John Winston Ono Lennon was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as the founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. He was characterised for his rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music, writing, drawings, on film and in interviews.
He was a great lyricist and wrote surrealist poetry and had a gift for a withering one-liner. The man who founded the Beatles was known for his cruel wit and a vicious streak of humour.
Even though gone pretty early at the ripe age of 40, there are certain weird facts about Lennon that the masses don’t know much about.
John Lennon Couldn’t Stand His Own Voice
Lennon did not like the sound of his voice and loved to double-track his records. He would often ask the band’s producer, George Martin, to cover the sound of his voice:
“Can’t you smother it with tomato ketchup or something?”
I mean who would’ve known that one of the greatest singers in the history of rock music hated his own voice?
John Lennon Termed His Songwriting As “Torture”
Lennon wrote some of the most indelible pop songs of the 20th century—and he apparently detested every minute of it.
Speaking with Rolling Stone just days before his death, Lennon shone light upon how songwriting was “absolute torture” for him.
To quote Lennon verbatim, “I always think there’s nothing there, it’s shit, it’s no good, it’s not coming out, this is garbage … and even if it does come out, I think, ‘What the hell is it anyway?'” he said.
The only exceptions, he added, were the “10 or so songs the Gods give you and that come out of nowhere.”
Apparently, John Lennon Used To Sleep In A Coffin
According to Allan Williams, an early manager for The Beatles, Lennon liked to sleep in an old coffin. Williams had an old, abandoned coffin on the premises of his coffee bar, the Jacaranda.
As a gag, Lennon would sometimes nap in it. When asked about the reason behind this, Lennon claimed that it would keep the nightmares at bay and proper sleep was very important before any major work.
John Lennon Was A Tad Bit Too Obsessive About His Cats
Though Lennon was the father to a couple of dogs, he was absolutely crazy about cats. He had many of them over the years, each one holding a very special place in his heart. As a kid, he had a cat named Elvis who was named after Elvis Presley.
But soon he discovered that Elvis was a female when she gave birth to a litter of kittens. Still, the name stuck. More than a dozen feline friends would follow over the years.
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Till Date Nobody Knows The Exact Whereabouts Of John Lennon’s Ashes
After he was shot in 1980, there was no funeral for the legendary Beatle. Yoko Ono had Lennon’s body cremated at the Ferncliff Cemetery, and scattered his ashes in Central Park, in sight of their New York apartment.
Five years later, the Strawberry Fields Memorial was dedicated on the approximate spot, and more or less serves as Lennon’s official gravesite.
However, the more famous speculation that goes around is that Lennon’s wife was into the occult. And on his first death anniversary, she performed some rites with those ashes.
Of course, this is really all hearsay and rumor and does not seem to make any sense. All we can do at this point is speculate.
John Lennon Wanted Jesus And Hitler For The Cover Of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
British pop artist Peter Blake came up with the cover concept for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which is that the band would be surrounded by cardboard cutouts of famous figures from throughout history. He asked all four Beatles to make lists of people to include.
One of Lennon’s choices was Jesus Christ, even though he’d recently gotten into trouble for saying the Beatles were “more popular” than the Christian messiah. Blake’s team did not take up Lennon on his request of a Jesus cutout, but they did create one for another of Lennon’s controversial selections – Adolf Hitler.
The Führer apparently made the final cover, but he’s behind the band, so one can’t exactly see him.
At Some Point In His Young Age, Lennon Wanted To Be An Indian
As a child, Lennon played cowboys and Indians and wished he was Indian. His hero was Sioux Chief Sitting Bull.
Later on in life, he did visit India along with his band members. Not only did the Beatles go to India for a spiritual reawakening through meditation, but the trip proved to be one of their most creative periods. They wrote reportedly 48 songs, with most of them ending up on the White Album, released later that year.
John Lennon, in one word, is dramatic, to say the least. He had a very colorful personality and was never afraid to acknowledge it.
He was famous for making meaningful music, but he also stood out in the minds of people everywhere due to the fact that he was vocal on a number of political issues during his lifetime. He used both his music and actions to voice his opinions.
His song “Imagine” is a timeless masterpiece that evokes people to imagine a world without war, hate and divisive elements.
John Lennon came, saw, and sang, and the world listened. Even though it’s been a long time since his death, the world is still listening.
Image Sources: Google Images
Sources: BBC News, Umusic, Daily Express
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This post is tagged under John Lennon, Rock Singer, Imagine, The Beatles, India, Weird facts about John Lennon, coffin, great playwright, activist, man of peace, lead singer
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