Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Biographies John Lennon John Lennon "You make your own dream. That's the Beatles' story, isn't it? That's Yoko's story. That's what I'm saying now. Produce your own dream. If you want to save Peru, go save Peru. It's quite possible to do anything, but not to put it on the leaders and the parking meters. Don't expect Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan or John Lennon or Yoko Ono or Bob Dylan or Jesus Christ to come and do it for you. You have to do it yourself. That's what the great masters and mistresses have been saying ever since time began. They can point the way, leave signposts and little instructions in various books that are now called holy and worshipped for the cover of the book and not for what it says, but the instructions are all there for all to see, have always been and always will be. There's nothing new under the sun. All the roads lead to Rome. And people cannot provide it for you. I can't wake you up. You can wake you up. I can't cure you. You can cure you." ~John John Lennon was known best for his music, but in addition to that he was a philosopher, artist, visionary, social leader and most importantly a common man with a dream. John Lennon was born October 9th, 1940 in the town of Liverpool, England. His father abandoned him at the age of two. Three years later he was also abandoned by his mother. He was raised primarily by a woman John affectionately called, “Aunt Mimi.” Later in his life, John reestablished a relationship with his mother only to lose her again when she was killed by a drunk off-duty police officer. As a teen, John formed a band called the "Quarry Men" with boys from his High School. After a performance, one of the members, brought his friend Paul McCarthy to meet John. After hearing Paul play he immediately asked him to join his band. Later Paul brought George Martin into the group and soon the band that would later take the world by storm, was born. One of the so called "5th Beatles" the best friend of John, Stuart Sutcliffe, left art school, at John's urging and joined the band. In school John was a prankster and often did poorly in many subjects. He did excel in art and later attended art school. It was there John met his first wife, Cynthia. They were married in 1962 and had a son, Julian. Cynthia said of John, "He was rough, ready and not her type at all, but had an irresistible character." "If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or my music, then in that respect you can call me that...I believe in what I do, and I'll say it." ~John Stuart and Pete Best, another "5th Beatles", who was the drummer of the early group, departed before they began recording. Brian Epstein had discovered the band at a local club called the "Cavern" in Liverpool and soon had them signed to a recording contract with George Martin and released their first single "Love Me Do" in 1962. After that, The Beatles went on to conquer the music world for the next 7 years. John and Cynthia were divorced during this time period, as the increasing pressure of fame tore them apart. John met an artist, Yoko Ono at the Indica Gallery in 1966. He was drawn to her after he went to her art show. There he saw one of her pieces, which consisted of a step ladder, a canvas on the ceiling and a magnifying glass hanging down from it. He climbed up the ladder and looked through the magnifying glass and saw simply the word "Yes". This message spoke positively to John and from that moment on they were inseparable. They were married in 1969. "Now, in the sixties we were naive, like children. Everybody went back to their rooms, and said, 'We didn't get a wonderful world of just flowers and peace and happy chocolate, and it won't be just pretty and beautiful all the time,' and just like babies everyone went back to their rooms and sulked. 'We're going to stay in our rooms and play rock and roll and not do anything else, because the world's a horrible place, because it didn't give us everything we cried for.' Right?" ~John The Beatles officially broke up in 1970. The chemistry between the band had been deteriorating for some time and they were ready to explore different paths of music. Previous to the break-up John and Yoko released their own albums, "Two Virgins", "Life with the Lions", "Wedding Album" and "The Plastic Ono Band/Live Peace in Toronto". At the end of 1970 John released his first true solo album called simply "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" which reached 6th on the charts. His second album released contains one of the greatest songs ever written and a song that defined John's idealism, the album was "Imagine, " named so for its feature song. The song “Imagine” has lyrics and music that moves the mind and soul to dream the dream he longed for the the earth. Its about something greater than ourselves, and the peace we could acchieve if only we cared to imagine it. This song is still very popular today. It has been resang by many various artists and used in a wide variety of films such as “Mr. Hollins’ Opus.” It was also