He was shot Dec. 8th 1980

[octoberlib]

Rest In Peace, John Lennon

[MrMickeysMom]

1. I remember that very well...

That was not only a crime, but a time when the reaching out to prevent exacerbation of mental illness turned into turning away from mental illness.

I don't intend to minimize Mark Chapman's cold blooded murdering of John Lennon hours after getting his autograph. I mean that in the midst of an ex-Beatle reaching out to others after having been himself delivered from his demons, the days of Reagan's not giving a damn began. It was a real shitty time for me, as I had falling outs with many contemporaries in the midst of finding help. For any person who clearly needed those types of intervention health services, Reagan was pulling it out right from underneath us. All you had to do was to say, "no" to drugs and every other malady of the spinning down worker's opportunities and rights. It has taken a long time to see what we've done to each other in this western society of gun logic.

It's a sin...

On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won't understand
"Don't accept that what's happening
Is just a case of others' suffering
Or you'll find that you're joining in
The turning away"

It's a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting it's shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we're all alone
In the dream of the proud

On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerized as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night

No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
It's not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there'll be
No more turning away?
Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/pink-floyd/on-the-turning-away-lyrics/#S06rssQI45FbIhrK.99

[missingthebigdog]

3. Momentary Lapse of Reason is my favorite Pink Floyd album

It doesn't get the kudos it deserves.

From the same album, The Dogs Of War:

The dogs of war don't negotiate
The dogs of war won't capitulate,
They will take and you will give,
And you must die so that they may live
You can knock at any door,
But wherever you go, you know they've been there before
Well winners can lose and things can get strained
But whatever you change, you know the dogs remain.

[world wide wally]

2. And so, this is Christmas

[WillyT]

4. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Those not old enough may not be aware of how hard his death hit people.

We were just as stunned and numbed, for days, as after the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and MLK..it was HUGE impact.

Lennon had been a vitally important figure in the 70's to all of us against war and bloodshed.

[WillyT]

11. Yep...

More: http://gothamist.com/2014/12/08/scenes_from_the_dakota_on_the_day_j.php

[Tipperary]

14. I know. I remember exactly where I was

when I heard.

[maxsolomon]

5. The day my childhood ended.

Senior year of HS. The Who Concert tragedy, which I'd been in the middle of, had been one year before. I was fully in the grip of Rock and Roll, and Lennon was my favorite Beatle by a mile.

I remember my mom telling me the news the morning of the 9th when I woke. I remember my English Teacher, who was cooler than hell, unable to teach without crying. I remember the cloud that hung over everyone that week. The first in an endless parade of firearm deaths, each as senseless and tragic as the last.

Why would I ever want a gun after seeing what one did to Lennon?

[Octafish]

6. Guy knew how to get in the way of War Inc.

Peace. Imagine giving it a chance?

Ours might be a different world -- without all the death and destruction.

[PeaceNikki]

7. I was 8 years old but remember my parents' deep sorrow that AM like it was yesterday.

[LeftishBrit]

8. RIP

[PasadenaTrudy]

10. I was 16...

A lifelong Beatles fan. This really shook me.

[Photographer]

12. A K&R to every post in this thread so far.

[GreatGazoo]

13. and 1,150,000 Americans have been killed by gun owners since then

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/1-15-million-americans-have-been-killed-by-guns-since-john-lennons-death-20151208

[OriginalGeek]

15. One of the (many) things that got me to questioning my religion

I remember very distinctly being in the church van with my youth group (I was 15 at the time) when the news came on the radio and the youth pastor started clapping and everyone was cheering and I heard one of them say "1 down, 3 to go" (because rock music was the devil ya know.)

I should have spoken up then but that just wasn't me back then. But it disturbed me greatly that people I was supposed to follow and trust would take such glee in another human being's death.

[napkinz]

16. kick

[Boomerproud]

17. One of the saddest days of my life.

I was getting ready to go to bed and turned on the radio and heard &quot Just like) Starting Over" for the first time. I mouthed the words "John, it's so good to hear from you again." when the phone rang. R.I.P. John and I can't thank you enough for the joy and memories of my youth.