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John Lennon
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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/beatle-john-lennon-hit-son-5159622
..and we call this man a "legend"
..and we call this man a "legend"
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Rightly or wrongly many many parents smacked their children, right up to the 90s.
This article - once you take the headline out - only says he "smacked" him.
I was smacked with a slipper as a child a couple of times, i haven't sued my mum though.
Other than that he was a flawed human being just like the rest of us.
Smacking a child was commonplace in those days anyway and not a crime.
Its not the smacking, its the drug abusing,, the abandonment, beating/cheating his wife and Yoko
He wrote some damn fine songs, so did lots of people, and then someone shot him for being a phoney
Plus he did end up marrying Cynthia because she was pregnant, as it was the decent thing to do back then. Not much of an excuse, but it's not the best way to start a marriage. You should choose to get married because you want to, not because you think you have to. I wonder if a certain amount of resentment built up because of that.
It's not suprising that they fell apart in their personal lives. It does not excuse any wrongdoings but to live that kind of life will do some damage to people.
His sons are amazing
The top bit in the below link doesn't give the impression that he shot Lennon because he thought Lennon was a phoney.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_John_Lennon#Mark_David_Chapman
Well he's not the only man who has taken drugs and cheated on his wife!
It doesn't mean that he was universally horrible just imperfect like most people.
I've always thought he was an aggressive, unpleasant man, as for the smacking issue it was common place, my parents smacked me with no damage done either mentally or physically.
John did love Cynthia, their marriage wasn't just because she got pregnant. It's awful to suggest that she was just a passing fancy that got pregnant. They were together for years. John said he married her because he loved her.
John was a troubled youth and troubled man, The Beatles including John would tell you that he wasn't an angel. John did own up to his problems. He did wallop Cynthia, that's what the song Jealous Guy was about. They were at a college dance and a boy asked her to dance and he got jealous, so he pushed her head against the pipe outside the toilets in the college. Then months later he called up all upset and apologizing. Cynthia said it took him that long to get the courage. This is in Cynthia's book. Put two and two together, and Jealous Guy fits for Cynthia entirely. 'Dreaming of the past'. She was important to him, they were in love, not just together for Julian.
You can fall in love with someone, divorce happens. But Yoko and John weren't very nice together when it came to treating Cynthia and Julian. John and Yoko were on drugs when Cynthia caught them together in the house just staring into space high. Paul McCartney wrote Hey Jude, for Julian in light of John leaving Cynthia for Yoko. John was off with Yoko and Julian said he saw his father sparsely over those years. It must have hurt to see John be so loving and into home life with Sean. Maybe he was trying to make up for his lack of fatherliness with Julian. Maybe that's why in the song Mother, he says, "Children don't do what I have done"... he did to Julian what his parents did to him. However, when John had a 2 year break from Yoko in the 70s, he dated May Pang and he spent time with Julian then, and it's said before his murder, John was getting closer to Julian, so Julian said he felt like he lost his dad twice.
But when John died, Julian was snubbed. The fact that Yoko made Julian buy back his fathers belongings, letters, postcards, a motorbike John bought for Julian etc. John left his will to Yoko to sort out, and obviously it wasn't the right thing to do. Watching the documentary Real John Lennon shows that Yoko got John cremated and didn't even have a funeral, not telling his family in England any arrangements. It wasn't very nice what Yoko did to Julian since John died. Julian had an exhibition of Beatles memorabilia recently... and it was all stuff he BOUGHT. After trying to get some inheritance, he used that money to buy back his fathers stuff. How unfair is that?
At the time of John's death he was planning to come back to England it's said and visit family. John had half sisters, his Aunt Mimi and friends in England he wanted to see.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRqU2teFtw8 here is Aunt Mimi talking about John in 1981.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X53awcBCbY8 recent Julian interview.
He's such a nice guy, and it does upset him to be continuously snubbed at award show tributes to his father, or get togethers. Like last years Grammy tribute, he wasn't even invited and it upset him. Even Dhani Harrison, who is never at these things was there. He's a real talent too, it's unfortunate. Dhani and Julian are good artists.
As Ive said, he was a control freak, a womaniser (he didn't just cheat on his wife) and beat her
Writing good songs on top of that doesn't make you a legend.
The Beatles were awesome and theres no doubt about that. but wouldn't label any of them as particularly outstanding men
Oh I didn't mean it like she was just a passing fancy. I think they did love eachother, but they were still young and he was about to make it big. I think they were in that phase of having a young fun relationship and were suddenly forced to take it serious and grow up fast. That, along with being a Beatle, was too much all at the same time.
He definitely seemed like someone who would have been brilliant to be friends with, but perhaps not in situations where there's alot of stress or responsibility.
I don't understand your logic. There are many fantastic musicians and artists who have produced work which elevates them above the ordinary and their work has earned them legendary status. Nobody is perfect and great artists often make terrible errors in their personal lives. You have to separate the man from the music. John had his faults of course and was no Saint, but being imperfect also makes him interesting.
If that's true, Yoko sounds like a real nasty bitch, or she was.
Whatever went on they did all "Come Together" for the opening of Julians exibition of photos
The image in the vid of Sean, Yoko, Julian and Cynthia is a nice one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxRP9nKGNQw
Athough Julian was mainly known for his single Too Late For Goodbyes. This one he did in 1991 called Saltwater was a lovely track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxRP9nKGNQw
Its quite simple, I don't find wife beating control freaks interesting
Well that's your choice of course but most people admire Lennon for his music and accept that he was just a guy in all other respects.
You'll find it hard to find anyone who is a great musician and perfect person
Indeed, I can see that John was a Jerk at times as most of the musicians I like. As nearly all of them have either been a mixture of womanisers, cheaters, drug abusers and drunks.
However it's the music I like and I seperate the artist from the music in most cases apart from Gary Glitter and Rolf Harris. That's a whole different ball game to me.
It was the "Legend" that I cant get my head round, I like the word legend to be attached to greats ... Nelson Mandela etc.
It is of course a matter of opinion, I would like to view Winston Churchill as a Legend, others would disagree
Nobodys perfect, but we don't go round beating our wives. children and cheating on them
The song writing was perfection, but does it make him a Legend?
But surely the 'legend' bit only applies to the great music he wrote.
Nobody is suggesting that John was a legend because he shagged Yoko Ono, experimented with drugs or had a fight with his wife.