Highlights
- The Beatles became pioneers in the music genre through their use of new sounds and fusion of different types of music, catapulting them into superstardom.
- John Lennon was aware he had a limited time on earth and made references to his mortality in interviews and songs, leading many to wonder if he knew his own fate.
- The Beatles faced controversies during their career, including Lennon’s comments about the band’s popularity compared to Jesus and the belief that their song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was about LSD.
The Beatles are perhaps the most iconic band of all time. While they initially began as just another rock band, over the years they became pioneers in the genre with their use of new sounds and the merging of different types of music that others would not think of fusing together. That, in conjunction with their catchy and touching lyrics, such as with Yesterday, which made the band over $30 million alone, helped to catapult The Beatles from just four young men from Liverpool into superstars and now the legends they are known or remembered as today.
While The Beatles wrote many catchy upbeat songs, they were also known for writing somber ones as well. The songs that tended to be on the sadder side could also be semi-morose, but this was not necessarily understood until John Lennon’s death and fans began to listen to the band’s music in a different light. Those songs, in conjunction with an old Beatles interview that was seen as an eerie predictor of Lennon’s future, led many to wonder if Lennon knew that he was living on borrowed time.
Over the years, those close to Lennon have come forward, claiming that Lennon was aware he was only going to be on the earth for a short time.
“I won’t be here when I’m 40,” Lennon said to The Beatles secretary, Freda Kelly. “I won’t make 40.”
This was not a statement Lennon, who was not a fan of his voice, only said once. It was a constant feeling he had. This could perhaps explain why he chose to make mention of it via jokes with interviewers or in songs he wrote that would not become clear to fans until after his passing.
The Beatles Were Both Iconic And Controversial During Their Time
As iconic as The Beatles were when they were in their heyday, they also found themselves in the middle of controversy from time to time. While he was not always to blame for the controversy, Lennon was the catalyst for a good portion of it, including his comments about The Beatles’ popularity and fame and their relation to Christianity.
“Christianity will go,” Lennon said during a press conference. “It will vanish and shrink….We’re more popular than Jesus now.”
While the interview covered a broad range of subjects, the media grabbed onto Lennon saying The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” This led to religious groups banning The Beatles and even burning their records.
This led Lennon to apologize for his comments, not wanting to have “created another little piece of hate in the world.”
“I’m not anti-God, anti-Christ or anti-religion. I was not saying we are greater or better,” Lennon said, according to History.
“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I’m sorry I said it, really. I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious thing. From what I’ve read, or observed, Christianity just seems to be shrinking, to be losing contact.”
Another controversy that The Beatles dealt with was the media belief that Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds was about LSD, a notion that Lennon tried to deny by stating the song was inspired by his son Julian’s friend Lucy. However, the media did not buy it, the BBC banned the song from the airwaves, and years later, Paul McCartney admitted it was, in fact, about LSD.
While these and a few other controversies did not appear to hamper The Beatles’ fame, there was always a cloud that appeared to hang over Lennon’s head that had to do with his mortality. This was seen in a few different interviews, including one where Lennon predicted his own demise.
In An Old Interview, John Lennon Essentially Predicted His Own Demise
Lennon was never one to beat around the bush when it came to interviews. He also appeared to be clairvoyant in several interviews over the years where he talked about getting shot.
This is exactly what happened during a 1964 interview, just as The Beatles were becoming international superstars—a comment that was laughed off at the time, but in retrospect is anything but funny.
“You say that you’re very attentive, ” an interviewer stated. “You can see what’s going on and I noticed that behind you in the car that you could sort of follow everything that was going on with people with different posters. You’re really looking at the people.”
“Yeah, sure,” Lennon said.
The interviewer went on to say, “You’re very aware of everything around you.”
“I think you’ve got to be,” Lennon explained. “You know, you might get shot.”
Lennon laughed off this comment during the interview and those at the press conference thought nothing about what Lennon had said.
But between this and a few other interviews where Lennon references death, guns, or shootings, and songs that appear to have lyrics about Lennon’s untimely passing, many believe that Lennon knew what was going to happen to him many years before he was ultimately shot by Mark David Chapman.
Fans Found Other ‘Hints’ Of John’s Eventual Passing
The interview from nearly 60 years ago is hard to watch, knowing the way that Lennon ultimately passed. However, in the years since his death, astute fans were able to pick up on songs or lyrics that referenced Lennon’s death as well.
“And he also sang Happiness is a Warm Gun!!,” one YouTube fan stated. “Then that lunatic shoots him!! The irony of it all!! RIP John!!!”
Another user said, “And the beginning of Come Together, ‘Shoot me’.”
These are not the only references that fans have found over the years of instances of Lennon having knowledge that he would be shot. Other songs The Beatles released have moments sprinkled through them that, at times, only those with the keenest of ears would catch.
Perhaps the most prolific of them all, however, is a song released after Lennon’s death called Borrowed Time. In the song, the lyric, “Living on borrowed time without a thought for tomorrow” is sung.
This falls in line with what others claim Lennon told them throughout his professional life, recognizing that he was not going to reach an old age. If this is indeed the case, perhaps this is what fueled Lennon to become the musician he was but what a terrible cloud to have hanging overhead for a lifetime, albeit a short one.
Source: NewsFinale
