Imagine the World Without John Lennon

On December 8^th in 1980, John Lennon's voice was silenced forever when he was gunned down outside of his Dakota Apartment Building on the Upper West Side by a deranged fan, Mark David Chapman. At the time, Lennon was living with his wife, Yoko Ono, and their five-year-old son, Sean.

John and Yoko Ono's love affair was lived out for public viewing from the very beginning. After they wed on March 20, 1969 in Gibraltar, they hosted a honeymoon "bed-in" for peace in the presidential suite of the Amsterdam Hilton. From there they traveled to the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal on May 26, 1969 to host a second weeklong "bed-in" for peace. It is from there that the entire theme song for the sixties was given birth and "Give Peace a Chance" inspired an entire generation to chant a song of peace along with John and Yoko. Anyone who was fortunate enough to survive the sixties remembers John and Yoko's nude photos as they stuck-it-to the establishment and lifted their voices above the noise of war in the world.

I remember where I was when I heard the breaking news that John Lennon was shot dead. It brought back a flood of childhood memories of us spinning the Beatles records backwards to hear the mysterious messages encoded on their albums. But this was real life and John would never sing us another song. An era had come to an end.

Strawberry Fields is the memorial for John Lennon and has attracted millions of people from across the world since it opened. Yoko Ono donated $1 million to the Central Park Conservancy for maintenance of the memorial, which is marked by a ground mosaic that spells out the word "Imagine." The designated area, stretching from 71st to 74th streets is known as Strawberry Fields. It debuted on October 9, 1985, which would have been John's 45th birthday had he not been assassinated that fateful day in December.

On October 9^th every year, thousands of fans come to pay tribute to a man who simply wanted to just "Let It Be" and "Imagine" a world where peace reigned supreme. Whether you loved him or not, John didn't deserve to have his life taken away so abruptly and the world still mourns his passage. I know that I do.

There will never be another man whose soft spoken lyrics chime the wish deep down inside of all of us,

John Lennon - Imagine lyrics

"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

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world"

Yes, John, we can only Imagine. I hope you are resting in peace.