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I love a lot of the Beatles’ later stuff, but I’ve always felt a bit underwhelmed by John’s solo work. For me, it was George Harrison, not Lennon or McCartney who had the best post-Beatles career. Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” is one of the few rock albums that ever meant anything in spiritual terms to me, even if he sometimes backed the wrong gurus IMHO. I’ve been reminded a lot of Lennon recently. His eightieth would have been last month, and it was also the fortieth anniversary of his murder this year. So I decided to try and revisit some of his material by buying “Gimme Some Truth” (the basic version not the deluxe one). It seems to me that McCartney’s music isn’t very spiritual minded, and Lennon is a lot less mystical than Harrison, but Lennon did have some spiritual leanings.
If I’m honest, I’ve always been put off a bit by some of Lennon’s collabs with Yoko which were just awful. I have always liked several of Lennon’s songs, like “Starting Over” and “Woman”. I had forgotten about “Mind Games”, which is a very Harrisonesque piece about the tricks we.(and others) play on ourselves about reality. What about “Imagine”? I’ve always had mixed feelings about this song – it shows Lennon’s contradictions, and I’m afraid, hypocrisy. He promotes the idea of one world government (which would never be a utopia), and a homogenized world, and asks us to imagine “no heaven”, which contradicts his other sentiments. Lennon was a complicated man – I’ve always felt he was often well meaning and intelligent, but subverted that by being a bit of an arrogant and naive dork in other ways.
The songs on this collection which feel the most sincere are directed to his wife and his son (at least one of them). Give Peace a Chance and Merry Xmas War is Over just don’t work for me, although a world without war (and oppression!) is something we should strive for.
I saw some video online that John Lennon is in hell. I sincerely hope not. I occasionally pray for his soul, Catholic-style. At his best, he aligns with some of the positive elements of Christianity, but he was so very alienated from the religion in other ways. I think he was a flawed individual who often did wrong, but I also think he did try to make the world better in his own way, which is not something an evil man would do. Whether he succeeded is another matter.
I came to appreciate the Beatles in a History of Rock and Roll class that I took in college. They did some unorthodox things in their music and took some risks in doing so. I value the good music and creative flourishes that they gave to the world. Roy wrote:
I came to appreciate the Beatles in a History of Rock and Roll class that I took in college. They did some unorthodox things in their music and took some risks in doing so. I value the good music and creative flourishes that they gave to the world.
When I was younger I wasn’t much into the Beatles. Both of my parents hated the Beatles – long story – and I was into the Stones more. I also associated them with their boy band image, but I started to appreciate their psychedelic stuff. I have been to Liverpool several times and have done the Beatles tour there.
I really appreciate how they were able to move beyond their early more commercial image and make art (without being pretentious). Their music has aged very well, more so than stuff in the last twenty years. I think all of them were distinct and likeable characters – I’ll give a shout out to Ringo, Octopus’ Garden is one of my favourite songs.
😄
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