Remembering John Lennon
back then) and renewal, getting older and going onward and still, even then, being in love. Just like starting over.
I flew back into Tampa that Sunday, facing a week of finals before flying back home for Christmas break. I was in my room studying my Renaissance Literature text (or, okay, maybe watching Quincy), but something - the travel? The excitement of the last week? The riveting prose of Alexander Pope? - caught up with me, and I fell asleep on my regulation dorm room bed before the 11 o'clock news came on.
There are certain words that can wake me immediately from even the deepest sleep. "This is a special report from ABC News," the announcer droned. "What now?" I thought as I opened my eyes and turned to the screen.
Little did I know that the news would affect me personally, almost like a death in the family. "Beatle John Lennon was shot and killed tonight outside his New York apartment."
Like millions of Americans, I not only loved John Lennon - I grew up with him. My life is bookmarked with Beatles songs - from my first real musical memory (jumping on the bed with my sister singing "She loves you, yeah yeah yeah!"), attending peace rallies in Washington (and "Give peace a chance" was all we were singing), even up to the wedding that weekend, where my father led my siblings and myself in a rousing lip-synch of "Twist and Shout."
Lennon may have been the most difficult Beatle to love. After all, he didn't have the slick love songs or sweet smile of Paul McCartney, he lacked Ringo's puppy-dog charm and gimmicky name, and he most certainly didn't have George Harrison's reserved, even polite mannerisms. No, it wasn't love at first sight between us, but Lennon brought something more to the table than marketing and musical ditties. Lennon challenged us, not only musically (although he certainly did that), but also politically. "We're more popular than Jesus," a young Lennon announced in a much-publicized (and wildly out-of-context) quote. The religious right revolted, as they should, but time may have proven Lennon right. He never said they were greater than Jesus - although he could be as blasphemous as any pop star has been - but that they were more popular. It wouldn't take much back then to prove his point.
But even as an adult - retrospective, not as flip - Lennon continued to challenge us. He challenged us to make our world better, singing "War is over, if you
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