In memory of John Lennon
35 years ago today, with the sound of a cold gunshot, a bullet shot through the heart of John Lennon. Since then, there has been no second John Lennon in the world, no second pioneer of the human soul.
Today, 35 years later, countless Lennon fans still gather in front of the Dakota Building to commemorate him in the name of dreams.
The Lennons were in front of the Dakota building
An ordinary boy born in Liverpool
John Winston Lennon was born on 9 October 1940 at 6:30 p.m. in Liverpool, England, to a working-class family. Lennon's father abandoned his wife and son when he was three years old, so Lennon had to stay with his aunt at a very young age on the outskirts of Walton.
Early years Lennon Liverpool house
Lennon, who had a troubled early life, may not have imagined that he would form the world's most influential band, the Beatles. Lennon made music and created idols, but at his peak turned back against what he had created. Until he was killed, his life changed a lot, and the only thing that did not change was his rebellion from beginning to end, which stemmed from his innate dreamer qualities.
Dreams start with music
In 1956, Lennon became acquainted with Paul McCotney and formed the Beatles in 1960. They then began performing in clubs everywhere, and soon they became the most popular bands in the area. In May 1962, the Beatles signed a recording contract with a small company owned by EMI london. Since then, the rock music "Invasion of Britain" with the Beatles as the protagonist has begun.
The Beatles who conquered the world
On February 7, 1964, the Beatles and their party arrived at the Kennedy Airport in New York, usa, and the arrival of the Beatles shocked the entire United States.
At the end of the year, the Beatles had 30 songs on the list of the year's "100 Best Songs", and their three albums monopolized the album charts for 30 weeks. In the five years since, almost all albums have become music classics.
After the rise to fame in the United States, the Beatles swept through Europe while it was hot, followed by Hong Kong and Australia. In Australia, 300,000 rice lanes welcomed them. It all came so easily that the Beatles seemed to have conquered the world effortlessly. Before the year 1964 was over, their fans were already in every corner of the globe; almost all the jukeboxes had their voices! Four teenagers from Liverpool became well-deserved rock icons of the sixties.
Change begins with meeting Yoko
In 1968, Yoko Ono met Lennon on a trip to London. Lennon was also deeply attracted to Yoko. At that time, Lennon was married to his wife Cynthia, but the rebellion in his bones made him never satisfied with the status quo. Moreover, his marriage to his wife Cynthia was close to a backwater. A year later, he divorced Cynthia and got his wish, marrying Yoko Ono. However, he did not expect that this choice with Yoko changed the direction of his future music, changed the Beatles, and also changed his life.
In fact, before the two met, both of them were shining in the cultural field of their respective influences, and compared to Lennon, who was not directly involved in politics during the Beatles, Yoko Ono personally and her experimental artwork revealed a boldness and directness, which in the chaotic sixties was enough to calm the manic blindness of others, and it was the most powerful key to opening the door of Lennon's closed heart.
So, when they met for the first time, Yoko calmly handed Lennon a note with only the word "breathe", and this short and pithy word suddenly made Lennon's world clear.
Later, Lennon watched Yoko perform her work "Slices" in the audience, and as Yoko's clothes were cut off piece by piece, revealing her skin, Lennon, the most important woman in his life, began to show the mountain dew in the most authentic way.
Yoko Ono's fierce eyes in her black hair also gave Lennon a warm light in her personal life.
At that time, the Beatles became famous, whether in Europe or the United States, screaming, flashing lights and chasing lights everywhere they went, but Lennon was attracted by this warm light, as if affected by an unknown physical gravity, desperate.
He went on a public date with Yoko, and even all his intimate personal activities, such as his marriage and honeymoon, birth and nurturing, were almost all exposed in the media, and in front of the camera and microphone, Lennon welcomed this transparent lifestyle calmly. The boldness and directness of Yoko's personal character, at the moment of her union with Lennon, was all transfused into Lennon's blood.
