It is again that time of year when we wish great things to one another. It is a time to bid goodbye to the old year and greet the new one. Way back in 1971, John Lennon carolled that if humanity really wants, there can be an end to war.
Since 1967, the Roman Catholic Church, on the first day of January, celebrates World Peace Day. Pope Francis, in last year’s message, insisted that peace can only be achieved if all humans consider themselves as brothers and sisters.
In one of the best singles of all times, Lennon sang: “Imagine all the people living life in peace... and the world will be as one.”
Lennon admits to being a dreamer; and so perhaps is Pope Francis. The two, of course, are worlds apart.
Lennon was a rebel who openly attacked organised religion for being the cause of so much trouble in the world.
When The Beatles became the world’s best known and most loved band, Lennon said it had become more popular than Jesus. Lennon was a controversial character who was proud to be a working-class hero. Lennon was equally loved and hated.
In his later days, he became a political activist. The song Give Peace a Chance became the unofficial anthem of the anti-Vietnam war movement. So many years on, the war scene has changed - today it is Syria, Libya and Ukraine - but the quest for peace remains a dream.
Like Pope Francis, the charismatic singer and poet perceived rampant capitalism as a threat to social justice and ever-lasting peace. Pope Francis too is now being accused of edging on communism.
Being anti-establishment, Lennon was consistently depicted by the media as a glorified drug addict and agitator. In reality, he had an extremely complex personality.
He had a difficult childhood and grew up with the anger of an abandoned child. Born in war-time Liverpool, he hardly knew his father, who was either at war or at sea. Lennon’s parents divorced when he was just four years old and he was given in foster care to his aunty.
The world is not at peace with itself. It needs more dreamers like John Lennon
At school, he was considered a troublemaker for he loved to disrupt classes and ridicule teachers. Lennon had a reputation of being sharp-witted and artistic.
He remained in touch with his mother, Julia, up to her death, when she was run over by a car. This proved to be a severe trauma for the 17-year old. His tribute song, Mother, released in 1971, opens with a funeral bell tolling four times. Together with Paul McCartney, Lennon formed one of the most celebrated song-writing partnerships. Their song, Yesterday, has been recorded by more artists than any other song.
The Fab 4 are still recognised as the most commercially-successful and critically-acclaimed act in popular music.
The band influenced the lifestyle of generations, even though ‘Beatlemania’ lasted only for some seven years. When Brian Epstein, the band’s manager, passed away it was the beginning of the end for the band. In 1969, Lennon symbolically returned the Member of the Order of the British Empire award, in protest to the UK’s support for the Vietnam War.
Yoko Ono, Lennon’s second wife, had a big influence on his music after, in 1970, the Beatles split up.
The Japanese avant-gardist was seven years his senior and is considered to have been a major factor in the disbanding of The Beatles.
Lennon embarked on a solo career (often backed by the Plastic Ono Band) and took up residence in the US. He soon realised that he could exploit his celebrity status to influence the masses.
Lennon conceived politics as a power-struggle for wealth at the expense of human freedom and suffering. He became heavily involved with the anti-Vietnam War movement and other protest movements.
Lennon’s political activism seriously upset President Richard Nixon, who feared that the popular singer would mobilise American youth to vote against him.
The American government incessantly sought to deport Lennon on the basis of a 1968 minor marijuana conviction in the UK. Finally, Lennon became a permanent resident of the US after Nixon was forced to resign because of the Watergate scandal.
This month marks the 34th anniversary of Lennon’s death. Next year, a new feature film, provisionally entitled The Lennon Report, will be released. It will track events following the musician’s shooting outside his New York apartment.
Mark Chapman, his murderer, claimed that he wanted to revenge Lennon’s anti-Christian declarations. In reality, he was after cheap, ‘instant’ glory.
Chapman was sentenced to 20 years-to-life imprisonment. Since then he has been refused parole eight times.
Although long gone, Lennon is far from forgotten. The ‘Symphony of British Music’ at the London 2012 summer Olympics’ closing ceremony included a special tribute to him.
This year, in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Unicef has called on celebrities to sing one line each for a remake of Imagine.
People around the world are being invited to record their own version of the song and take part in what Unicef is calling the “world’s biggest sing-along”.
On New Year’s Eve, a remixed version of Imagine, featuring the songs received will be released by DJ David Guetta.
The world is not at peace with itself. It needs more dreamers like Lennon. May his words and music continue to fill the airwaves, until we are all as one.
fms18@onvol.net