Dream, Dream Away

As the big dreamer's 70th birthday arrives, this article by Hampton Stephens is a good summary of why John Lennon remains such a big figure in our society. Myself, I can't stop playing his music - either with the Beatles or solo. I can't stop myself from grooving anytime "Nobody Told Me" or "Watching the Wheels" starts playing. And "Beautiful Boy" resonates very powerfully with me now that i'm a father twice over.

Money quote from the article:

Who didn't want to be John Lennon? Lennon did it all. First. He was the leader of the best rock band ever. He wrote sweeping anthems and breathtakingly fragile love songs. He had a savage wit, yet epic compassion. He went from teeny-bopper superstar to global icon to conceptual artist, activist, and revolutionary—toying with the machinery of fame while supposed pioneers of postmodern media manipulation like Madonna and Bono were in diapers. Lennon was spied on by the Nixon administration, fought to stay in the country, and won. He detoxed decades before it was fashionable, going from a self-described terrible father to an exemplary one—the world's most famous househusband, pioneering again.