GONE 31 YEARS

John Lennon was murdered thirty one years ago tonight.  Not only is it still hard to believe that he was murdered, but it is hard to believe that so much time has passed by.

John Lennon was one of my heroes.  He was so many things he became an enigma to himself.  He was an artist, a song writer, a singer, a poet, a philosopher and managed to become just another New Yorker.

He went through many phases in his life.  His songwriting went from pop love songs, to angry political and society songs, to celebration of life songs.  His philosophy changed all through his life as well.  Simply put, he was a man who was willing to look at life and the world with open eyes and unafraid to change based on what he saw and learned.

His last album before he was killed had some of the most beautiful music he had ever written.  The lyrics to the words were a look at how his life finally got to be where he wanted it to be.  He had not recorded for five years before he and Yoko released "Double Fantasy" in 1980.  The songs tell the story of a man in love with his wife and family.  A man who wasn't afraid to be who he was.  He did not have to put on a show as the outspoken Beatle.  He was simply John.  And John would walk with Yoko through the streets and through Central Park without being bothered much at all.  The people of New York had accepted him as a fellow New Yorker and it was not too strange to see him out and about.

At the time that he was murdered a person could tell that it was a new John Lennon that had not been seen before.  He had matured.  He had learned.  He seemed to finally grasp what life was about.

I found out about his death while taking a shower and getting ready for work the day after the murder.  Barb burst into the bathroom telling me that they had shot Lennon.  My initial reaction was not one of surprise.  I could imagine any number of political organizations or fringe groups that would consider it a feather in the hat to have killed Lennon.

Then I learned it was not a murder of motive at all.  It was a senseless murder.  A man who was not quite thinking normally had killed Lennon to make him famous or something like that.  There was no reason to rob the world of this man who, whether right or wrong, strived to make the world a better place.

A song that was on Double Fantasy shows how far he had come in life and how he saw his life.



WATCHING THE WHEELS - John Lennon

People say I'm crazy doing what I'm doing,
Well they give me all kinds of warnings to save me from ruin,
When I say that I'm o.k. they look at me kind of strange,
Surely your not happy now you no longer play the game,

People say I'm lazy dreaming my life away,
Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me,
When I tell that I'm doing Fine watching shadows on the wall,
Don't you miss the big time boy you're no longer on the ball?

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round,
I really love to watch them roll,
No longer riding on the merry-go-round,
I just had to let it go,

People asking questions lost in confusion,
Well I tell them there's no problem,
Only solutions,

Well they shake their heads and they look at me as if I've lost my mind,
I tell them there's no hurry...
I'm just sitting here doing time,

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round,
I really love to watch them roll,
No longer riding on the merry-go-round,
I just had to let it go.