It's always hard to come up with something to say for John's death. It's just so sad. I want to celebrate the life instead of the death, but at the same time, it's weird to be celebrating anything at all, instead of just mentioning it and moving on. I often wonder what the other two living Beatles, and before he died, George, did each time December 8 came around. A moment of silence? A time to listen to John's songs? A time to swap John stories? But all of those don't seem to come up to par with the life he led in his forty years. John saw in that short time, himself rising from a dysfunctional family to a guitar-player, to a singer in a band of school mates, to a singer in a band in Germany, to a singer in what was to be known as the greatest rock group of all time, to a solo singer, to a father, to a husband, to a best friend. John was one of The Beatles, something unique to only four people, now two people in the world. His life was on fire for those four decades. John lived through the Blitz in World War II, the Cold War, The Korean War, Elvis, President John F. Kennedy's assassination, the Vietnam War, the counterculture movement, 1968 the year that turned the world upside down, the SALT talks, and the Iran hostage crisis. With all these instances of war and violence mentioned (from a US standpoint, but sorry I'm studying for my US Foreign Relations final right now), John's most famous phrase and message that still speaks to the world was "Imagine all the people living in peace…Imagine all the people sharing all the world." Despite the whirlwind of change, violence, and war that characterized the period from World War II until the 1980s, John ultimately left the world with that message of peace, understanding, and love. John sang the words "All you need is love" in June of 1967. But thirty-three years after he was gone, his message and all that he gave to the world still reverberates, bouncing from continent to continent. John was from Liverpool, England. But his life has affected everyone, from the hot-shots at
Rolling Stone who speak of a global phenomenon (as I have done here) to a seventh-grader in Malibu, California who decided to listen to The Beatles one day. The impact The Beatles have had on my life cannot be understated. Thanks, John.
John Lennon October 9, 1940-December 8, 1980
