The U.S. vs John Lennon

I was six years old when John Lennon was tragically killed outside of his apartment in New York City. I don't remember it and it was years before I knew who John Lennon was.

The tumultuous time of the late 60's to the early 80's is one of my favorite times in history and it is one that I don't know much of and I am eager to learn. I am highly interested in the civil rights movement and I am in awe for those that gave their lives in these significant strides in history. So many interesting things happened in our world during this time that changed the course of history both for the good and for the bad. Watergate, the Vietnam War and Martin Luthor King are just a few of the dramatic things that happened. 

I only knew of John Lennon from his time with the Beatles. My sister listened to a lot of the Beatles and turned me on to their music. I knew of John Lennon the musician but I had no idea that the man was much, much more than just an influential artist.

My dad is a big fan of John Lennon and we were talking at work one day and found that there was a movie recently made about John Lennon and how the United States government was so against him. This fantastic documentary details his time of when he transformed from just an artist with the Beatles but into a larger figure; a spokesman for peace.



I highly recommend watching this documentary. Whether you love John or hate him; this will make you respect him.

I had no clue how powerful John was. I had absolutely no clue how influential he was until I watched this. I always had this underlining feeling that he was much more than just one of the Fab Four. I had one experience in high school that brought this to forefront. My senior year, for the Sr. Prom we wanted the John Lennon song Imagine to be the theme song. And most of the administration was dead against this. They didn't think that was an appropriate song for it and from what I remember it took a lot of convincing to finally get our way. I didn't know this song at all but I quickly became a fan of it. Again I had no idea that this was controversial, I thought it was a beautiful song. Our administration thought it was a rebellious song and that it is anti-Christ and anti-establishment. How clueless they are. This song is not about that at all. Sadly, human nature can ruin families, it can ruin religion, it can ruin any social event. In his eyes it can ruin everything.  Wouldn't it be nice if we can all live together in peace, with no borders, no classes, essentially with no hate.

I wish I was alive during this time to truly appreciate what he stood for. But at least I can learn from history so I am not doomed to repeat it.