While I agree he was a great songwriter, and he did change the face of popular music, (and IMHO, he did that more so with his work with the Beatles, than his solo work), however, I must disagree that he changed the way I live my life.
Why would you say it is undeniable?
It is very deniable indeed.
To paraphrase The Moody Blues: "He's just a singer (in a Rock and Roll Band)". |
It was 29 years ago today, Sgt.Pepper told the band to pray. |
He did change my life, I now know the difference between a headache and a migraine. |
Talented guy.
What a waste! |
A sad day indeed. Lennon, in my estimation, was a gifted, yet often cruel soul. The sum of all I've read leaves me with the impression that he was brilliant, petty, insightful, dark, lonely, and incredibly gifted.
I believe that with the Beatles he was greatly aided by the counterweight to his darker self provided by the other 3, and George Martin.
But what would the other 3 have been without him? No Strawberry Fields, In My Life, A Day In The Life, Girl, Norwegian Wood, I'm Only Sleeping- on and on.
How much poorer our musical lives would have been without him.
Just my opinion. |
It's a tragedy when anyone is needlessly gunned down in cold blood. However, I disagree about his influence as it pertains to societal impact. |
I do believe Lennon was/is a hero to many, FBOFW, and did affect the lives of many who admire/admired him.
THe saddest thing to me about his death was that he appeared to be entering a new phase of his public life with some new perspectives perhaps as a result of being a newly engaged father and family man. We'll never know what kind of new musical directions he might have gone down. As one of the undeniable great pop/rock musical talents of his time, and not one to rest on is laurels I would say, he might well had delivered a lot of interesting new music and remained relevant for many years IMO.
I believe pop/rock music would be much different today had he lived into the 1980s. No way to know for sure though. |
I don't know why but I always remember this day. Not like the Beatles or John Lennon meant much to me when I was 9 years old but I always remember hearing it on Good Morning America that he was shot and killed and I always think about it on Dec 8th. To bad, I bet he'd still be making good music today had this not happened. |
"just a singer in a rock and roll band"? whether or not you are a fan of the beatles or john lennon's solo work, it's quite ignorant to be unaware of his towering contributions and iconic status not only in music, but in society throughout the world. listen to the words of "imagine". we still have not learned those lessons. |
Fortunately, Lennon lived long enough to record the masterpiece, John Jennon/Plastic One Band (1970). |
Changed the face of music? To a certain extent,yes.
Changed the way we live our lives? Absolutely not. |
Does anyone recall what book was in the killer's pocket and what LP he was obsessed with (hint, not a Beatles or a Lennon album). |
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Well, the book was "The Catcher in the Rye" I would assume.
No clue about the album. |
I think, he did bring it dearer to our attention, in a post mortum fashion, that we didn't change all that much. |
Yes, and the album was Something/Anything by Todd Rundgren.
It seemed that John's creative juices had been tapped out by that point, but he was still an icon. |
helped change the face of music.yes some of you peolpe should not be able to own hi fi. its just too smart for your little brains |
"Changed the way we live our lives? Absolutely not."
Well, he was the founder of The BEatles. Did The BEatles change any lives you think? |
The Beatles were a musical group.If a musical group changed your life,you must have had a miserable existence. |
"If a musical group changed your life,you must have had a miserable existence."
They didn't, but seemed to have a big effect on the world in general when I was a kid.
I tend to think the world would be different somehow today if there were no Beatles. There definitely would have been no Beatles withot John Lennon. Hard to say....maybe things would have turned out differently, maybe not.
They were just a music group yes but undoubtedly one of the major cultural influences of the latter 20th century. I do not think there is any denying that? It is well documented.
Tis the season for "It's a Wonderful Life", I suppose. |
Kb54,
You comments are right on!!
I agree with you 100%.
His messages become even more relevant as time passes. |
I'd also say that even if the Beatles formed without John Lennon, their influence would have been lesser. He was the primary force in the Beatles that made people take notice IMHO. His music was a big part but his wit, outspokenness and apparent intellect (as evidenced in the messages the lyrics in his songs espoused as well as in spoken interviews), was the thing that put and kept the Beatles and himself on the map.
Plus, he had a dark side that also helped make him an interesting person, for better or for worse and ironically played a tragic role in his demise. Fascinating stuff!
Lennon/McCartney and LEnnon himself are fascinating topics IMHO. Ying/Yang to the max! McCartney's perhaps lesser public dark side is/was far less interesting IMHO. |
it just go to show you . you can't fix stupid. thanks for all your insight. attention walmart shoppers. why don't u guys download some lady gaga |
PBS had a recent special about the influence of the Beatles on Russia. In short, the people of Russia give a great deal of credit to the Beatles as a amjor force in bringing down the Iron Curtain. In my opinion, their influence was so significant to so many people that It's proposterous when someone says they were just a "rock and roll band". |
He should have stayed at home in the UK, then he would still be alive today, and probably be a 'Sir', or maybe would have received an MBE, OBE, CBE, from her Royal Highness Liz II or even a CDM (cadbury's dairy milk),lol..... |
He should have stayed in England because there are way too many angry, lost, and inhuman people in America. And of course, we will always have the insensitive buffoons in our midst. |
Correct, Cyclonicman. England is incapable of producing "angry, lost, and inhumane people". |
Only the Devil would know for sure!! |
I don't know which nation has the most angry, lost and inhumane people but we have the most guns, that's for sure. |
It was 30yrs ago today, the world lost an ICON! Never to be replaced. Always to be copied. An original. He is surely missed. |
Not many celebrity tragedies affect me personally as much as Lennon's death, particularly those involving artists.
Its a good day to reflect on a lot of things for many who shared and continue to share a special bond with John Lennon in some way... |
The word "great" is grossly overused in the music industry but not in this case. |
This is one of the rare occasions where I agree with you Audiofeil, you grumpy old dude you!
I hope this doesn't start a trend. |
One thing to remember about what you read about John Lennon is that any writer ( Goldman, etc. ) only write's about the highlights or specific incidents. As far as being cruel or having strange behavior, those oft published incidents were a very small part of Lennon's actual life. Think about all the days in which he wasn't drunk or on drugs or laying in bed in front of TV cameras. With the scrutiny he was under his whole adult life is it really surprising a few days of behavior each year were made public. How many of us could withstand such scrutiny or our entire lives be based on a few "colorful" incident spanning 20 years ( Goldman )? |
The morning Lennon was shot, I had gone to the building across the street from the Dakota to have two wisdom teeth removed. I saw some crowds gathering there but hadn't yet heard about the shooting.
So, I went into the dental surgeons office and had general anesthetic for the removal. Two hours or so later, feeling a bit high and woosey, I went outside and saw a huge crowd, and people were singing his songs!
I know I was still high since my thoughts were: Isn't that nice, all these people came out just for me, for my wisdom teeth removal, and they're singing just for me! Isn't that nice! People really are wonderful!
True story.
One more thing: With the crowds there, I couldn't get a cab so I hopped on a bus that came by on Central Park West. On the bus I wondered why people were giving me funny looks and moving away from me. Then I go home and found out why when I looked in the mirror. Blood was dripping down my chin (like a vampire) onto my shirt and had made a big blood stain on my shirt. |
Revolver.....Rubber Soul.....Sgt. Pepper's.....Abbey Road.....Double Fantasy.....Imagine.....Help !!.....Hard Day's Night.....WOW !!! As Yoko wondered, "John was an artist. Why would anyone want to kill an artist ?" |
"We all shine on, like the moon, the stars and the sun" |
