking of
And she told me what to say-yi-yay
She says she loves you
and you know that can't be bad
Yes, she loves you
and you know you should be glad
Oo, she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
And with a love like that
You know you should be glad ♫
I remember the "sad day " well .
ReplyDeleteZelle -- oh, I love memories like that. When I was six, I said I was going to marry John when I grew up. :-)
ReplyDeleteAlan -- yup. I heard the news in my car and damn near crashed it.
ReplyDeleteYeah that was the day the music died for me. Some sick weirdo comes along and extinguishes a brilliant light. Then there are all those idiots out there who live long and useless lives.
ReplyDeleteThere ought to be a law!
Hugs,
Hermione
Hermione -- laws, we got. Justice, we ain't.
ReplyDeleteI remember exactly what I was doing when I heard the news Erica. A sad day for music.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Ronnie
xx
i was at work. i worked 4- midnight. someone had a radio in the break area and we heard it late in the shift. i was devistated.
ReplyDeletei started out hating the beatles. there 1st album was almost all covers [none too good i thought then] and i cursed an industry that ignored our great acts while making some brits millions. comming from the era when we [the in crowd] discovered that the black artists originals were far better than the white covers i was perforce biased.
the in what now seems the blink of an eye came norwegian wood, yesterdays, sgt.peppers, hey jude...et al. i became a big invaision fan. the stones gave muddy a payday and i realized that they understood.
then that awfull day. it's never quite been the same. and now there are two. such a shame.
i've lived too long.
ddon
Ronnie -- yes, it was.
ReplyDeleteddon -- time passes much too quickly. I still can't believe that John's baby boy Sean is 35 years old.
I loved the Beatles cover versions, but I admit to being prejudiced; I loved nearly everything they did.
Hi Erica,
ReplyDeleteI remember that night vividly. I was working in the kitchen while Randy was watching football in the living room. I heard him scream, "No! Oh no!"
I figured it was something in the game. I knew otherwise when he called for me in a voice whose urgency I will never forget.
We hugged. I cried. For days, I couldn't put this tragedy out of my mind. Our beacon was extinguished.
Flash forward to this morning... The song "Across the Universe" came up on my iPod. I had to stop it. It was just too sad.
I wish we could somehow hear John's thoughts about today's world. He was a conscience, an innovator, and a leader. Gandhi meets Elvis. We need John more now than ever before.
Hugs,
Bonnie
I was in 6th grade when it happened, thought is was shocking and sad. But years later as in within the last year or so, I saw various modern history programs on tv and was REALLY shocked at how much close access Chapman had to John just prior to his murder. Was is a rarety for big stars to have body guards back then?
ReplyDeleteBonnie -- I'm glad you guys were together for each other. I too would like to know what he'd think about today's world. I'm imagining some pretty pithy comments!
ReplyDeleteKelly -- it is chilling indeed, how easy it was for Chapman. Either bodyguards were rare at the time, or John, despite his worldly wisdom, was rather naive.
ReplyDeleteI was in 9th grade-wow that was a long time ago! I think many people my age lost a piece of their innocence that day.
ReplyDeleteRob
I had worked late at the store. I was a senior in High school and decided to sleep in and just go to afternoon classes... I was so tired. I flicked on the radio for back ground noise to drown out the busy house hold and that was the first I heard.
ReplyDelete"If you have not heard by now, I am sorry to tell you, John Lennon was shot and killed last night outside of the dakota."
30 years later and I can still remember what the DJ said, sitting up in bed and feeling very numb.
It seems just as unreal today as it did back then.
Excuse me for awhile, I want to dig out my copy of Double Fantasy on vinyl and give it a spin.
I was only 4, but his music is among my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI'm just sittin' here watching the wheels go 'round and 'round,
I really love to watch them roll.
No longer ridin' on the merry-go-round,
I just had to let it go.
That's my number one favorite song.
What a loss.
Hugs,
Pink
I definitely agree, but I would have never guessed that you are already over thirty! Wow! irreverence at it's best
ReplyDeletehugs
Red
Rob -- yeah, I would imagine it was pretty shattering for a young teenager.
ReplyDeletePoppa -- good choice of album. But can you skip over the songs where Yoko sings?
pink -- beautiful, poignant song. A mellower, older John.
Red -- honey, I am waaaaaaaaaay over 30. :-)
By the standards his native Liverpool no way was Lennon working class.
ReplyDeleteAt the start a middle class art school student, later a multi-millionairre, sitting in bed in an expensive hotel petulantly demanding 'peace'.
Some truly great and enduring songs with McCartney, but Imagine is just mawkish whining
Doonstar -- I can certainly think of worse things to demand. :-)
ReplyDeleteIn case you never saw it, here's John and Yoko's "Playboy" Interview, January, 1981
ReplyDeleteLove,
"Wolfie" using "Anonymous" because MySpaz just freezes up my computer now!!
Wolfie -- thanks! Screw MySpace; they're no good for anything these days.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Erica!
ReplyDeleteYou are right... so I started a blog here!
You seem to have a good heart. And a charisma I cannot explain.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous -- thank you! I try. :-)
ReplyDeleteI grew up with the Beatles. I was 15 when their records hit the states in the fall of '63. Watched The Ed Sullivan Show in Feb., '64
ReplyDelete