John Lennon

On this very day back in 1980, we lost the legendary John Lennon, the visionary who helped shape The Beatles.

May he rest in peace.

John Lennon was such a complex guy...

It feels like public memory has just scrubbed away all the messy parts—they basically turned him into some kind of saint, which... well, he really wasn't...

He could be incredibly blunt, almost harsh when he set his sights on someone... I mean, there’s that famous, biting line from a song where he takes aim at McCartney: "Paul, how do you sleep, you cunt"...

He dealt with bouts of depression quite often, usually paired with those dry spells where the inspiration just wouldn't come... That first major depressive stretch actually played a huge role in The Beatles breaking up, mostly because McCartney started shoulderng all the weight regarding the business and the creative direction—which wasn't exactly sitting well with Lennon or Harrison... eventually, that led to that awkward 3:1 dynamic where Paul was basically running the show...

Even though they patched things up later, Lennon used to be pretty sarcastic toward Harrison, sometimes even refusing to play his songs...

He was constantly searching for some sort of moral or spiritual North Star to follow, but he always seemed to end up disappointed... just drifting from one thing to the next... It’s funny, in a way, how people look to him for answers when he was still out there searching for them himself, endlessly...

Still, he was a musician who could pull a masterpiece out of thin air, even during his most creatively barren stretches...

Lennon didn't want to be just another rock star; he wanted to be something more... He actually felt a bit of envy toward McCartney, who moved so easily within the high-society circles and was the first to dive headfirst into those avant-garde musical experiments... Then Yoko Ono came along and showed him a whole new path—philosophically, politically, and musically... It revitalized him, really. He wasn't just a rocker anymore; he started experimenting too... And then it was McCartney's turn to feel the jealousy: he suddenly dropped all the experimental stuff just because Lennon had started doing it... 🙏

His relationship with Yoko Ono was... complicated, to say the least... Some people think she was the authority figure he was always looking for... He spent about a year and a half with a mistress before ultimately coming back to his wife... When he did, Mick Jagger remarked, "I lost a friend," because Yoko was so insistent on managing Lennon's social circle...

Even if he seemed more passive or submissive in the relationship, Lennon certainly knew how to give his wife some "unforgettable" moments... They were at this party once, and he started making out with a guest right in front of everyone, before leading her off to a side room where you could clearly hear they weren't just talking...

And then there was the addiction... It started with marijuana, then moved into LSD... eventually, both he and Yoko hit a wall with heroin, and they went through hell until they finally got clean... There are even stories about him using cocaine...

It’s funny how nobody seems to have remembered one of the greatest musicians to ever walk the earth... everyone is too busy debating pop stars like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, or Britney over on this subforum.

It's a shame, really.

But as far as I'm concerned, I'm sending a massive Rest in Peace to a man who changed music forever—someone whose songs gave me countless incredible moments. He'll live on in my heart forever.🙏

I realized yesterday that it’s been 32 years since he was taken from us. Honestly, if it wasn't for him and The Beatles, my entire musical taste would probably look completely different today. For me, everything really kicked off back in '95 when I first started diving deep into The Beatles.

Stumbled onto this documentary about "the day Lennon was killed" on PBS the other night—and man, I couldn't look away, even though it totally wrecked me.
Lennon was just a massive, massive figure. Not just as a musician, but as a global icon.

I’m with Jack Morgan2 on the fact that my music taste would be different, but honestly? I'd go a step further—music itself wouldn't even be the same without Lennon...

Signature from New York City

I’d just add that he and, of course, Bob Dylan are probably the two absolute biggest

You might want to come for me, but I’m sticking to my guns: Paul McCartney is the superior one. Especially when you look at his work after the Beatles split up.
He’s still easily one of the greatest, though.

Walter Cox6 said:People might want to come for me, but I honestly think Paul McCartney is the superior one. Especially when you look at his work after the Beatles split up.
But he’s definitely up there among the absolute greats.

About ten years ago, the Beatles were my go-to band (they're still in my top five today) and John Lennon was my favorite artist, hands down. But lately, even I've come around to thinking Macca's solo stuff is better than Lennon's. His quality was much more consistent, especially throughout the 70s.

I honestly can’t wrap my head around why this forum spends more energy dissecting the pop drama surrounding someone like Taylor Swift rather than actually discussing musicians of this caliber.
The man could sum up his entire legacy with just one word: Legend.

https://www.musicradar.com/news/guit...lMSdGL8YShpkLc

Billy Joel has some pretty fascinating points here. 👍