John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, England. This was still a rocky point in time for England because the country was still under attack by German bombers during World War II. Lennon’s infancy was inevitably rough. His father, a marine, abandoned Lennon at birth. Then at barely 4 years of age, his mother decides to leave him under custody of his aunt Mimi Smith. John Lennon showed an interest for music early on (Romano, 2010). One of the positive sides to his mother’s abandonment is that Lennon got to fill that void with his passion towards music. His mother actually taught him how to play the accordion and the harmonica. Once John Lennon got his hands on a guitar his world shifted and so did ours (“John Lennon Biography,” 2015).
At only 15 years old, Lennon founded the singing group the Quarrymen and held small parties in their neighborhood. In this small group, Lennon was designated to singing and playing the guitar. He studied Fine Arts at the request of his aunt Mimi, even though what he liked most was walking the neighborhoods of the city and looking for places where they play rock and roll songs. But since his aunt was not sure that he had a future with his mediocre rock band, she urged him to pursue his studies (Platoff, 2005). At seventeen he received the news that his mother had been run over in an accident and died. Although she had abandoned him as a child, they continued to see each other occasionally. Lennon’s mother’s death was a trauma that cost him a lot to heal from. He dove deep into rock and roll music and his band became a lifeline to remain emotionally stable (Inglis, 2005).
The Quarrymen evolved into The Beatles when George and Ringo joined Paul and John. After a performance in a bar in Liverpool John came we had to change the group name. They were considering several names, especially of insects, and finally came up with rebranding the group as The Silver Beatles, with which they toured Scotland. Back to Liverpool they decided to shorten the name and simply called “The Beatles,” (Auslander, 2003). In 1963, the Beatles released their first album, “Please Please Me” and it was a great success. The album was placed as number 1 on the British top music charts for 29 consecutive weeks (Auslander, 2003).
Then they began to have a worldwide success, and “Beatlemania” was created. “Beatlemania” was a word to describe the booming fan base that The Beatles gained. It began when the band decided to go to the United States and participated in an American show where they performed a lot of live music. They gained fans from all over the world.
A few years later they released two other major albums “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Revolver.” In late 1969, John announced his departure from the Beatles during the recording of the album Abbey Road. The Beatles were completely disintegrated in 1970 because of fighting between Lennon and McCartney.
In 1968, John began to ignore the Beatles and released his first solo album with Yoko Ono. After the breakup of the Beatles, Lennon was dedicated to his solo career and his wife Yoko Ono. In 1971, John released his second album; “Imagine” is the most popular album of his solo career. “Imagine” the song on this album is considered the best song by Lennon. John Lennon influenced much of the music that came next because his music became legendary. He also influenced contemporary society in general as buildings and art were made to show appreciation for John Lennon. Memorials erected for him throughout the world such as the Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park in New York.
The genius of John Lennon had a lot to do with his previous traumas. He was aware that talent, if any, did not spring of happiness but anger. The abandonment by his parents at too young of an age overwhelmed him. An aggressive man but a peace activist, was never consistent with any of his actions besides making music. From his first marriage, hasty and secretive, to a hypermedia relationship with Yoko Ono there was no in between of having something steady. Even further, being marked as a drug addict and an absent father to his child all took a toll on Lennon and influenced much of his music.
John Lennon in 1975 cut short his career and his media presence. He secluded himself with Yoko and their son Sean in their apartment across from Central Park in New York. He wanted to pursue his own family for the first time after a lifetime of broken families.
Lennon did not have a happy childhood. His father was always absent and his mother eventually did the same thing. Lennon also forced his wedding because of the unexpected pregnancy of his girlfriend Cinthya. His son Julian was born in 1963. It was kept a complete secret while his band rose to fame. John Lennon seemingly was an absent father to Julian. His first wife was not his true love, and she remembers him as a violent man. One morning in 1968, Cinthya saw Yoko Ono having breakfast in their home (“John Lennon Biography,” 2015).
