John Lennon, Twenty-Five Years Later
Over the years, several times I have been asked, "Where were you when you heard that John Lennon was killed." The short answer? In bed.
I was a huge Beatles fan growing up... I'm talking HUGE. Ask any member of my family and they will concur. I listened to a lot of other music and stuff, but up until the age of twelve or so, it all began and ended with the Beatles.
December 08, 1980... I was eleven years old. I had been watching Monday Night Football, because I always did, until it was time for me to go to bed... I don't remember exactly who was playing anymore, but I want to say it was Miami and Green Bay, or maybe Dallas. I was getting geeked up for Christmas (you should have seen some of the things my brother and I did as youngsters in preparation for Christmas - it was awesome - I miss feeling like that... a lot)... Anyhow, I was crashed out. A little after 11pm, I remember my dad coming in my room and waking me up and saying, "Tony, I have some bad news. John Lennon was just killed. Some guy shot him." He didn't turn on the light when woke me up and I can remember his giant sihlouette being backlit by the hall light... and those words... and this ice cold feeling shooting all through my body. I asked my dad, "Why would someone want to kill him for, Dad?" to which my dad just said, "I'm sorry son, I don't know" (I always liked when he called me "son").
I asked myself that question for a long time, wondering why someone would want to do something like that to someone, anyone... It was crazy and senseless then, and it still is, now. Yeah, I later read all the stuff about "Catcher in the Rye" and how Mark David Chapman had equated Lennon to represent all that is evil, or whatever... but it never made it make anymore sense.
No one can ever know what would have come if Lennon hadn't been killed... if he would have reunited with the rest of the Beatles (fucking... YOKO!), if he would have released any more music that would have changed lives, or if he would have slipped quietly into anonymity... but, y'know, weird shit happens... we never can explain really why and it never makes sense... but weird shit happens.
Listening to: "Bring Me the Disco King" - David Bowie - Reality
Over the years, several times I have been asked, "Where were you when you heard that John Lennon was killed." The short answer? In bed.
I was a huge Beatles fan growing up... I'm talking HUGE. Ask any member of my family and they will concur. I listened to a lot of other music and stuff, but up until the age of twelve or so, it all began and ended with the Beatles.
December 08, 1980... I was eleven years old. I had been watching Monday Night Football, because I always did, until it was time for me to go to bed... I don't remember exactly who was playing anymore, but I want to say it was Miami and Green Bay, or maybe Dallas. I was getting geeked up for Christmas (you should have seen some of the things my brother and I did as youngsters in preparation for Christmas - it was awesome - I miss feeling like that... a lot)... Anyhow, I was crashed out. A little after 11pm, I remember my dad coming in my room and waking me up and saying, "Tony, I have some bad news. John Lennon was just killed. Some guy shot him." He didn't turn on the light when woke me up and I can remember his giant sihlouette being backlit by the hall light... and those words... and this ice cold feeling shooting all through my body. I asked my dad, "Why would someone want to kill him for, Dad?" to which my dad just said, "I'm sorry son, I don't know" (I always liked when he called me "son").
I asked myself that question for a long time, wondering why someone would want to do something like that to someone, anyone... It was crazy and senseless then, and it still is, now. Yeah, I later read all the stuff about "Catcher in the Rye" and how Mark David Chapman had equated Lennon to represent all that is evil, or whatever... but it never made it make anymore sense.
No one can ever know what would have come if Lennon hadn't been killed... if he would have reunited with the rest of the Beatles (fucking... YOKO!), if he would have released any more music that would have changed lives, or if he would have slipped quietly into anonymity... but, y'know, weird shit happens... we never can explain really why and it never makes sense... but weird shit happens.
Listening to: "Bring Me the Disco King" - David Bowie - Reality
posted by TONY at 12/08/2005 12:42:00 PM
<< Home