#thebealtes

34 years ago, on December 8, 1980. John Lennon was killed outside of his NYC apartment.  

Instead of waxing poetic about how fantastic he was as a musician and humanitarian, I've decided to share the song that George Harrison wrote in honor of John at that time. "All those Years Ago" is one of my favorite George Harrison songs as it poetically tells a little story about how he misses his dear friend.  Harrison does this with a tongue and cheek undertone (as the above video displays), but at the same time without losing sight of the fact he was confused by the  reason lack of reason why the person who took John's life did so, and without failing to remind listeners that it was John who took a great deal on the chin for The Beatles as he was considered the member most likely to say something controversial.

A verse from the song....

"We're living in a bad dream They've forgotten all about mankind And you were the one they backed up to the wall All those years ago You were the one who imagined it all All those years ago"

Most times though, it seems that while John stirred up controversy it wasn't due to arrogance but more so his speaking the truth.   George describes John as someone that might have rubbed others in the wrong way but he was the one speaking about peace, he was the one who fought to remind everyone that 'all you need is love'.  

What was considered a sacrilege or controversial in the 60s probably wouldn't make the headlines today.  John Lennon would have fared much better in today's social media frenzied world, where all opinions are put out there, agreed with or disagreed with, and then after sufficiently argued about, everyone simply moves on.  

If he said The Beatles were bigger than Jesus today, I'm not sure if a ripple would have been made on any ocean, not when we have artists today walking around nicknaming themselves after Jesus or comparing their trials to that of Jesus (yes, I'm talking about Kanye West). 

 Hope you enjoy this song and think fondly of John Lennon. If George Harrison was considered the 'quiet one', then John Lennon had to be considered the exact opposite.  We could use his voice in 2014.  What would he make of the world as it is today?  I can only imagine. 

John Lennon died at the entrance of the 80s at the age of 40. If alive today, he would be 74 years old and probably still singing 'war is over...if you want it...'