Yes…I know it’s Wednesday…but if you haven’t turned a tv or a radio on today, let me tell you…it was thirty years ago today that John Lennon was shot outside the Dakota, so I figure I can bend the rules this week. I think there are three people who everyone says ‘Where were you when you heard…died?’ JFK, Lady Di and John Lennon.
Listening to Q107 in Toronto today on the way in, I was flooded with different memories. I vividly remember the day after he was shot. My fourth grade teacher at Masonville Public School in London, Mrs. Appleton, was a wreck. She closed the blinds, turned off the lights and we all listened to the Beatles (I need to send this to all my facebook friends who were with me in that class and see if they remember). I didn’t really get at the time what the fuss was all about but hey – not having to do the health hustle and any work was fine by me.
It wasn’t until a few years later when I went to see Beatlemania in Montreal that I caught on. I wore out the Red and Blue casettes because I listened to them over and over and over again. I will admit though – I wasn’t a John girl. At the time, I was all about Paul but as I grew up and my musical taste matured, I became and remain all about George.
But there is something about John. This summer when I was in New York, I was walking to meet my friend for a beer on the west side. I passed this building and thought, what the hell is this place and then it hit me that it was the Dakota. Chills went up and down my spine and tears came to my eyes. I can’t explain it. But it did make me go back to his music and I’m falling in love with it. Maybe I’m becoming a John girl after all.
Do you have any memories of when he died? I know some of you may not have even been born yet so we’ll let you off the hook. If that’s the case just sit back and enjoy this song – and who knows maybe you’ll become a John girl too.
Jackie says
That was the 1st 45 I bought with my own money! I was only 10 when he died but I vaguely remember because of my older sisters.