DECEMBER 8

“While there’s life, there’s hope.”

-John Lennon

I remember thinking about that quote the night my second son was born. It was the cold, blustery evening of December 8, 2016 when he came into the world at 8:20PM EST crying and healthy. Those words popped into my head that night because I was thinking about the circle of life. December 8 each year in my middle school music classroom holds a special lesson for the 8th graders. Each class, on December 8 talks, learns, and reflects on the genius that was and is John Lennon and his music. As most of you older readers know, John Lennon was murdered by a deranged “fan” outside of his upper west side Manhattan apartment building, The Dakota, by being shot in the back on the night of December 8, 1980. Five shots were fired, and four hit Lennon, as he yelled his final words: “I’m shot.” His wife, along with a doorman, the gunman and a couple of other people watched helpless as John fell up a couple of cement stairs just outside the lobby of the building. Police were called as the doorman, Jose, threw the assassin to the ground screaming “Do you know what you’ve done? Do you know what you just did?” The gunman was already laying on the sidewalk in a fetal position and he answered “I’ve just shot John Lennon.” Lennon was placed in the back of a police cruiser covered with a blanket. Due to traffic in NYC, even on a Monday night, an ambulance was 9-10 minutes out and the police knew there wasn’t time to wait. In the back of the cruiser, an officer asked “Are you John Lennon?”, who weakly answered “yes.” It was only minutes until they arrived at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan’s upper West Side. The trauma team went to work, not knowing who they had on the table until John’s wife Yoko came rushing in moments later. They worked feverishly, but Lennon had lost too much blood and was pronounced dead at 11:15 EST.

This is how I begin the class, along with a large photo on my whiteboard, half showing a picture of Lennon, with the other half showing the beautiful architecture of The Dakota building. The kids are ready to hear more, but I backtrack and recap his years with The Beatles (which we cover in grade 7), along with his 5-year solo career, followed by his semi-retirement to raise his second son Sean. During the late 1970’s as John became a dad for the second time, and first with his second wife, he realized mistakes he made when his first son Julian came along just as The Beatles were getting famous. He didn’t want to miss fatherhood again and so slowed down his life, hung out in his apartment in The Dakota (actually at one point, the Lennon’s owned 5 apartments in the building), enjoyed his son, learned to bake, and was able to relax. Indeed, when one thinks that The Beatles had ended before any of the members turned 30, how the hell do you ever top that? What is your worldview at that point? Perhaps John was trying to live like a normal grownup for awhile. He said many times that one of the best parts about his Manhattan neighborhood was that people, even his local barber, left him alone, or just said “hello” when he walked around. Although The Dakota had a security gate, and private parking inside the building’s courtyard, John often got out on the sidewalk to greet fans and sign autographs. December 8, 1980 was a warm night, and perhaps the combination of the weather and the friendly neighborhood had John in a good mood. He had also just planned a tour, and his first album in almost 6 years, Double Fantasy was climbing the charts. Just two months removed from his 40th birthday, John was looking forward to the 1980’s. Earlier that night, he had been at a record studio in NYC with Yoko helping her finish a dance track called “Walking on Thin Ice.” John played guitar on it and predicted that it would be her first #1 hit. That guitar track was the last thing John Lennon played. “Ice” did hit #1 on the dance chart, but John did not live to see it.

I play clips of John’s music, and lyrics, while telling the classes how many lives he touched and continues to touch. His music, as well as the music of The Beatles transcends time and will touch people forever. It is tragic that John Lennon was taken off the earth at such a young age. The first song I played for both of my kids only hours after each was born was All You Need Is Love. Quietly, on December 8, 2016, later that night while Ted and my wife slept in the hospital, I said a little prayer, and then sent an email to Yoko Ono telling her that I was thinking of her family on this night and I was a new dad for the second time. I told her that John’s music still touches me deeply, and while there’s life, there’s hope. The circle continues. She likely receives thousands of emails a week, and so I didn’t get a response, but it doesn’t matter…the universe knows.

The night following Lennon’s murder, more than 100,000 people crammed the streets on the upper west side of Manhattan, singing Beatles songs, as well as John’s Give Peace a Chance, and Imagine. Yoko Ono told to the chanting crowd outside the Dakota that their singing had kept her awake, and asked that they re-convene at the Central Park Bandshell the following Sunday for ten minutes of silent prayer.

On December 14, 1980 millions of people around the world did just that. They paused for ten minutes of silence to remember Lennon. 30,000 gathered in Lennon’s hometown of Liverpool, and the largest group – over 225,000 – did so at Central Park. For those ten minutes, every radio station in New York City also went off air.

Each year from October 9 (John’s birthday) to December 8, lights from the Imagine Peace Tower shine into the skies above a small island in Iceland. From the website:

The idea is that the tower is in the form of a wishing well. The word “Imagine Peace” are inscribed on the well in 24 world languages.

“I hope the Imagine Peace Tower will give light to the strong wishes of World Peace from all corners of the planet and give encouragement, inspiration and a sense of solidarity in a world now filled with fear and confusion. Let us come together to realize a peaceful world.” 

-Yoko Ono

All You Need Is Love. Imagine. All we are saying….is give peace a chance.

Stay awesome, stay safe, and stay tuned. My little boy is 6 today. While there’s life, there’s hope.