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"I don't bother so much about the others'
songs. For instance, I don't give a damn about how 'Something'
is doing in the charts -- I watch 'Come Together' (the flip
side) because that's my song."
"The idea of being a rock and roll musician
sort of suited my talents and mentality. The freedom was
great, but then I found out I wasn't free. I'd got boxed
in ...The whole Beatle thing is just beyond comprehension
... subconsciously I was crying for help."
"The writing of the Beatles, or John and Paul's contribution
to the Beatles in the late sixties - had a kind of depth
to it, a more mature, more intellectual approach. We were
different people, we were older. We knew each other in all
kinds of different ways than when we wrote together as teenagers
and in our older twenties."
"The thing is, in America, it just seemed ridiculous
-- I mean, the idea of having a hit record over there. It
was just something you could never do."
"My original idea for the cover was better - decapitate
Paul - but he wouldn't go along with it."
John talking about the "butcher cover" for the album Yesterday...
and Today
"...The f*ckin' fans tried to beat me into being a
f*ckin' Beatle or an Engelbert Humperdinck, and the critics
tried to beat me into being Paul McCartney."
"I don't miss it. I'm glad it happened, but I don't
miss it."
"If The Beatles or the 60's had a message, it was 'Learn
to swim. And once you've learned - swim!"
"We thought being offered the M.B.E. [Member of the
Order of the British Empire] was as funny as everybody else
thought it was. Why? What for? We didn't believe it. It was
a part we didn't want. We all met and agreed it was daft."
"Without Jimmy Dean, the Beatles never would have existed."
"My life with the Beatles had become a trap… I
always remember to thank Jesus for the end of my touring
days; if I hadn't said that the Beatles were 'bigger than
Jesus' and upset the very Christian Ku Klux Klan, well, Lord,
I might still be up there with all the other performing fleas!
God bless America. Thank you, Jesus."
"What would you suggest I do? Give everything away
and walk the streets? The Buddhist says, "Get rid of the
possessions of the mind." Walking away from all
the money would not accomplish that. It's like the Beatles. I couldn't walk
away from the Beatles. That's one possession that's still tagging along, right?"
"It's just natural, it's not a great disaster. People
keep talking about it like it's The End of The Earth. It's
only a rock group that split up, it's nothing important.
You know, you have all the old records there if you want
to reminisce."
"I didn't leave the Beatles. The Beatles have left the
Beatles, but no one wants to be the one to say the party's
over."
Question: "How would you trace the breakup of the Beatles?"
John Lennon: "After Brian died, we collapsed. Paul took
over and supposedly led us. But what is leading us, when
we went round in circles? We broke up then. That was the
disintegration."
"At the (record company) meeting Paul just kept mithering
on about what we were going to do, so in the end I just said,
'I think you're daft. I want a divorce.'"
"I felt that film (Let It Be) was set up by Paul for
Paul. That is one of the main reasons the Beatles ended.
I can't speak for George, but I pretty damn well know we
got fed up of being sidemen for Paul. After Brian died, that's
what happened, that's what began to happen to us. The camera
work was set up to show Paul and not anybody else. And that's
how I felt about it."
Question: "What was your feeling when Brian died?"
John Lennon: "The feeling that anybody has when somebody close to them dies.
There is a sort of little hysterical, sort of hee, hee, I'm glad it's not me
or something in it, the funny feeling when somebody close to you dies. I don't
know whether you've had it, but I've had a lot of people die around me. And the
other feeling is: ``What the f*ck? What can I do?'' I knew that we were in trouble
then. I didn't really have any misconceptions about our ability to do anything
other than play music, and I was scared. I thought, ``We've f*ckin' had it.'' "
"Where do people get off saying the Beatles should
give $200,000,000 to South America? You know, America has
poured billions into places like that. It doesn't mean a
damn thing. After they've eaten that meal, then what? It
lasts for only a day. After the $200,000,000 is gone, then
what? It goes round and round in circles. You can pour money
in forever. After Peru, then Harlem, then Britain. There
is no one concert. We would have to dedicate the rest of
our lives to one world concert tour, and I'm not ready for
it. Not in this lifetime, anyway."
John Lennon responding to suggestion that the Beatles should
reunite and perform benefit concerts
"It can never be again! Everyone always talks about
a good thing coming to an end, as if life was over. But I'll
be 40 when this interview comes out. Paul is 38. Elton John,
Bob Dylan — we're all relatively young people. The
game isn't over yet. Everyone talks in terms of the last
record or the last Beatle concert — but, God willing,
there are another 40 years of productivity to go. I'm not
judging whether "I Am The Walrus" is better or
worse than "Imagine." It is for others to judge.
I am doing it. I do. I don't stand back and judge — I
do."
John Lennon on talk of a Beatles reunion
"The Beatles is over, but John, Paul, George, and Ringo...God
knows what relationship they'll have in the future. I don't
know. I still love those guys! Because they'll always be
those people who were that part of my life."
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