Went to bed early that night.

Heard the news from my Dad the next morning just as I was about to leave for work.

I was 28. Went to bed and the hubby stayed up watching Monday Night Football. He came to bed, woke me up, and told me. I didn't sleep another wink that night. Dragged myself up in the morning and my ride picked me up for work. She just said "Heard the news?" I said, dully, "Yeah". And that's all we said for the 1/2 hour ride. Didn't cry until the Sunday, when there was that 10 minute worldwide tribute---if you were in the car you were supposed to turn on your lights. I was home, listening to the radio. The song they played was by Gabriel Faure---can't remember the title, but I could sing the melody to you right now, if you could only hear me....

Joey wrote on Dec 7^th, 2010 at 6:21pm:

Me too Joey. Watching Monday Night Football.

Watching Monday Night Football.

it was the early hours of the 9th,in his home country, when he passed away.

As a schoolboy who loved the Beatles music, i was confused and sad.
 I remember the televised tributes, and the Beatles movie 'Help' being shunted into the schedules, that evening.

So very sad....what a waste...he's still missed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvaRNxSZr38&feature=related

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11926898

There was no Breakfast time TV in the UK until about 1983 (and hardly any all night radio either) so most of us knew nothing until we switched on the radio for the news before going to school or work.


I remember getting washed and dressed for school, and just getting to the top of the stairs to go down for breakfast at 8 am only for my mum to run into the hall shouting that it had been on the news that he'd been shot dead. I literally spent the entire day at school in a daze. It didnt make sense -  I die, you die, John fucking Lennon doesn't die. And more to the point, he doesnt get assassinated by a nutcase.

It didnt REALLY hit home until I got back to the house afterwards and started hearing and seeing the TV and radio tributes. Thirty years on, its still one of those moments that you mark your life by. Whilst I dont accept that Lennon was worthy of the elevation to near sainthood that many people have bestowed upon him, it's still a memory that moves me immensely. A significant chunk of my youthful innocence was removed that night never to return.

On the four occasions I've visited New York between 1993 and 2006, I've always made a point of going up to Central Park West and West 72nd for a few minutes contemplation at the place where it happened and at Strawberry Fields across the street.

Coincidentally enough, my sister flew to New York on Monday for her first ever holiday in the US. I'd expect her to be around the Dakota at some point today.

worst day ever!

Life is what happens to you
While you're busy making other plans

I was just home from work.  I was in the kitchen and heard the announcement from the TV in the family room.  It was just unbelievable to me that this could have happened.  It was the kind of out of body feeling I had experienced when President Kennedy was assassinated.  Stunned, furious and wondering why in the world anyone would want to murder a person that was loved by so many?  I called the friend with whom I'd seen the Beatles 3 times - all we could do was repeat that we couldn't believe it and wonder why.

Lennon's Final Interview Released


Posted on Wednesday December 8, 2010 at 06:01 AM Add |
.Three days before he was gunned down, John Lennon complained about his critics - saying they were just interested in "dead heroes" - and talked optimistically about his family and future, musing that he had "plenty of time" to accomplish some of his life goals.

Lennon's final interview was released to The Associated Press by Rolling Stone on Wednesday, the 30th anniversary of the musician's death. The issue using the full interview will be on magazine stands on Friday. While brief excerpts of Jonathan Cott's interview with Lennon were released for a 1980 Rolling Stone cover story days after Lennon's death, this is the first time the entire interview has been published.

"His words are totally joyous and vibrant and hopeful and subversive and fearless," said Cott in an interview on Tuesday. "He didn't mince words."

Lennon saves some of his harshest words for critics who were perennially disappointed with Lennon's path, in both music and in his life, after leaving the Beatles.

"These critics with the illusions they've created about artists - it's like idol worship," he said. "They only like people when they're on their way up ... I cannot be on the way up again.

"What they want is dead heroes, like Sid Vicious and James Dean. I'm not interesting in being a dead (expletive) hero. .. So forget 'em, forget 'em."

He also predicted that Bruce Springsteen, then hailed as rock's bright future, would endure the same critical barbs: "And God help Bruce Springsteen when they decide he's no longer God. ... They'll turn on him, and I hope he survives it."

But Lennon also talked about trying to be a good father to his youngest son Sean, learning how to relate to a child (he admitted he wasn't good at play) and spoke of his strong bond with wife Yoko Ono: "I've selected to work with ... only two people: Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono. ... That ain't bad picking."

At 40, he was also reflective of what he had accomplished so far in life and exploring life's themes, and remained committed to his goal of peace and love on earth.

"I'm not claiming divinity. I've never claimed purity of soul. I've never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can ... But I still believe in peace, love and understanding."

Cott interviewed Lennon at his apartment and at his record studio. The interview was originally planned for a cover story for Lennon and Ono's upcoming album Double Fantasy, but in the rush to put out a story after Lennon was shot to death by Mark David Chapman, only snippets were used.

Cott said he never went back to the three hours worth of tapes until a few months ago when he was cleaning out his closet.

"On a strip of magnetic tape, it was sort of a miracle that first of all, the tape had not degraded after 30 years," he said. "All of this sudden, this guy's voice, totally alive ... just made me feel so inspired that I felt that I should really transcribe the whole thing."

Cott said he was struck by how much he was thinking about his life and mortality.

"There were a lot of strange consideration of where he was and what he felt like sort of in the middle of his journey," Cott said. "I think it was like a mid-life meditation, I was struck by that."

Voodoo Chile in Wonderland wrote on Dec 8^th, 2010 at 10:18am:



Interesting, Voo. I happened to be in NYC on business in late June of 1981. And I took a taxi to the Dakota. It was so eerie---the gold guardhouse...the iron gates of the Dakota. And there was still what I guess was crime tape on the ground....or paint, or something. Where John stood, and where the man-who-shall-not-be-named was standing. It was a hot June evening.....and I had chills. And the tears came down...