John Lennon 40 years on

[flatbutt]

Wow, 40 years tomorrow since he was murdered. I remember the day so clearly. It's not that I was huge fan of his but the facts of his murder just hit me hard. MDC was really nuts.

[sc_rufctr]

I was 15 when it happened and I still remember the outpouring of grief.

No one should die like that ever... RIP.

[Rick Lee]

At this point, I think MDC is still in prison for his own protection.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

At this point, I think MDC is still in prison for his own protection.

He's been denied parole 11 times.

[Nostril Cheese]

The only time I ever saw my father cry.

What a loss.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

The only time I ever saw my father cry.

What a loss.

I admit to choking back one or two, but more for us as a whole.

[fastfredracing]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

The only time I ever saw my father cry.

What a loss.

Funny, that is my same memory, came home from school and my mom was in tears .
I was 10

[rsrguy]

Things were pretty somber for mom, but no tears. I think dad was more impacted by the Buddy Holly RV BB crash.

[speeder]

I was all alone in a motel room in Denver, 20 years old. I had just driven from Aspen to Denver in a storm and missed my flight back to Minnesota, so I checked into a crap motel near the (old) airport and turned on the TV. What a horrible, horrible night. It's burned in my memory.

Of all the crazy murders I've seen in this life, including political assassinations in the '60s, I still can't make sense of this one.

[stevej37]

Was watching MNF when it was announced....it was hard to believe...so sad.

[ckissick]

I was studying in my Isla Vista apartment (UCSB). Hundreds of us ended up at Anisq' Oyo Park, which had the nick-name, Yoko Ono Park. We held candles while some people played Beetles sings on their guitars. Lots of tears.

[Fast Freddy 944]

His music was good to go. His politics was not very wise for the time. He preached less is best, communism, while living in a mansion, going to parties, and completely having a blast. I reckon some folks took him literally.

[MRM]

The memory is surreal to me too. I was in high school and had stayed up late babysitting for relatives. To stay awake I listened to the local public radio station that had a program reading short stories after midnight. That night they read "Doing Lennon" by Gregory Benford. It is about a man living in the future when real people can be brought back to life. He hatches a plan to pretend to revive John Lennon, steal his identity and lives as though he is John Lennon. Being young and tired and way out in the country after midnight, the story experience was more than a little trippy and it made a huge impression on me. My memory is that Lennon was shot the next day, but that can't be true. It must have been a few days or weeks later, but it was quite close in time. It seemed like a cosmic coincidence to me that I would hear the story so soon before Lennon was murdered by a madman who wanted to be him. Somehow it felt like me hearing the story had something to do with him being shot.

Years later I came across an interview with Benford. The story was published in 1975 and he won a Nebula Award for it. He discussed the story a bit and said that Lennon's murder really weirded him out, but that's he's learned to deal with it and knows it was just a weird coincidence and he had nothing to do with causing it. MDC was a little like the character but MDC never read the story and was just plain nuts.

[Ziggythecat]

Originally Posted by Fast Freddy 944

His music was good to go. His politics was not very wise for the time. He preached less is best, communism, while living in a mansion, going to parties, and completely having a blast. I reckon some folks took him literally.

I reckon that folks that see Commies everywhere they look should listen to someone else.
They aren’t worthy, and don’t understand.

Plenty of mindless melodies out there.
Maybe some Herman’s Hermits would suit you.

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by Ziggythecat

I reckon that folks that see Commies everywhere they look should listen to someone else.
They aren’t worthy, and don’t understand.

Plenty of mindless melodies out there.
Maybe some Herman’s Hermits would suit you.

More like Lawrence Welk..

[Crowbob]

I was driving and had to pull over.

Strange because although I am a Beatles superfan, I didn't follow John at all.

I think it had to do with giving up on there ever being a reunion.

[strupgolf]

I was Not a big fan of his, but when he died it was like loosing Lincoln on My Rushmore. The Beatles who I grew up with,, would never be whole again.

[Chocaholic]

I was 21. Grew up with the Beatles. It just blew my mind that someone would do that. How much music was yet to come? We will never know.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Fast Freddy 944

His music was good to go. His politics was not very wise for the time. He preached less is best, communism, while living in a mansion, going to parties, and completely having a blast. I reckon some folks took him literally.

Not a saint but he had skills unrivaled. No one close. He was throttled by The Beatles.

Yeah, I took him literally.

[smadsen]

I saw the news on the MNF broadcast. Wife & I went to bed (we had grown up on the music). Got up around 2AM & went to the hospital. Our son was born several hours later.

Sixteen years later the family was in New York for a friend's wedding and coincidently it was my son's B-Day. After dinner we decided to find the Dakota, since my son knew the story. The police had the street blocked off, so we wandered over to Central Park and a place called Strawberry Fields. Several hundred people were there singing Beatle songs in a freezing cold snow storm at 10PM at night. Actually stood next to Yoko in the crowd. Kind of a surreal experience.

Of course the music will last forever, but as the anniversaries pile up you're reminded how ethereal the whole mortal coil is. Watching Paul perform Please Please Me as a big arena production number makes me feel better. Only two things could make it even better.

Son's 40th B-Day is tomorrow.