Imagine All the People: John Lennon

Young John Lennon (http://www.google.com/imgres?q=john+lennon&um=1&hl (ultimateclassicrock.com))

"Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try. No hell below us, above us only sky. Imagine all the people living for today" (John Lennon). John Winston Lennon, a rock-n-roll musician, was born on October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, England to mother, Julia, but was given to his Aunt Mimi because of her inability to raise her son on her own. When Lennon started school, he had troubles and wasn't very interested in his education. He was only intrigued by art and music, and once he heard Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel," he knew what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He gathered his friends and willing acquaintances to form a band called "The Quarry Men" named after his high school, Quarry Bank High School. He soon met Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Once final arrangements were made, Ringo Starr (also known as Richard Starrkey) was put in the band as the drummer and The Beatles were formed. After years and years of sold out performances, traveling all over the world and making lots of money, the band members decided to go their separate ways. Feuding broke out and women, money, songs, and different ideas made them part in different ways. John had met Yoko Ono and they instantly fell in love. They had a son, produced many albums, and started the trend of peace throughout the world, and hoped that peace would be spread and the world would improve its issues. On December 8, 1980, in Manhattan, the happily in love couple was out for a stroll, when crazed fan Mark David Chapman emerged from the shadows and called out "Mr. Lennon" and then Lennon was shot dead. John Lennon died a hero. A hero must possess the artistic vision and passion for what he/she does. A hero must be determined with what he/she does and he/she must be a hero people can look up to. Confidence is key, and without it, a hero wouldn't be a hero because they need to be confident in what they do. Leadership is most important factor because it is needed to be a leader for everyone who admires this hero. John Lennon's charisma, perseverance, and creativity made him an inspirational leader for many people.

In everything he did, John Lennon was charismatic in his career and in himself by acting out in mindless ways, making jokes and causing people to laugh everywhere around him, while taking pride in his work and career. Lennon's personality was a very unique one filled with many emotions including his wittiness and his confidence: "John was the wittiest and also the most abrasive. 'People who think we had it easy can think again,' he said. 'Shortly before our big break, we had a good week when we made 20 pounds apiece and that was doing for shows a day.' He added: 'The day the fans desert us, I'll be wondering how to pay for my whiskey and cokes'" (Life Magazine). John Lennon was a total jokester because he would do silly faces and pull crazy antics on his coworkers and people he was friends with just to make them smile. Lennon had a very funny personality and he loved to make people laugh and smile. Along with his personality, he had outstanding confidence in his work and everything he did because he believed in himself and in his band: "[Songwriting]'s not a matter of craftsmanship.. It's like being possessed; like a psychic, or a medium. The thing has to go down. It won't let you sleep, so you have to get up, make it into something, and then you're allowed to sleep" (Life Magazine). Lennon took a lot of time and effort to pour his emotions into his songs; he needed a lot of confidence to go on stage every week to perform. Lennon had a lot of confidence in his band and in himself, so they could all (his band members) be successful and sell out shows worldwide. Lennon has charisma pouring out of him and shining like a diamond in the sky; he is well known for his foolishness on TV, magazines, pictures, and just being with people all around him laughing and smiling and his confidence in his work and things he strongly believed in.

(http://www.google.com/imgres?q=john+lennon&um=1&hl (last.fm))

Since he was a boy, Lennon had to overcome many struggles differing from family, friends, his career, and even the problems of the world, but he faced the challenges in life and became a very successful human being. Lennon never grew up with his real parents which was hard for him because he never really knew his real parents as well as he should of: "John's father, Alfred, was away at sea, and would never have much of a part in his son's life. The mother, Julia, was temperamental, ill-prepared for raising a son on her own, and frankly not that interested in it" (Gale Reference). Lennon had to learn to survive with his family's issues ever since he was born because his father had left him and his mother was unable to take care of him, so he was sent to live with his Aunt Mimi. When Lennon was older and starting to become very successful with The Beatles, his father wanted to be a part of his life once again, but Lennon shut him out and didn't accept. With the problems in his past, he found new struggles to deal with involving his want for peace for the world: "Far right, in their West Village home in New York in 1971, the husband and wife engage in Bagism. Created by them, Bagism is an art form that, perhaps, attempts to prevent others from making generalizations based on physical characteristics" (Life Magazine). Lennon felt the world needed to have more peace because of his strong urge to help people and want to persevere through the problems. Lennon craved peace for the world so everyone could live together in unity and be happy without arguing and wars and the hurting of others. John Lennon eliminated as many of life's problems and challenges varying from his family to his career and the world by persevering through and he is considered a leader and an inspiration for taking down as many obstacles at a time.

Throughout his life, Lennon saw the world differently and thought differently from other people; he saw the art and the creativity more than anything else and he wanted to pursue his future in the arts because it intrigued him. Art and music had the biggest influence on Lennon's life ever since he was a little boy and he had a talent for art: "Lennon was a mediocre student, but his intelligence and artistic talent enabled him to move through school" (Life Magazine). Though his grades weren't the best, Lennon had such a passion for art and he was engrossed with intelligence; therefore, he could maneuver his way through school and begin his way to stardom. Lennon became a troublemaker because of his silly nature, but what he took seriously was art class and anything creative and artistic. As he grew older over time, Lennon became very serious about his art and his music: "Here was something that called out to him.took hold of him.a feel.something that was on his wavelength.something that shook a lad who had been wandering in a daydream and made him feel, at once, alive. Relentlessly he begged Mimi to buy him a guitar" (Life Magazine). Lennon became very interested in art and created his own pictures and made art through his songs. Lennon used many different figures in his art, along with Yoko Ono, mostly on his album covers with his new band The Plastic Ono Band. Lennon's life consisted of art everywhere he went and he was influenced by it to create music and art of his own later on in his life which would help the world in many ways.

(http://www.google.com/imgres?q=john+lennon&um=1&hl (johnlennon.com))

John Lennon can be considered a hero because of his inspirational leadership through confidence and his charisma, his incentive ability to persevere through life's hard moments, and his artistic vision and creative knowledge. Through his vision of the world, Lennon spread the word of his ideas to influence others that peace would be the solution to many things. He did this with his confidence and his leadership shines out of him because he faced life's challenges and problems of the world. He used his creativity to create images of better things from his ideas of how the world should be. John Lennon inspires me because he is a poet at heart and speaks what he feels through his music. John Lennon isn't afraid of what people think of him, even when he does the silliest of things and I admire him for having such great self-assurance. His music describes the emotions he may be feeling or what he thinks of himself and many people can connect to the situations he went through in his past and even what he did when he was older. John Lennon, a music phenomenon and a truly magnificent human being, inspires the world and is known as a huge public figure for many people to look up to with his motivational words and lyrics in his music and he will live in our hearts forever remembered. As his song says, "You, you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you will join us and the world will be as one."

Works Consulted

"John Lennon." Contemporary Heroes and Heroines. Vol. 3. Gale, 1998. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

"John Winston Lennon." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. Vol. 9. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 326-328. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

McLeese, Don. "Lennon, John." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2012. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.

Andreas, Robert, ed. Life Magazine: Remembering John Lennon 25 Years Later. Vol. 5. N.p.: Richard Fraiman, 2005. Print.

"The Beatles Arrive in the United States." American Decades Primary Sources. Ed. Cynthia Rose. Vol. 7: 1960-1969. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 191-192. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.

Middleton, Richard. "Lennon, John Ono 1940-1980." N.p., n.d. Web.

"A Magical Tour Through a Mysterious Mind." The Washington Post. N.p., n.d. Web.