John Lennon quote

sparks wrote:

Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE* received theirs for heroism in the war --for killing people. We received ours for entertaining other people. I'd say we deserve ours more.

John Lennon
1940-1980, British Rock Musician


* member of the order of the British Empire

John Lennon, in my opinion, ranks among the best of the best of the best of the best when it comes to songwriting and vocals (not a half-bad guitarist, either), and I have nothing but the utmost respect for him in that field.
Politically, however, he was completely tone-deaf and his rhetoric was cringeworthy, idiotic, and frankly embarrassing, as evidenced in the above quote.

happy jack wrote:

sparks wrote:

Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE* received theirs for heroism in the war --for killing people. We received ours for entertaining other people. I'd say we deserve ours more.

John Lennon
1940-1980, British Rock Musician


* member of the order of the British Empire

John Lennon, in my opinion, ranks among the best of the best of the best of the best when it comes to songwriting and vocals (not a half-bad guitarist, either), and I have nothing but the utmost respect for him in that field.
Politically, however, he was completely tone-deaf and his rhetoric was cringeworthy, idiotic, and frankly embarrassing, as evidenced in the above quote.

Since many of his greatest songs had peace themes, I'm not sure what you mean when you claim
he was one of the best songwriters but you are embarrassed by his politics. I believe his songwriting and his politics are inseparable.Great songwriters are able to express universal truths that touch us all with their words. Take these words from "Imagine", on of his greatest songs,IMO.

Imagine all the people living life in peace.
You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one.
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

happy jack wrote:

sparks wrote:

happy jack wrote:

sparks wrote:

Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE* received theirs for heroism in the war --for killing people. We received ours for entertaining other people. I'd say we deserve ours more.

John Lennon
1940-1980, British Rock Musician


* member of the order of the British Empire

John Lennon, in my opinion, ranks among the best of the best of the best of the best when it comes to songwriting and vocals (not a half-bad guitarist, either), and I have nothing but the utmost respect for him in that field.
Politically, however, he was completely tone-deaf and his rhetoric was cringeworthy, idiotic, and frankly embarrassing, as evidenced in the above quote.

Since many of his greatest songs had peace themes, I'm not sure what you mean when you claim
he was one of the best songwriters but you are embarrassed by his politics. I believe his songwriting and his politics are inseparable.Great songwriters are able to express universal truths that touch us all with their words. Take these words from "Imagine", on of his greatest songs,IMO.

Imagine all the people living life in peace.
You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one.
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

sparks wrote:

I believe his songwriting and his politics are inseparable.

Maybe, but his musicality and his lyrics can be separated.

sparks wrote:

Great songwriters are able to express universal truths that touch us all with their words.

And Lennon did when he wrote words such as this:

Was she told when she was young
that pain would lead to pleasure
Did she understand it when they said
That a man must break his back
to earn his day of leisure?
Will she still believe it when he's dead

Or this:

There's room at the top they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill

Or this:

I am he as you are he as you are me as we are all together

sparks wrote:

Take these words from "Imagine", on of his greatest songs,IMO.

Imagine is a song with kindergarten piano technique and pre-school philosophy as far as the lyrics go. Good melody and vocal phrasing, though.

Imagine all the people living life in peace.

Yes, don't actually do anything to attain that goal; just 'imagine' and everything will be wonderful.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one.

Ditto above.

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can

I wonder if he was really able to imagine no possessions. I'm certain he could imagine other people with no possessions, but not himself. It's easy to say it if you're a multimillionaire, but not so easy to actually live it.

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

Again, imagination without action gets you absolutely nowhere.
Imagine that.

It's really nice to have a discussion board like this where ideas can be discussed without trolls trashing the threads.