John Lennon — Thirty Years Out

Lennon Image Source: Google Images

“Where were you when . . .?”

Whether asked the question, or thinking to yourself, we often recall years later what we were doing when we first heard of a sad happening. With today being the 30^th anniversary of John Lennon’s death, thoughts on time and place are reviewed.  I was in my small apartment on a rainy cold night just off the campus of Western Kentucky University. If I had a TV, I don’t recall because I was usually listening to music on the radio.  Then, as now, music is a part of my daily existence and the beauty of Lennon’s music is its ability to make you think and help you answer questions.

In December of 1980, Lennon had only recently turned forty and I was about to reach the same age.  We shared little besides years of life and his music. Now, thirty years out I wonder what John Lennon would be like if he were still a part of our existence.  We both would be forty years into the age Lennon, as a young flower-child rebel, famously labeled, “Never trust anyone over thirty!”

Imagine

Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that 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

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

May the spirit of John Lennon always be with us.

kenne