By Jacinto Caballero-George
John Lennon has been praised for years. He was the song writer. He was seen as a good father who loved his kids due to his song “Beautiful Boy.” Truthfully, he was anything but.
That song was written for his second son, Sean, who at the time was believed to be his first. Lennon’s ex-wife, Cythia Lennon, came out years later, telling her side of the story. She claimed Lennon was very abusive to her and neglectful to Julian, his first son.
Lennon was later interviewed on this topic. In the interview, he said, “[The song] is a diary form of writing. All that ‘I used to be cruel to my woman. I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved’ was me. I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically… any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn’t express myself, and I hit. I fought men, and I hit women… But I sincerely believe in love and peace. I am a violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence. I will have to be a lot older before I can face in public how I treated women as a youngster.”
Years later there was an interview with Julian. This was when the people were still speculating if the physical abuse was towards Julian, as well. In this interview, Jullian did not comment on the allegations. He did call his father a “Hypocrite,” followed by talking about how his father often preached of peace and love despite not practicing it himself to those he “loved.”
On top of the many hypocritical and abusive things Lennon has done, it is very likely that he was homophobic. A close friend of John Lennon made a joke about him being gay. In response, Lennon violently attacked him. When asked about the incident, instead of apologizing about it he said, “He called me a queer, so I battered his bloody ribs.”
Many people praise Lennon for his music which created many new subsections of rock. What people don’t talk about is that a lot of that music was stolen from black rock bands that weren’t very well known. Later on in The Beatles’ career, Paul McCartney said, “We were the biggest nickers in town. Plagiarists extraordinaires.” With this confession, it was found that many Beatles songs were indeed stolen, including “Yesterday” and “I Feel Fine.”
There were so many horrible things that John Lennon did, yet he is still remembered as a great man. It is time the world acknowledges that he was a bad person who doesn’t deserve praise or fans. Next time you listen to The Beatles, remember to separate the art from the artist.
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