played after the tragiety of September 11th. "Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans" The next album released by John Lennon was "Sometime in New York City." In August of 1972 at Madison Square Garden, he held a charity concert, at the height of the Vietnam War. The audience was so moved by the performance that they marched down Fifth Avenue while singing "Give Peace a Chance." This song became an anthem for the youth who felt the government involvement in Vietnam was wrong. "My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all." ~John In 1973 due to increasing pressure due to fame and just everyday problems, John and Yoko separated for 14 months, this time has become referred to as the "lost weekend." John went to Los Angeles and began to party at every opportunity. He often drank too much and got into arguments and fights. During this time he was much more visible to the public eye and was seen out much more. During this time he released three albums "Mind Games", "Walls and Bridges" and "Rock'n'Roll." Yoko and John met again in 1974 backstage at a Elton John concert and fell in love all over again. In 1975 he released the album "Shaved Fish", but more importantly, Yoko gave birth to his second son Sean Ono Lennon. After John's traumatic childhood and his disappointment in the way he was unable to be a full time father to Julian, he wanted to devote himself to his new son. This is exactly what he did, "The joy is still there when I see Sean. He didn't come out of my belly, but my God, I've made his bones, because I've attended to every meal, and how he sleeps, and the fact that he swims like a fish because I took him to the ocean. I'm so proud of all his things. But he is my biggest pride." John took five years off from music, until in 1980 he wrote all the songs to "Double Fantasy" in 3 weeks and promptly recorded and released it. He had said that he wrote the album for the people of his age group. "I've been baking bread and looking after the baby...Everyone else who has asked me that question over the last few years says. 'But what else have you been doing?' To which I say, 'Are you kidding? Because bread and babies, as every housewife knows, is a full-time job. After I made the loaves, I felt like I had conquered something. But as I watched the bread being eaten, I thought, Well, Jesus, don't I get a gold record or knighted or nothing?" ~John December 8, 1980 began as normal as any day for John, he had just left home to go and do some recording for the album he was working on "Milk and Honey", which was released in 1984. A fan from Hawaii, named Mark David Chapman saw John and asked him for an autograph, which John gave him and Yoko even took a picture for him of the two together. After their 5 hour recording session, Yoko and John began to walk home and at 10:59 pm he was shot 5 times in the back by a lunatic named Mark David Chapman. John's last words were "I'm shot, I'm shot" the police were there in two minutes and the ambulance shortly after that. They tried everything they could to save him, even giving him a heart massage to revive him, but it was too late. The murderer, merely sat there waiting for the police to arrest him, while John died of massive blood loss. "Now Daddy is part of God. I guess when you die you become much more bigger, because you're part of everything." ~Sean Lennon, December 1980 Although you may say that John was before my time, which he was, I can’t help but to feel the message that shines through when I read his poetry and listen to his music. John was a renaissance man in every way. He led marches for peace, he was a devoted loving father and husband, wrote songs to inspire generations of people and tried with all his passion to make his dreams, reality. His death rocked the generation he inspired to the core. He was a living legend, even though he would rather be known as just John. He loved life and the world and fought for those who suffered under injustice and for peace. His prescience in this world is something that will forever be missed. It is hoped by myself, that his words will never be forgotten and will inspire us all as people to join together and strive for peace and love for every person, no matter their race, creed or color. Those aspects of people are arbitrary, what really matters is the spirit of the person and because of that fact, John Lennon will live forever. "We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep on watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it." ~John "We have lost a genius of the spirit." ~Norman Mailer "Almost everyone who becomes famous ends up acting the way famous people act. It isn't so much that famous people want to act that way; they are forced into certain patterns of behavior. John Lennon was trying to act some way other than the way famous people act and people wouldn't let him." ~Andy Rooney (CBS Television) Bibliography: none - I have pics to go with it... needs a little tinkering before handing in - no more than 5 mins worth Word Count: 1915
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