The Toronto Sun reports that in the final years of his life, John Lennon declared, I’m So Tired of left-wing radicalism and that before his assassination in 1980, he was ready Imagine the Instant Karma of the Reagan Revolution.
Perhaps it was a cry for Help! … or just Starting Over, politically. But according to Fred Seaman, Lennon’s last personal assistant, he was ready to Come Together with Reagan and had bought a Ticket to Ride with what appears to be a more conservative world view. The details are coming out ahead of a new documentary.
Lennon argued with his liberal friends, telling them, You Got to Hide Your Love Away for your naive, radical views. It also appears Lennon considered President Jimmy Carter a real Nowhere Man.
“John, basically, made it very clear that if he were an American he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on (Democrat) Jimmy Carter.”
“I also saw John embark in some really brutal arguments with my uncle, who’s an old-time communist… He enjoyed really provoking my uncle… Maybe he was being provocative… but it was pretty obvious to me he had moved away from his earlier radicalism.
“He was a very different person back in 1979 and 80 than he’d been when he wrote Imagine. By 1979 he looked back on that guy and was embarrassed by that guy’s naivete.”
Never, In My Life, would I have thought that 30 years after his death – and one year after Paul inspired me boycott his music – that John Lennon would become my favorite Beatle. And while it may be true that All You Need Is Love, this glimpse into the world of Lennon shows it doesn’t hurt to have a realistic world view as well.
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