John Lennon, and those who.. well, you get the idea.

[Sam Fisher]

Some people just align themselves and idolize ass-holes.

Top 10 Unpleasant Facts About John Lennon

When you’ve essentially been canonized as a modern secular saint, there’s no way to not be overrated to one degree or another, but in the case of the legendary John Lennon, the gap between the idol people worship and the real person is so enormous, and the accolades that come his way so over the top, that it’s impossible not to try and mitigate the damage to some degree. The truth is, many people – young and old – all over the world model their lives and beliefs after the Lennon icon, and they really, really shouldn’t. Here’s why:

Read more at http://listverse.com/2012/05/12/top-10-unpleasant-facts-about-john-lennon/

*EDIT* - Do not post ENTIRE articles from other sites.

 

[Shifty]

Cool story bro.

 

[STDiva]

This guy...

Talentless? You don't have to be a virtuoso to write great, memorable songs. Which he did.

The rest of that list is irrelevant. The guy wrote or helped write some of the greatest songs of all time. IMO, anything beyond the music doesn't matter.

 

[TheSpokenWheel]

Cool story bro.

hahaha

 

[Mayhem]

I checked the list and didn't find: Racist, Semi-Literate, Biker Asshole Who Lies About Military Service and Craves Attention Like A 14 Year Old Cheerleader.......... so I'm still OK with him. :thumbsup:

 

[meesterperfect]

yeah, I have a problem with him too.
I know Zappa didn't care for him at all, and you know how Frank was.

 

[Death-Proof-69]

This guy...

Talentless? You don't have to be a virtuoso to write great, memorable songs. Which he did.

The rest of that list is irrelevant. The guy wrote or helped write some of the greatest songs of all time. IMO, anything beyond the music doesn't matter.

exactly, john lennon was a musician and songwriter. that's all that's important about his legacy. he wasn't involved in my personal life or that of anyone i know so how he was as a person is of no concern to me. a fair number of famous, inspirational and prominent figures are shitty people on a personal level, i wasn't aware that anybody really thinks john lennon was a saint.

 

[luis1972]

An awful myth

 

[gunslingingbird]

There's a difference between someone and his works. We have to learn to differentiate between the two if we are to be objective critics. Was his music good? I think so. Was he an example of a perfect person? Not so much. There are countless examples throughout history of people who should be admired for something, but despised for something else. Richard Wagner revolutionized opera in almost every possible way: from composition, to production, to the very architecture of the building where it is performed. He was also a bigot and a misogynist asshole. Even the most notorious figure of the 20th century, Adolf Hitler, can be admired for his skill as an orator.

One thing I've learned through my job is that I should always make a distinction between the person and his works. There are people who write great music, but are complete and insufferable assholes as people, and there are people whose music I can't stand but who are great people. The best example I can think of is Billy Corgan. As a kid I virtually idolized the Smashing Pumpkins, so 5 years ago I was delighted to hear that we were gonna haver them at the Fillmore for 3 weeks. What a letdown it was for me when I saw for myself that this guy whose music had spoken to me so deeply for so long was a completely narcissistic and insufferable prick with an ego bigger than any I've seen in my life. I still love Smashing Pumpkins' music, but I can't stand Billy Corgan.

 

[Death-Proof-69]

There's a difference between someone and his works. We have to learn to differentiate between the two if we are to be objective critics. Was his music good? I think so. Was he an example of a perfect person? Not so much. There are countless examples throughout history of people who should be admired for something, but despised for something else. Richard Wagner revolutionized opera in almost every possible way: from composition, to production, to the very architecture of the building where it is performed. He was also a bigot and a misogynist asshole. Even the most notorious figure of the 20th century, Adolf Hitler, can be admired for his skill as an orator.

One thing I've learned through my job is that I should always make a distinction between the person and his works. There are people who write great music, but are complete and insufferable assholes as people, and there are people whose music I can't stand but who are great people. The best example I can think of is Billy Corgan. As a kid I virtually idolized the Smashing Pumpkins, so 5 years ago I was delighted to hear that we were gonna haver them at the Fillmore for 3 weeks. What a letdown it was for me when I saw for myself that this guy whose music had spoken to me so deeply for so long was a completely narcissistic and insufferable prick with an ego bigger than any I've seen in my life. I still love Smashing Pumpkins' music, but I can't stand Billy Corgan.

i can't rep you since you're a mod but that's a great post, agreed 100%.

