I missed the peak of flower power and the rise of Sergeant Pepper by a good 21 years. Suffice it to say that I also missed Watergate and the Vietnam War and their concomitant protest movements. My parents met each other two years after Mark David Chapman heartlessly shot this bespectacled Beatle, fresh from Starting Over. Yet, I still consider myself to have grown up with John Winston Lennon, whom I unabashedly (and shamelessly) consider the big brother I never had.
I was just six years old when I first fell in love with the Beatles. My dad brought home a cassette copy of the band’s Past Masters Volume 2 album and popped it in our car’s tape deck. It didn’t take 10 seconds before Day Tripper’s bass line captured my full attention. With that, my thirteen year affinity for the Fab Four began and hasn’t let up.
I remember the two-hour-a-day brownouts during the early 90’s and how I would hole myself up in a room with a portable cassette player. My personal favorite album was A Hard Day’s Night, which I played all the time. While my first favorite Beatle was Paul McCartney, John’s acerbic wit soon captivated me more, even as a child. I would imagine that my bed was a trampoline as I bobbed up and down to John’s I’ll Cry Instead. Another Hard Day’s Night favorite was You Can’t Do That; I would sneer at John’s forthright sexism, which I found it highly amusing.
I spent the first 50 pesos I earned (which my parents gave me for getting good grades in preschool) to buy a Jingle Beatles songbook. I spent the entire 1992 collecting all the Beatles albums and memorizing their songs, while of course, paying particular attention to John’s songs – from Love Me Do to You Know My Name. Soon enough, I knew every song by heart, and I would spend a good amount of time phoning in requests for Happiness is a Warm Gun to RJ radio. Even up until I reached college, whenever anyone would ask me what special talent I have, I would readily cite my ability to sing any Beatles song, word-for-word, by heart.
I grew up idolizing John Lennon and making sure everyone else I knew was aware of it. The first (and only) guy I socked in the face was a guy who said that the Beatles were just another boy band. Whenever I would order coffee from Starbucks, I would say that my name is John. I even remember citing John Lennon in one of the papers I wrote for Philosophy class. My favorite clothes: two black shirts, one with John Lennon’s NYC pose and another of him smoking an illegal substance. Whenever I would introduce myself to anyone, I never forget to tell him or her that I am a huge John Lennon fan.
John’s music also provided the best soundtrack to own love life. When I had my first taste of infatuation in high school, which came with its requisite heartbreaks, I found myself popping in the Beatles For Sale CD for succor; the opening salvo of three Lennon heartbreak songs proved to comfort my young, broken heart . No Reply was the perfect companion to an unrequited text message, while I’m a Loser provided obligatory self-deprecation – as, ironically, I was the high school class clown. Of course, Baby’s in Black is all about seeing my teen-crush walking hand-in-hand with another, more handsome guy.
When everything turned sunshiny and I fell in love with my first girlfriend, Yaan, Lennon did not leave my CD player. This Boy somehow became one of our theme songs, and it also became her favorite Beatles song. It’s Only Love provided the backdrop for those “butterfly” moments, while Strawberry Fields Forever, my favorite John song of all time, wonderfully captured the blitheness of young love.
Yet as I have grown older, Lennon has also become more than just a personal idol and my favorite singer-songwriter. Becoming more involved in political issues and being more aware of the recurrence of the troubles that plagued Lennon’s (and my parents’) time, has helped me realize the power of John’s advocacies. Having listened to his back catalogue, particularly Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, I realized how his songs also play a pertinent role in reflecting in what I – and the greater part of society – need to come to terms with.
In Give Me Some Truth, John plaintively begs for just that – and what is the truth, really? In God, he says, “I don’t believe in Kennedy,” “I don’t believe in Jesus,” and “I don’t believe in Beatles.” While I personally believe in JFK, Jesus, Catholicism and the Fab Four, I believe that this song reflects an attitude that the rest of us may need to adopt. In a time wherein all of us readily and blindly believe everything we hear from media, society, and those around us, Lennon reminds us to re-examine our value systems and reflect on what we truly believe in.
Imagine is oft-misunderstood. This song does not denounce the spirit behind religion, nationalism, or capitalism (“imagine no possessions”); rather, it denounces how people have masked their selfish intentions behind the guise of such institutions. If these same institutions are the same ones that lead to society’s ills – just like what we are seeing in our country right now – then we probably might want to consider challenging those at the top.
Yet what I consider the most poignant – and more important – line in any Lennon song comes from the aforementioned God: “I was the walrus … but now I’m John.” In a song about unmasking one’s self, I realized that reflecting on the Beatles’ impact on my life was also the means by which I found myself, and what I believe in. I found that behind the mask of this Beatlemaniac is a regular, unassuming guy named Glenn.
And somehow, this was the best lesson my imaginary brother has taught me.
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my friend glenn, who is the biggest beatles (and john lennon) fan i know, wrote such a beautiful essay on his blog today about the impact of john lennon's music on his life. i love every single word, so i thought i would re-reproduce it for you all here.
although i admit to being slightly annoyed that teen soaps like 
are there any album releases this winter that you are looking forward to? it seems to me the cd release calendar for the rest of 2005 is pretty dead and we'll be slapped by a slew of major label greatest hits-type cash grabs very soon. it's time for me to re-evaluate all the albums i listened to in 2005 and compile a year-end list, and give my poor wallet a break.
THE DARKEST STAR
SUGAR, WE'RE GOIN DOWN
I LOVE THE ARCTIC MONKEYS!
FAITH. HOPE. LOVE.
today i've been listening to a lot of 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
it's the cover of afghan whigs' gentlemen. the thing i love about it the most is how the children are acting so adult. the two of them look like they've had a fight and the awkwardness is so present in the photograph. i also really like interpol's turn on the bright lights (but you already knew that), sigur ros' agaetis byrjun and the smiths' self titled. i'm interested in knowing what you consider some of the best album covers, so speak up!
I LOVE A MAN IN A UNIFORM
I REALLY COULD HAVE IT SO MUCH BETTER
WIN AN IPOD NANO !!!