John Lennon would have been 75 years old today. As I get on further in years and have had the privilege to observe human beings up close and personal over many decades, I've come to the conclusion that our innate personalities remain fairly stable throughout our lives. Life throws crap at you, you change and grow, but you still are who you are. So taking that theory into account, I think John Lennon would have remained John Lennon, his essential qualities of intelligence, musical and artistic talent, and quick wit intact. His lesser qualities, of course, would have also remained. There's no excusing some of Lennon's past behaviors, particularly notable in his earlier years, and particularly cruel and heartless towards his first wife, Cynthia, and son Julian. If you have the ability to act in this manner, you will never lose it, but perhaps might gain the wisdom, compassion, and self-control to be able to mute it.
There have been some high-profile articles written this year detailing Lennon's personal failures and horrible behaviors, but any serious fan of Lennon and The Beatles knew it all already. It was clickbait for millennials who rather rake a famous dead man over the coals on the internet than look at change over time. For as many rotten things as Lennon may have done, we were able to see that he eventually became aware of the pain he had caused, and was determined to try to be a better human being. As it would be for anyone even without the extreme situation of being one of the world's most powerful people, the process was and would have continued to be challenging for him. When you are used to thinking and behaving in ways that you come to believe are unacceptable, you have to rewrite your internal playbook page by agonizing page. For Lennon, for all of us, the process of becoming a person of integrity and accountability takes a full lifetime.
Lennon was robbed of this opportunity at age 40, but I think we knew where he was going. I can't think of a more vocal male feminist in the early '70s, when rock gods were still using and abusing women as their natural right. His devotion to his young son Sean and renewal of his relationship with Julian was heartening. Lennon's true passion was activism for world peace, and perhaps it was in part a broad expression of his own internal struggle, looking for sanity, kindness, and reconciliation. He didn't offer any excuses for what he did in the past. He just started making the changes, fighting against some pretty solid demons, but trying anyway. This is what I want to remember about him -- that he became cognizant, and began the journey of becoming better. You are who you are, and part of John Lennon's character was his fierce will. I have no doubt at all that he would have kept at it, and on his 75th birthday would have had much to celebrate.
A few days ago, I decided I wanted to learn how to play Lennon's "Instant Karma" on the piano. I do not play the piano, but I too have some determination in my character. I sat down and figured out the chords, very slowly and with many frustrating mistakes. My left hand ached from trying to do the octave spread needed throughout the song, and had to bag it. I'd sit down for awhile, work on it, then walk away, so many other things to attend to. Two lines from the song kept running through my head on these days:
Why on earth are we here?Surely not to live in pain and fear
Well, I guess I'd answer the question like this: we are here to understand, embrace, and then conquer pain and fear, and not let it take away any of our goodness, our happiness, or our abilities to contribute well to the world. Fly your freak flag proudly, be nice, work hard, and then work harder. Repeat as long as you can.
My highly inelegant hammering away at "Instant Karma" won't win any ribbons, but it made me feel happy, and glad that I had a chance to think about this extremely-relevant song today, and how much I love people for who they are, flaws included.
Instant Karma's gonna get you,
Gonna knock you right on the head,
You better get yourself together,
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead,
What in the world you thinking of,
Laughing in the face of love,
What on earth you tryin' to do,
It's up to you, yeah you.
Instant Karma's gonna get you,
Gonna look you right in the face,
Better get yourself together darlin',
Join the human race,
How in the world you gonna see,
Laughin' at fools like me,
Who on earth d'you think you are,
A super star,
Well, right you are.
Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun,
Well we all shine on,
Ev'ryone come on.
Instant Karma's gonna get you,
Gonna knock you off your feet,
Better recognize your brothers,
Ev'ryone you meet,
Why in the world are we here,
Surely not to live in pain and fear,
Why on earth are you there,
When you're ev'rywhere,
Come and get your share.
Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun,
Yeah we all shine on,
Come on and on and on on on,
Yeah yeah, alright, uh huh, ah-.
Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun,
Yeah we all shine on,
On and on and on on and on.
Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun.
Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun.
Well we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun.
Yeah we all shine on,
Like the moon and the stars and the sun.
© Copyright 2008- Marianne Spellman