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Imagine no nostalgia

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john lennon as a young man

Young John

I suppose I should have posted a ruminative thumb-sucker about the anniversary of John Lennon’s death, but really: Let’s give it a rest. Even a card-carrying baby-boomer such as myself eventually grows weary of the nostalgic navel-gazing we’ve all been indulging in since, oh, about 1975. Is there anything new to say about Lennon, or the Beatles? Anything new about Elvis, or the Supremes, or the Stones, or the Beach Boys or Jimi Hendrix? Nope, not really. I think we covered all of that pretty well on the 10th and 20th and 25th anniversaries.

We pretend to revere the icons of our youth, but really we revere ourselves, the young and hirsute dreamers we seem to recall and the golden memories we have burnished beyond recognition over the past 40 or 50 years. It’s the same reason old guys fix up old Chevies and drive them to auto shows and warn kids not to touch. We are not so much nostalgic as vain — the older we get, the better we were. We’re telling people we used to be cool. And by the way, get off our lawn.

Lennon was an interesting guy and a hell of a songwriter. But I think even he would say it’s time to move on.

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Comments

  1. John H. says

    Some of the best of Lennon’s post-Beatles stuff was about letting go of the past, from “God” to “Starting Over”.

    I’m near the start of Gen X (born in 1965). Lennon is the only famous person whose death makes me feel sad whenever I think of it. What a waste.

    Having said all that, I completely agree that most of the annual attention to his death is narcissism, not remembrance. And this year, of course, it’s also marketing: to remind everyone that the Beatles are now available on iTunes.

  2. Dave Knadler says

    Born in ’65: That puts you right between the arbitrary generational boundaries so loved by pop sociologists. The good part: You can cast yourself as a member of both, or neither, as conditions warrant.

    At the moment, I’d love not to be a baby-boomer.

  4. John H. says

    ” tess December 13, 2010 at 10:45 am
    I welcome any excuse to listen to plenty of John Lennon’s music on the radio.”

    Touché. 🙂 But allow me to keep a bit of my annoyance and complain that all I ever seem to hear is either “Imagine” or “Woman”. I don’t expect “Working Class Hero” (although I’d love to hear that on the radio), but at least “Instant Karma”, or “Watching the Wheels”, or maybe “Nobody Told Me”?

  5. Dave Knadler says

    Hey, I love Lennon’s music too. (Except for “Woman.”) I still think “Revolution” was one of his best. Kind of partial to “Jealous Guy,” too.

  6. John H. says

    “Revolution” still sounds fantastic, and I love the humor of the “The Ballad of John and Yoko”. I almost mentioned “Jealous Guy” in my previous list, but decided to stop at 3.

    And if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao/
    You ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow.

  7. malcolm s bates says

    And they don’t talk much about Lennon’s lost year in L.A. with Harry Nilsson. He and Harry did collaborate on a fun album, Pussycats, with a marvelous cover of Dylans Homesick Subterranean Blues, or whatever the hell it’s called–Damn you Dylan and your convoluted titles. A group called the Walkabouts redid the entire Pussycats album and it is a great listen, as is their latest album, Lisbon. I will always call them albums. And whenever these annual tributes come up, why doesn’t anyone interview May Pang? Carol reminded me that you had this wonderful blog. I am now catching up.