30 Years Ago Today

[tomalak301]

It's been 30 years since John Lennon was shot and killed. I wasn't born yet, but growing up I learned about Lennon and respected him a great deal. I remember hearing highlights of Cosell on Monday Night Football bringing the news, and I also remember in school having to read The Catcher in the Rye and hearing about how it connected with his killer.

What memories do you have of that night, if you're willing to share. I didn't realize this was the 30 year anniversary until I heard it on the Radio maybe an hour ago.

 

[Cheapjack]

I know someone who is 43 and his son was born in 1982 and Lennon is his hero.

Young people today know a lot about pop music, all the past stuff. I didn't even know that Dion wrote 'The wanderer'. I think they know a lot about John.

 

[SPOCKED]

Hard to believe I was only 22 at the time and that I would only have known who he was for a tiny 14 years by the time of his death. Seems incredible to me now.

 

[Finn]

I was playing with my rattle and pooping in my diapers.

 

[Pingfah]

I was 5. I remember my parents talking about it when it happened, but I didn't have any particular awareness of who he was at the time.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

I was just going to post a similar question glad I saw this too avoid a double post.

I was 19 and a few weeks away from quiting smoking.

but I remember that I was pulling into the Westwind parking lot to go have a beer in the Pub listening to KISW, and they were talking about it the listener on the radio was in tears.

 

[Nowhere Man]

I was 1 year old, but I grew up listening to the Beatles 45's as early as five. I love the Beatles, they are my favorite and John Lennon is the greatest. " so flower power didn't work, so what?"-John Lennon. Peace can work, if you work it.

 

[Franklin]

I was in college. I heard about it from Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football. I still remember parts of what he said. "An unspeakable tragedy.... John Lennon...shot twice in the back.... ...dead on arrival."

It was all anyone talked about on campus the next day, even in classes.

 

[auntiehill]

I was in 6th grade. I very clearly remember lying in bed, with my AM clock radio on and the announcement came on, and then they played "Starting Over."

I was stunned. In my young mind, the Beatles were larger-than-life, almost mythic figures. To think that someone had killed John, for no apparent reason, made me very see the world as an even darker, more dangerous place than I already thought it was.

 

[Jamaica Jive]

I just turned 17 the day before and it was my senior year in high school. I was in school that whole day and stayed in school after my classes to do some programming in the computer room. When I arrived home, I heard the news on the radio. Couldn't believe it. My high school yearbook has 2 pages dedicated to him.

 

[RandyS]

I was ten and have absolutely no personal memory of it at all.

 

[Count Zero]

I wasn't born until 6 days later. So he was already dead when I got into the Beatles and his music at 11. I don't know what I would have felt had I already followed him in 1980. It was bad enough for me when Kurt Cobain shot himself.
I think it was a huge tragedy. He was only starting to get back into making music again and there's so much hope for the future on his last album(s).

 

[Shaw]

I was about to turn 13 and was a big Beatles fan (listened to their albums all the time). It was a pretty traumatic period, specially when you consider that President Reagan was shot a few months later.

 

[SmoothieX]

I was playing with my rattle and pooping in my diapers.

We're not talking about what you did last weekend you know...

I was born in Jan 1980 so I have no memory of this.

I've always been fascinated by this event. Just read through Chapman's latest denied parole hearing earlier today.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

I was 24 when Lennon was killed. I'd been married only a few months. We went to bed early that night and so i didn't learn of his murder until the next morning when the alarm woke me up for work and i heard it on the news. I went to work but cried all day.

The aftermath of Lennon's death and the reaction to it is often compared to President Kennedy's murder. I remember Kennedy's assassination very well too, although i was about 6 at the time. I would have to agree Lennon's assassination is my generation's version of Kennedy's murder.

John's last album had been released not long before his death. It had mixed reviews at the time. I liked a lot of it but hated some of it. It had been a collaboration with Yoko and some of the music (hers in particular) wasn't all that pleasant. I remember when the album was first released many scoffed at it. After he was killed we all kind of listened to it with a different ear. There were some beautiful songs on there, in particular one to his son. I still can't listen to that one without crying.

We really did lose a great man that day. He had a vision of a peaceful world. I do wonder what else he might have done with his life had we not lost him that day. I imagine him being somewhat like Bono...in that he would influence the world and politics not just with his music.

Here is a pretty good article on Lennon's death:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_John_Lennon

 

[tomalak301]

The aftermath of Lennon's death and the reaction to it is often compared to President Kennedy's murder. I remember Kennedy's assassination very well too, although i was about 6 at the time. I would have to agree Lennon's assassination is my generation's version of Kennedy's murder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_John_Lennon

You bring up an interesting point regarding the similarities between Lennon and Kennedy. I was listening to a Scifi themed show this last weekend which talked about Kennedy and what might have happened to the Space Program had he lived to see his dream through. The same thing can be said about Lennon. Where would we be today if Lennon hadn't been killed? I'm not saying both had the power to change the world, but I think both were pretty influential in how the world turned out, or could have turned out.

 

[Count Zero]

John's last album had been released not long before his death. It had mixed reviews at the time. I liked a lot of it but hated some of it. It had been a collaboration with Yoko and some of the music (hers in particular) wasn't all that pleasant. I remember when the album was first released many scoffed at it. After he was killed we all kind of listened to it with a different ear. There were some beautiful songs on there, in particular one to his son. I still can't listen to that one without crying.

Yes, the lines "I can hardly wait to see you come of age but I guess we both just have to be patient" and "life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" from Beautiful Boy are hard to bear and take on a meaning of themselves in light of John's death a short time later. Such a waste.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

I was thirty. No particular memories of the event.

 

[Skywalker]

I was a little under three years away from being born, so obviously I have no memory of that day. My dad is a huge fan of the Beatles, though, so I'm sure he was pretty devastated. I've never actually asked him about it, though.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I was ten years old. I don't really remember anything about how I reacted to the news.