In the early days of the sweet marriage, they were together almost all the time. In March 1969, Lennon and Yoko held a week-long "bed sit-in" at their honeymoon hotel in Amsterdam to protest all the suffering and violence in the world. At this time, Lennon, influenced by Yoko, had begun to actively participate in social movements. Later, he and Yoko also carried out the "two beans in the pod" movement that shocked the world.
Yoko appears in Lennon's world not as a third party of feelings, but as a late soul mate and soul teacher. Although Yoko was saddled with many "crimes" and criticisms because of Lennon in her life, her wisdom and composure not only properly coped with these, but also helped Lennon broaden his horizons and thoughts, so that Lennon's music and actions as a star extended to many levels.
After that, Lennon began to carry out experimental music creation, and in the strange notes and sounds, Lennon not only let himself enter the deep unknown field of music, but also let others realize and hear the forms that music encompasses; Yoko influenced Lennon to accept the "original cry" psychological treatment, which opened up Lennon's deeper state of mind and thought world, making him more brave to face the difficulties he had encountered or was encountering, and bravely breaking through these difficulties with actions.
John Lennon's ideal world
In April 1970, the Beatles disbanded. On December 11, 1970, John Lennon and Yoko Ono formed the plastic ono band and released the album of the same name, weaving the two people's hearts and minds over the years of meeting into strange music, in which heartfelt shouts still ring in your ears today.
Plastic Ono Band is a strange name, and while Yoko explains that it was a noun phrase coined by Lennon after hearing one of her artworks conceived, perhaps we can understand it as plastic symbolizing arbitrary shape and a sense of indifference.
In 1971, Lennon and Yoko moved to New York in the spring, and that fall, Lennon released his most popular single to date, "Imagination".
No matter how enthusiastic Lennon was about politics, what moved him most was the music itself. "Imagination" describes an ideal utopian world, in which the phrase "You say I am dreaming, but I am not the only one" gives strength to countless people.
Lennon was assassinated and an era was over
On October 9, 1975, Yoko Ono, who had suffered three miscarriages and a brief separation from Lennon, gave birth to her only son, Sean Lennon, and Lennon, who had been forced to separate from Yoko due to various problems such as visas and residency, was also annulled from his expulsion sentence, and Lennon, who decided to devote himself to the care of his wife and children, became docile and kind, and barely entered the music industry for five years.
In early 1980, Lennon announced his comeback and signed a new contract for songwriting. In the summer of the same year, he and Yoko again collaborated on a new record, "Double Dream".
Lennon and Yoko went to the studio together to perform the final mixing while working on their last album, Double Dreams
Because this record received some praise, people thought that Lennon would definitely make a comeback this time, once again bringing moving and surprises to the world. However, this wish was not realized.
At 10:49 p.m. on December 8, 1980, Lennon collapsed in a pool of blood amid five gunshots. Nearby, Yoko Ono, who had always instilled great power in him, witnessed this tragic scene in horror.
The killer, a psychopath, was quickly arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison. But the justice of the law cannot make up for the loss of Lennon, which is a great regret for the whole world. Lennon's incomparable wisdom, beautiful and moving singing voice are lost forever, and more importantly, a pioneer of the human soul, a genius like him that we can hardly have in this life.
Chapman, Lennon's killer
The album Double Dreams won the 1981 Grammy Award for Best Album. Yoko Ono embraced her young son Sean to accept the award in place of her deceased husband, she burst into tears and had mixed feelings, and everyone present was moved.
Lennon's death marked the end of the 70s.
Because of the Lennons' left-wing tendencies in artistic and social activities, the U.S. government instructed the FBI to stalk them, wiretap, and a series of surveillance activities, to which Lennon firmly said: "Nothing can stop me, whether I am here or not, no matter where I am, my feelings will not waver, I will tell my true feelings." ”
Everyone is watching ↓
Source: Comprehensive Phoenix Network, China Net, NetEase, Sohu Net, People's Network, etc.
Editor of this issue: Ma Yuan