John Lennon, Dead 25 Years

Hard to believe it has been 25 years since John Lennon was shot outside his apartment building, the Dakota, in New York City. I remember hearing on the radio that he had died. Only one of my three roommates was home that night. We put the White Album on the stereo, really loud, and played bongos and cymbals and sticks and sang along with it for hours. I can see V sitting on the back of a chair on one side of the room, eyes closed, banging away and singing at the top of her lungs. Large quantities of alcohol accompanied our wake. There was a strong sense that life would never be the same. (Of course, we had had very similar feelings the previous month when Ronald "Bonzo" Reagan was elected president. That night I spent in a pool hall with another roommate drinking boozy toasts to the end of the world.)

Imagine

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,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

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

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.