John Lennon death anniversary: 6 songs that defined the musician-activist

On this day in 1980, a mentally-disturbed man obsessed with JD Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye shot dead John Lennon. It’s hard to imagine what Lennon would’ve been like if he had survived to this age. How would Lennon have reacted to the world as we know today is a question that takes some pondering. Would he have been shocked by the violence that is continually perpetuated in the name of religion and national pride to this day? Or the fact that right seems to have regressed even further, as the land he called home elected a lying demagogue to its highest office. He certainly would have been happy with the promulgation of LGBT rights. Would he have become the first songwriter to receive  the Nobel Prize before Bob Dylan? Maybe he would have become a hardcore Dawkinian atheist by now, denouncing religion.

After all he did say in the 60s: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I'll be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first—rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me”

Perhaps he would have rejected a knighthood by now, sick of the epithets that the establishment feels like bestowing on a few. The truth is that former Beatles John Lennon, was an artist and activist with no comparison, a man who challenged governments and establishments and wrote songs that would live on for eternity.

On his death anniversary, we look back upon some of his most epic verses, words that resonate in the world to this day:

6) Cold Turkey

Written and released in 1969, Cold Turkey has two interesting origin stories. The first is that it was written in a zest of creative outburst, when John and Yoko had gone ‘cold turkey’ after a mild heroin addiction. The second (and more embarrassing) explanation is that it was inspired by the symptoms of food poisoning which caused due to eating leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. Whatever, the explanation, the song was an instant hit.

5) Instant Karma

Inspired by conversations with Yoko Ono’s former husband Tony Cox and his partner Melinde Kendall, the song was based on the concept of instant karma – where one experiences the results of one’s actions immediately rather than face the consequences of a lifetime of actions. Lennon reportedly wrote the song in only one hour and it was an instant hit. 

4) Happy Xmas (War is Over)

The song was described as the culmination of more than two years of protest by peace activists John and Yoko against the Vietnam War. Lennon’s anti-war stance was particular jarring to the American government of that time which had Richard Nixon as president, which involved a lengthy attempt to deport him.

 The attempt to deport them led to Bob Dylan writing a letter defending Lennon stating: “John and Yoko add a great voice and drive to the country's so-called art institution. They inspire and transcend and stimulate and by doing so, only help others to see pure light and in doing that, put an end to this dull taste of petty commercialism which is being passed off as Artist Art by the overpowering mass media. Hurray for John and Yoko. Let them stay and live here and breathe. The country's got plenty of room and space. Let John and Yoko stay.”

3) Give Peace A Chance

The song that epitomised Lennon’s stance against war and became an anthem for the counter-culture movement of the 60s. The song was credited to Lennon-McCartney, even though it was written by John and Yoko. Seriously, why can’t we just give peace a chance?

2) Working Class Hero

Apparently a song that freaked out radio stations because it used the f word, ("Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV, And you think you're so clever and classless and free, But you're still fu@#*ng peasants as far as I can see), the song not only speaks about shoe-horning the ‘working class’ into a system but also the conformity that society demands from everyone.

1) Imagine

And finally the song that would define Lennon and perhaps the greatest peace anthem ever written asks us all to ‘imagine a world without heaven or hell, countries or borders or possessions, a world where we were all together’. Quite simply, the utopia described in Lennon’s song Imagine is what the world should strive to create. No wonder Rolling Stones magazine called it Lennon’s ‘greatest musical gift to the world’.  And here’s the video with Pablo Stanley’s artwork that captures the essence of the song: