John Lennon Hero

The Heroic Beatle

As stated in his award-winning song Imagine, “Imagine all the people living life in peace.” By that eight word snippet from one of John Lennon’s most respected pieces of art, you should be able to tell what kind of man he was. Most people know him as one of the four of, in my opinion, of the most legendary bands of all time, The Beatles. One who inspired millions to pursue their dreams, passions, and anything their heart desired. Let me ask you one question, when you think of John Lennon, what do you think of? Do you think of his long hair? The round glasses that were always placed on the bridge of his peculiar nose? The leading reason as to why The Beatles went their own way? You probably don’t think of him as a hero. The stereotypical “hero” type is usually wearing a cape of some sorts, has a cliche catch line, unrealistic powers, and has a color scheme that matches every single thing they own, if you’re batman and you have a basic, overused color, then you’re in good shape. Everything comes in black right? If you’re anything like me, not all heroes have all of those things. My hero wrote legendary songs, inspired millions to do more than just go to comic con to catch a glimpse at a forty year old man with a leotard

and a cape attempting to be superman for a day. My hero did things, the ones in the comics couldn’t do.
It’s 1975, the Vietnam war finally came crashing down to an end. Throughout this battle, however, there were many riots, protests, and songs put out to preach peace. Many peace advocates went all out to attempt and spread the word of love, freedom and peace. One of the many being the notorious, John Lennon. As many people know, John was a full time peace advocate, like many people in that era. Give Peace A Chance, an original song by Lennon, was the anthem of the anti-Vietnam war demonstrators. The song preaching out of word of peace, begging people to, as the title says, give peace a chance. John had a very large audience, and he knew that. That’s why he made multiple songs regarding anti-violence. His most popular being the 1971, Imagine. The song is basically throwing out the idea to imagine a world where there is no violence. No war or judging, just love. Along with his many song regarding the peace movement, him and his wife, Yoko Ono, did many interviews as well. In his 1969 interview with London Apple offices he spoke about his music, protests, and how he advised his fans to have kind words when speaking as they themselves protested. He even talked about how meditation helped him achieve his inner peace, and his wife, of course was a huge factor in his happiness.
Icon, idol, hero. Many things the music industry, and myself, would label John Lennon as. Ever since John was a child, he always played around with the guitar. Playing for anyone who would listen, including his aunt in which he lived with. After hearing him fiddle with the strings for a little bit she would say, “The guitar’s very nice John, but what are you going to do with your life? You can’t just play that for a living.”. Well, that’s just what he did. It’s the 1960’s, John has met a few boys, in which he labeled as his friends, named George, Paul, and Ringo. All three interested in pursuing the same dream as he was. Although John was a bit more passionate about the idea, after a few practices, missed notes, and bonding, his hard work and dedication wore off on them as well. The group blew up, going all around London and eventually making it to America, known as the second British invasion. Traveling all over the world gives you a bigger audience, a bigger diversity of people, and a bigger impact. Many of past and present artists have been influenced not only by the boy band, but by John individually as well.Just a few being Kurt Cobain, the lead guitarist and singer of the 90’s grunge group Nirvana, Joe Walsh, the lead guitarist of The Eagles, Billy Joel, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Radiohead, Bob Dylan, and his own wife, Yoko Ono. His own son, Sean Lennon, says his father inspired him to become a musician, saying, “He’s alive in his music and in my life, I hear him singing all the time.”. Sean being in three music groups, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, Plastic Ono Band, and Cibo Matto.
Everything thing seemed to be going great for the Beatles. Many Grammy Award winning songs, dedicated fans all over the world, a multitude of money they could practically bathe in. That is until September of 1969 when John announced to the group he was leaving The Beatles, causing a chain reaction for Paul Mccartney to announce in April of 1970 that he too was leaving the award winning group. John was the starting point and the reason of the break up. He wanted to go his own way and explore new routes in his career choice which didn’t go smoothly with the rest of the group. The hearts of millions were crushed. Although to many it may seem like a negative thing, maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. After the group went their separate ways, John, Paul, and Ringo went on with their own music, and George went on to become a music a film producer before passing away due to cancer in 2001. John got more recognition as a solo artist and added more to his society, making a larger impact on the world around him. Whilst in the group he of course had some creative input but never could he create something himself with no help, something to call just his. He also had more time to do more peaceful protests and interviews, speaking on his own behalf about anything he wanted and not anything the group wanted, which was a good thing for his legacy. In this time he also had plenty of family time. Bonding and working with his wife, Yoko, and raising their two sons. Lennon always spoke about why his family meant so much to him, so this time given to him meant the world.
It’s been thirty six years since John Lennon was killed.

Thirty six years since music has lost one of the most influential artists it has ever seen. This paper may have just meant nothing to you, reader. Maybe you still think illy of John and the many wrongs he did in his short-cut life, but he also did enough good to outweigh all of that. His work, ideas, and views, impacted the world around us in many more ways than one. He inspired artists that became icons like him, wrote songs that many people turn to when they just need to hear a good, quiet song, contributed to the peace movement, and created one of the most legendary groups of all time. That was just to name off a few things this man

accomplished.