Lennon was not a Sculptor

Sinead O’Connor says “We all loved John Lennon better for all the mad things he did – the way he was interested in just tearing open the sky. He was definitely the sexiest of the Beatles because he was angry and edgy. And look at what he did with his fame. He didn’t use it to suck [up] and get more money and be liked by everybody. In fact, that’s the powe rof John Lennon to me: he was real. Even in the songs, he was never afraid to show that he was a bit of a bastard, that he had a nasty side to him like the rest of us do. He stood up and showed that, no matter what, you’ve got to be your frickin’ self” (Giles 64).

Some say that "the beatles split when Yoko sunk her claws into John. Most of his post-beatles work was crap. It was diabolical" (Giles 64). Or that "Ono is commonly accused of having sabotaged her husband's gifts; how she worked her black magic on McCartney is unclear" (Giles 68). But what is more realistic? Lennon's wife was some black sorceress witch doctor woman intent on defiling his music to make him less successful, or he simply had a slump and his fans where to fanatical to admit that it was of his own doing? Ono could have certainly have had a bad impact on Lennon, maybe even done some things to purposefully derail if wicked run of generation-defining music, but it's not too far-fetched to say he drifted a bit on his own, too. The point is that he made great music that perpetuates; it was great then, is great now, and will be great later on.

It’s important to note that singers like Mick Jagger painted an even more rebellious “bad boy” image than Lennon. Compared to Mick, Lennon was a momma’s boy. But this is not a rebellion contest. The point is that Mick, Lennon, Springstein and many other successful musicians weren’t trying to be bad boys. They weren’t out there trying to sculpt themselves into an image of rebel with plaster and a societal chisel. No, instead they just laid it on the line. They spoke their voice and made sure it was heard regardless of whether or not people would accept their message, kill their message, rejoice because of their message. They were masters of authenticity because they didn’t try to sculpt. Society sculpted them into how we describe them today, but their level of authenticity demands so much more attention because of the level of certainty it creates.



Giles, Jeff. “Lennon Lives” Time. November, 2006.