On the 8th December, 1980 the English musician, writer, artist and peace activist John Lennon was murdered. His murderer, Mark Chapman was seemingly affronted by his apparent hypocrisy and militant atheism. This one spiteful act heralded in a new decade of cynicism, which has perpetuated into the twenty-first century.
This cynicism has not disappeared even though it has had a devastating impact upon humanity, in fact this mean spiritedness has mutated. We are living in an age of darkness and nihilism which Lennon would not recognise if he had actually lived to see it. The 2020s will be remembered as an era of degradation. In fact we are now existing in a terminal state of moribund decline.
It is pitiful, but he would not have much of a creative career in today’s climate because it is driven by the opposite, there is a much greater desire to destroy. It is sad to witness this unfold before us. The information age has given us many more advantages. However the actual disadvantages are rarely discussed, the rise of online bullying has meant that nobody wants to offer any opinion because it is howled down by the mob. Very few people are prepared to present anything optimistic, because negativity is so deeply entrenched within the general psyche. Sincerity is mocked, earnestness is belittled and this in turn eliminates any creative endeavour. Every new thought is inherently self-defeating, and pointless. Looking back on the past century is like looking at a different world entirely, there is a degree of innocence, which has been lost. There was nothing inherently malicious about Lennon’s songs, or political pronouncements.
His sole intention was to spread a spirit of harmony in a discordant world. The only criticism that could have been leveled against him was naivety, but youthful idealism is never a valid reason to kill someone. It is shocking to consider that he was only 40 when he died. Lennon was an integral part of The Beatles. He was a well liked and well regarded cultural figure, and the British public felt a great deal of affection for him, and Paul McCartney.
However the fame and success inevitably became too much for Lennon, and he longed for stability and quiet. He felt stifled by the culture of the UK, and The Beatles as a musical unit was far too confining. He left the band, and the country. He moved to New York in August 1971. Two months later he released a single called “Imagine”, an elegiac paean to an imaginary utopia where humankind “lives as one”. This stripped down piano ballad describes his vision of a universal brotherhood of man, with no heaven, hell, possessions, greed or hunger.
However his relocation was fraught with problems. The American authorities viewed him with suspicion. Establishment figures denounced him, and suspected that he was a covert Communist. They believed that his songs were a subtle code for subversion, and that his influence was pernicious. They were convinced that his very presence in the country could potentially corrupt an entire generation.
Lennon was regarded with the same distaste at the height of the Beatles when he compared his popularity with Jesus Christ. Unlike Jesus, Lennon lived in the opulence of St. George’s Hill and drove a Rolls Royce. In 1966 the Protestant firebrand, Norman Vincent Peale pondered on the Beatles meteoric rise to fame and asked, “one wonders what they do with all their dough”. It was evident that Lennon was not frugal as his residence also had a swimming pool.
This criticism revealed a distinct shallowness, and a glaring lack of intelligence. Most of us can distinguish between a piece of art, and the artist, and actually understand the difference. It is sad that there are still philistines in our midst who take everything literally, including the lyrics of a pop song. Obviously, Lennon was not a politician. He was a singer-songwriter, and he did not compose or perform songs for an explicitly partisan cause.
Pop music is merely a vehicle for the hopes, frustrations and aspirations of the young. It does not matter if the ideas expressed within the music seem contradictory, foolish or trite to the more mature and worldly among us because that is not the point. Pop songs are only designed to capture a mood. In Lennon’s case, they expressed a feeling of hope for the future of humanity, when in 1969, he implored the upper echelons of society to “give peace a chance”. It seems such a simplistic, and almost childlike plea, but that is the inherent charm of the song.
Pop music, like other popular forms of entertainment, is meant to be escapist. It presents a fantasy to the listener, to elevate him or her beyond the brutal reality of life. It acts as a soothing salve or a balm. When there are forces in society determined to divide and to break you, music has the unique power to unify and to consolidate.
Perhaps this is the reason why the elites are so determined to silence the very human need for self-expression, because it challenges their power. The technocrats prefer conformity over individuality, collective fear rather than singular courage and a bewildered, deracinated and atomised populace because it is so much easier to control us. Lennon flew into the light of the dark, black night and paid the ultimate sacrifice for his artistic liberty.
Ponderings 
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