John Lennon: One Spinal Cracker

John Lennon was one spinal cracker, alright. Who else would LSD guru Timothy Leary ask to write a campaign song for his ill-fated gubernatorial run against Ronald Reagan in 1969? Lennon set out to write a song based on Leary’s campaign slogan, Come Together, Join the Party. His original lyric began, “Come together right now, don’t come tomorrow, don’t come alone.” Leary felt the words were awkward and the song unusable. Little matter; the aspirations of the PhD psychologist-turned drug advocate would soon come to an end when he was imprisoned for marijuana possession. But by now John had a good title. And he ended up writing one of his edgiest, self-described gobbledygook songs, ever.

The government of Richard Nixon spent thousands of taxpayer dollars, installed loads of surveillance equipment, and employed countless FBI agents in its four-year effort to deport America-loving peacenik John Lennon, whom they considered a major threat due to his left-wing political activism and relationships with anti-war “subversives.” But Instant Karma got ’em all in the end.

On this date in 1975, one of John Lennon’s most beautiful songs, “No. 9 Dream,” peaked at number 9 on the U.S. charts. It was a cut from his 1974 album, “Walls And Bridges,” his ninth non-Beatles album, which just happened to be released in the ninth month of 1975. Maybe there’s something to this numerology stuff after all, especially considering the role that number 9 played in John’s life. Here are some interesting facts…

Today would have been John Winston Ono Lennon’s 72nd birthday. The lyrics to “Gimme Some Truth” were written as a protest during the Vietnam War period, but they’re more relevant today than ever. Love you and miss you, Johnny!