 

[DJCowboy]

One thing I've learned through my job is that I should always make a distinction between the person and his works. There are people who write great music, but are complete and insufferable assholes as people, and there are people whose music I can't stand but who are great people. The best example I can think of is Billy Corgan. As a kid I virtually idolized the Smashing Pumpkins, so 5 years ago I was delighted to hear that we were gonna haver them at the Fillmore for 3 weeks. What a letdown it was for me when I saw for myself that this guy whose music had spoken to me so deeply for so long was a completely narcissistic and insufferable prick with an ego bigger than any I've seen in my life. I still love Smashing Pumpkins' music, but I can't stand Billy Corgan.

Another good example is Thom Yorke of Radiohead. From what I hear he's pretty much a douchebag (of course since I don't know him personally, can't confirm if it's true) but I still love his music. I also like Kanye West's stuff too but, as we all know, he masturbates to pictures of himself


As for John Lennon, love his music and I never once cared about his political statements or any of that. That's all I have to say about that

 

[Mayhem]

This is true of pretty much all the Beatles, but with Lennon it’s particularly obvious. In the beginning he was following the American rhythm and blues tradition with a smattering of Roy Orbison-style pop ballads. Later he’s obviously trying to channel Bob Dylan. Then he’s aping the psychedelic stylings of the California drug bands. After that, he gloms on to avant-garde, John Cage-influenced (above) modern art music. Truth be told, there wasn’t much Lennon did that hadn’t been done before by more original and talented artists.

This was true of almost every British act of the time. Beatles and the Stones unabashedly drew their influence from American jazz/pop/gospel/etc. And no one has to accuse Eric Clapton of mirroring the American blues greats who either came before, or who were starring at the time. He'll come right out and tell you.

 

[DukeLaCrosse]

clint eastwood beat his girlfriends and wives and forced his mistresses to get abortions

 

[gunslingingbird]

i can't rep you since you're a mod but that's a great post, agreed 100%.

You can, and we still see the comments, you just can't see the number.

 

[BAYAMONXXX]

clint eastwood beat his girlfriends and wives and forced his mistresses to get abortions

Dirty ass harry.

 

[Johan]

:horse:

I'm not a big fan of Lennon, nor the beattles but why bashing a guy who died nearly 40 years ago ?
It won't change the opinions about him, his fans will keep loving him despite all you've posted and his haters will hate him even more...

My thought is that you're just spreading a little more of your hate towards liberals.

 

[Shifty]

:horse:

I'm not a big fan of Lennon, nor the beattles but why bashing a guy who died nearly 40 years ago ?
It won't change the opinions about him, his fans will keep loving him despite all you've posted and his haters will hate him even more...

My thought is that you're just spreading a little more of your hate towards liberals.

No, he's just trying to piss Stan off.

 

[alexpnz]

I agree.

Liam Gallagher>Dirty Hippie, John Lennon.

:yesyes:

 

[Jobwell Dunn]

I too believe he is extremely overrated and people idolize him without much reason. First of all, the guy was a musician, which there are MANY MANY others a billion times better than him and still relatively unknown. So even if he wasn't the best musician, he could've still been one of the greatest of all time, right? But he wasn't! You can't possibly say that the Beatles were the biggest musical phenomenon on the planet only because of him. There were 4 guys in the band. The fact that Lennon was the first one to leave us isn't an excuse to put him up on a pedestal, above the other 3 (especially Macca and Harrison).

I'm not much of a fan of musicians doing charity work and acting as peacekeepers, environment savers, etc. But I don't mind it as long as you do it on the side and not because you want attention, but because you believe in something that CAN be done. It shouldn't become your main goal in life. After all, are you a musician or not???

Lennon's legacy is now considered by many to be the anti-war/peace lover ideal he opened our eyes to. He was an idealist, something we all are at some point. But we all know it can't be done, it's not something that can be achieved and preserved. So did he make a difference in the end? No. We aren't anti-war today because of him. We are what we are because of our morals and beliefs (OUR OWN, not his).

Meanwhile, there are people (and they're not ALL musicians) who donate to charities, do small things to help their community, volunteer. They are making a tiny small difference somewhere, and this is what counts.

 

[Little Red Wagon Repairman]

Tony Iommi sure means more to me than John Lennon.