John Lennon was sick of being looked at as a star and how no one treated him naturally. Persecution of fans upset him. He even made a trip to India to meditate with a guru to escape from all that fame, but it was a failed attempt (Ingris, 2005). The Beatles in Hamburg experimented with drugs to withstand long concerts. During the time of “Help!” they smoked marijuana all the time, and devised Revolver or Sgt. Pepper’s (considered masterpieces) with LSD. When the band disintegrated, John and Yoko were addicted to heroin. He also abused alcohol consistently, which turned him violent. It is said that John Lennon tried LSD for the first time in January 1966. Apparently, his dentist threw it in his coffee without telling him anything (Auslander, 2003). From that moment on, he took this and other drugs regularly. Paul McCartney had always been opposed to consume these substances, as stated on several occasions, until in one of the first interviews since being famous he admitted to taking them profusely (Auslander, 2003). Subsequently, Paul has made many statements claiming that many of The Beatles’ songs were composed under the influence of various drugs.
The only one of the four Beatles who remained unproductive was John Lennon. He lived with Yoko Ono, whom he had met in late 1966, and had entered a completely different world. At that time, and for several years, people have said that Yoko Ono had kidnapped him and that she was to blame for the separation of The Beatles. In hindsight, it was recognized that the appearance of Yoko Ono in the life of John had only accelerated the decline. The double album “The Beatles,” better known as “White Album” recorded in five months during 1968, merely revealed what had been suspected for some time, which was that The Beatles was completely diminished.
As soon as the Beatles were history, John Lennon began to make history with his painfully honest and political songs. In 1970, the album John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band was an example. In addition to the couple of songs there were ones that deal with the loss of his mother and Love, one of the two most beautiful melodies. He began exploring big humanist and political issues. For example, in his song “I Found Out” he declares, “There ain’t no Jesus gonna come from the sky” which touches a little further onto the idea that God is only a concept from which is rooted with human materialism (Platoff, 2005). John Lennon felt that religion was completely made up because he was gone through so much and endured a lot of pain but no one or nothing came to the rescue.
Whether it was his musical talent or his compositional genius, John Lenon’s pure essence was known worldwide for good reason. He was the face behind open political criticism attitude. His genius for answers and his identification with the working class gave him beyond fame; people adored him. He dared to dream common ideals, without bitter pain of life. Even before The Beatles, he always took a stance to say no to war and yes to peace. Whatever the main reason was for his assassination, if at all, Lennon’s music still provokes us, fascinates us, awakens us, and still teaches indignant with the power of beasts and castrating acts that power helps us to understand and make us dream fantasies that the world forces aside.
Further digging into John Lennon’s life reveals his life as slightly dark and sinister. There were statements describing him as a violent, tormented, and emotionally unstable person. We know that he began taking LSD, without knowing, in early 1966, which strongly influenced his music, relationships with peers, and in his marriage. Regardless of his negative aspects, John Lennon still portrayed a positive image and tried to be a good person. Lennon used his popularity in the music to make a huge social criticism of the system of the time, especially in events like the war in Vietnam. His activism led him conflicts with the press and even the US government. Lennon took advantage of his fame to promote world peace. In addition to his enormous contribution to music, today we remember John Lennon as a person who gave meaning to his life through his actions and whose ideology influenced millions of people to raise awareness on issues such as peace, equality and love. After a tragic death in 1980, will not be dismissed with a public tribute, however, his followers fired with emotional intonation of “Give Peace a Chance” and scattered flower petals in front of his final resting place.
Works Cited:
1. Auslander, Philip. “Good Old Rock And Roll: Performing The 1950S In The 1970S.” Journal Of Popular Music Studies 15.2 (2003): 166-194.Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.
2. Inglis, Ian. “The Continuing Story Of John Lennon.” Critical Studies In Media Communication 22.5 (2005): 451-455. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.
3. “John Lennon Biography.” Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, 8 Dec. 2015. Web. 20 Oct. 2016. <http://www.biography.com/people/john-lennon-9379045>.
4. PLATOFF, JOHN. “John Lennon, “Revolution,” and the Politics of Musical Reception.” The Journal of Musicology 22.2 (2005): 241-67. Web.
5. Romano, Andrew. “Lennon’s Other Legacy.” Newsweek 156.24 (2010): 59-62. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.