Give Peace a Chance
It was 25 years ago today...
posted by Eric Wallack at
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Thursday, December 08, 2005
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Where/what were you doing on that day? I was sound asleep, around 2 am, in my apartment in Manayunk (Philadelphia) and the fire alarm went off (the only time it happened). It was the loudest alarm bell I'd ever heard and it continued for 10 minutes and no police or fire arrived. When I finally went outside to check, none of the other building inhabitants were there--and no sign of lights or activity.
I remember it was a school day and waking up early to go downstars to start the fire in the woodstove (an important chore in upstate NY!) and turn on the TV news. Of course there it was, the picture of Lennon with "Imagine" playing underneath and a cut to the reporter saying John was shot dead a few hours ago. Like everyone else I was devestated. On the brink of Reagan and the 80's the dream was very much over. Even writing this now I'm getting choked up...
I wasn't in school - way past that - but I remember distinctly hearing that Lennon was dead - certainly the world stopped - and I couldn't really "imagine" anything that would justify this happening.
As you may know, Lennon is my personal hero. My birthday is Dec. 8th. I always have a somber moment on my birthday to remember him and what an effect he's had on my life. I was only 8 the day he was killed, and even then I had the posters from the White Album on my walls.
It's amazing how I've still managed to grow up with him even though he's been gone for much of my life. The Beatles for my wild years, and now having a marriage of 8 years and a two year old, his later solo work is like having a conversation with someone who's going through the same experiences as me. "How's your wife and little one? Do you miss playing in your group? or are you just watching the wheels like me? weren't the 70's (90's) a drag? Nobody told me there's be days like this!"
It's still a conversation across time 25 years later. And no matter how trite pop culture tries to make Imagine in goofy times like this, there's no song that haunts like that. There's no other voice that cuts through the air like that. There's no other man who will ever be like that. May the world never forget the great John Lennon.z
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