There was "The Fab Four" but only one of The Beatles never shied away from vocal political protest: Libra leader John Lennon.
Some judged him as bad and those who knew him said he was a lovely person. John said he was who he was and that was his final answer. He was the first to die and the only one to be murdered with a firearm, but yet little has changed.
On December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman asked John Lennon for his autograph in NYC. Hours later, he fired four hollow-point bullets into Lennon's back killing him. John Lennon’s death shocked the world. On December 8, 1980, the former Beatle was fatally shot outside of his Manhattan apartment building, The Dakota. Within minutes, one of the most iconic rock stars was gone forever.
He was passionately against War, but also wary of protestors using violence, as he declared in the song "Revolution" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGLGzRXY5Bw
"You say you want a revolution, well you know, we all want to change the world… But when you talk about destruction, don’t you know that you can count me out, in?"
He held weeklong bed-ins for peace with Yoko, in Amsterdam and Montreal. In his signature song "Imagine," he challenged the world to move past war:
"Imagine there are no countries, it isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion either? Imagine all the people, livin’ life in peace." And of course, he wrote "Give Peace a Chance." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugrAo8wEPiI
Paul McCartney had political views, but he rarely interjected them into songs, and very subtle – "Blackbird," for instance, was an allegory about America’s civil rights struggles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugrAo8wEPiI
I bring this up, as you probably know because the last Beatles song is being released today, based on Lennon’s lyrics and piano. And with a boost from artificial intelligence. "Now and Then" was recorded by Lennon on a cassette a few years before his life was tragically cut short in 1980. The tape was labeled "For Paul." Yoko Ono sent it to McCartney in 1994. The three surviving Beatles were able to record and release two songs based on the cassette, "Real Love" and "Free As a Bird." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax7krBKzmVI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODIvONHPqpk
"Imagine there are no countries, it isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion either. Imagine all the people, livin’ life in peace." And of course, he wrote "Give Peace a Chance."
Paul McCartney had political views, but he rarely interjected them into songs, and very subtle – "Blackbird," for instance, was an allegory about America’s civil rights struggles.
I bring this up, as you probably know because the last Beatles song is being released today, based on Lennon’s lyrics and piano. And with a boost from artificial intelligence.
"Now and Then" was recorded by Lennon on a cassette a few years before his life was tragically cut short in 1980. The tape was labeled "For Paul." Yoko Ono sent it to McCartney in 1994. The three surviving Beatles were able to record and release two songs based on the cassette, "Real Love" (which I thought was terrific) and "Free As a Bird."
As the primary songwriters for The Beatles, Lennon and Paul McCartney etched their place firmly in music history. While credited jointly as “Lennon/McCartney,” Lennon was largely or entirely responsible for several of the band’s most enduring songs, including “Help!,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “All You Need Is Love,” “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “Revolution,” and “Come Together.” Despite taking a five-year hiatus from music in the latter half of the ‘70s, Lennon wrote and recorded numerous hits between his departure from The Beatles and his murder on December 8, 1980, with “Imagine” having a particularly enduring impact.
Merry Christmas to Julian Charles John, YOKO, and Sean Tara Ono... And to all a good night!