Where were you when John Lennon was shot?

[Neutron]

In College

Oberlin College in my room at Zekiel House (ZEKE ROCKS!!!) Room 106 watching Monday night football. I believe the NY Giants were playing. Howard Cosell announced it. I went into complete shock.

Tron

 

[gilmourwaters]

DONT REALLY REMEMBER WHERE I WAS AT THE TIME...IT WASN'T ALL THAT IMPORTANT TO ME.......STILL ISN'T......I'M NOT A BEATLE FAN OR A FAN OF HIS MUSIC AS A SOLO SINGER.....he was just a musician....arguably maybe one of the greatest , maybe not ........but he was just a musician...there are more important contributions to society then writing "imagine" or "give peace a chance"...JUST AN OPINION

 

[Neutron]

But

Well, I was 26 when Lennon died. I was working for the newspaper in my home town in far west Texas and had gone to bed early that night. I didn't know about the shooting until about three the next morning when I went in to work and began clearing the night's newsfeeds off the teletype.
The sheer unexpectedness of it is what I remember most. The floor seemed to sway under me for a moment, though I wasn't actually in danger of fainting. I felt more than a little sick (although that was probably due as much to the hangover I usually woke with in those days.)

I was not a Lennon acolyte. I looked at his "philosophy" as so much warm and fuzzy moonshine and I scorned much of his loopy behavior in public with Yoko. But I loved the music. The Beatles had entered my world when I was in elementary school and their sound was, if not imprinted in my DNA, at least an inextricable part of the world in which I came of age and would, in a sense, always live. I had recently read his fascinating interview in Playboy magazine and so he was much on my mind, especially his song-by-song account of the Beatle catalog. I was, frankly, astonished at how hard his death hit me.

That morning, of course, I had no leisure to meditate on it. I ripped the copy and edited it for our front page and went on with the dozens of tasks incumbent on anyone who puts out a daily paper. I wrote a small localized sidebar, printing reactions from our radio station's program director, music teachers, etc. By the time I had leisure to organize my own thoughts, the publisher of our sister paper in a neighboring town had editorialized about the event. He was of my parents' generation and, while not exactly dancing on John's grave, had struck an infuriating I-told-you-so tone as he blamed the country's drug problem on the influence of the Beatles. He was right, to an extent, but it ticked me off at the time and I wrote an impassioned response in my weekly column. I can't remember now what I said; nothing too profound, you may be sure. (No, I don't have copies anymore of his piece or mine.)

Today, I still enjoy his music. His voice moves me in the visceral way that only the greatest singers can...Sinatra, Caruso, Hank Williams, Ella Fitzgerald.
(I wish more people could celebrate his genius without trying to diminish Paul McCartney, who was the more skillful composer of the two.) Lennon was a true original. We shall not see his like again.

Lennon was a far better lyricist than Paul, in fact maybe the best lyricist in the history of rock. The guy definitely knew the English Language.

I have nothing against Paul, but I do feel after he left the Beatles he definitely diminished his own talent. I still love to hear him sing, and when he's on there's no better showman, but I think he got too schmaltzy.

Uh Gilmour, sorry Lennon was far more than a musician, I suggest you actually research some of the the man did outside of music before you say something like that, especially since your handle glorifies musicians who were the eptimome of selfishness and self centeric behaviour.

Tron

 

[Faramir]

Austin, Texas. that's where I was.

 

[gilmourwaters]

like i said...MY opinion....not up for debate or adjustment.You think lennon was greater then he actually was , good for you.

 

[Hungarian21]

HA, a youngling's back! 😀 What now? 😛

 

[Kalamos]

* Mercilessly whacks the youngling *

Try that again, and you won't reach old age to tell your nieces.

...

 

[Hungarian21]

*mercilessly whacked* :weird: owwweeeeeee......OWWEEEEEEEEEEEEE! 😛

 

[Yet_One_More_Idiot]

You can't threaten me with that, Kal. I may only be 23, but there are two generations below me in my family already! 😛

 

[Kalamos]

Well, this bat was guaranteed only to whack Hungarian.
But we could see if it can be used to terminate a whole family line.

...

😉

 

[nessonite1]

*steers thread back on topic by duct taping Hungarians fingers together*

XD

 

[Yet_One_More_Idiot]

@ Nessonite: Massive roffling! 😀

 

[Hungarian21]

*pokes duct tape with nose. Nose gets stuck. Struggles to break free. Somehow, legs get stuck to tape too.....rolls awkwardly...*😛