The death of a secular saint.

John Lennon's murder was senseless. He was killed for no other reason than that he was famous.

But this public mourning of him strikes me as undeserved, especially when what so many people remember him for was more the result of his being used as a ventriloquist's dummy by Yoko Ono. "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine" are two of the most fatuous lyrics I can remember ever hearing. "Revolution" is more logical and realistic, which is what made his switch to activists so ironic. He seems to have had a neurotic hangup over his mother, Julia, which may have been intensified or brought to the surface by his drug use. What I thought was sad about his death was that he seemed to have been coming out of his enthrallment and growing up when he was killed.

Had he lived, I hope he would have been embarrassed by that period of his life. Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr all seem to have been more rational and well-balanced throughout their lives. My favorite of their albums was Rubber Soul, but they went downhill pretty quickly after that. I liked him alot better as a cynic than as a messiah.