Which artists legacies have improved/worsened during the 2010s?

It seems he maybe at least “evolved” away from that, but did he ever repent?

uh, yeah

Here's the full quote from that interview:

PLAYBOY: "'Getting Better.'"

LENNON: "It is a diary form of writing. All that 'I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved' was me. I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically... any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn't express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about peace, you see. It is the most violent people who go for love and peace. Everything's the opposite. But I sincerely believe in love and peace. I am a violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence. I will have to be a lot older before I can face in public how I treated women as a youngster."

he also expressed regret in his last radio interview about beating to a pulp a dude at Paul's 21st birthday party who intimated he was a homosexual.

Beatles always had a bit of a reactionary streak in them. “Taxman” and “Revolution” being the most obvious examples

― Vape Store (crüt), Tuesday, August 13, 2019 2:18 PM (seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I always found it amusing that George, the most 'enlightened' Beatle, was the one that sang about money the most

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpSiB4-og_o

Lennon would've been fascinating to follow politically. I can't imagine he'd ever be a Republican given his experience getting citizenship, but he'd 100% be the first Beatle to go on Joe Rogan, InfoWars, Howard obviously (maybe even in the 80s), Coast to Coast, anything conspiracy related.

yeah, doesn't seem likely to me either, he was not a conspiracy nut

considering he was spied on and followed by the US & UK govt I can't imagine he wouldn't at least be a 'skeptic'
Don't think he had a Morrissey heel turn in him tho

there was a lol NRO piece a few years ago positing Lennon as Reagan Democrat based on comments he made in that 1980 radio interview: attacking conservatives "on the left."

He really didn't live that long, and changed a hell of a lot in those years. Really hard to say where he'd have gone. I'd like to think he wouldn't end up angry old white guy. Too good a bead on the culture and too suspicious of himself, I'd hope.

if he lived just 5 years longer I'm positive he would've gone on Howard or at least been a fan

John and most definitely not Paul would've been the one to replace Kurt at the dumb 2012 Nirvana reunion concert

and then somehow through that twist of fate, Stella McCartney would've been the beatlechild to start a band with Les Claypool

Lennon would've been fascinating to follow politically. I can't imagine he'd ever be a Republican given his experience getting citizenship, but he'd 100% be the first Beatle to go on Joe Rogan, InfoWars, Howard obviously (maybe even in the 80s), Coast to Coast, anything conspiracy related.

― flappy bird, Tuesday, August 13, 2019 9:21 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is definitely my favorite thing we do to the dead now

if i could put it in the usages thread i would

Lennon would totally have had his own podcast/XM show.

the real question is would have done a 'great american songbook' album by now, y or n?

(would lennon, that is)

he did already in 1975

idk if "Bonie Maronie" has really entered the Great American Songbook tbh

Regarding the thread question, I’m not sure Lennon’s status in the 00s was much different from the 10s...

I think it's gone down a lil

I don't listen to JL/POB often, but when I do I finish it newly impressed by Lennon's guitar and vocals.

Forever searching for that steel wool sound that his guitar has on I Found Out

1990s/10s : definitely.
00s/10s : basically the same imo

And re: his potential output had he lived the end of the 20th century, I kinda doubt anything interesting would have been produced considering his albums after Imagine. He seemed basically spent artistically (contrary to McCartney... and I much prefer Lennon’s Beatles/immediate post-Beatles output).

he burned out fast, but there were bright spots - the guitar solo for Walking on Thin Ice, the Nilsson album, Watching the Wheels etc

Oh I don’t think he burnt out fast : he produced an amazing body of work during a solid decade. But it doesn’t seem there was much left by the mid70s. Of course one could imagine (eh) a Johnny Cash pattern or something...

no I meant he burned out fast post-Beatles

yeah i think there's a definite falling off after his first couple solo albums -- i like his 1970-71 material so much i've probably spent more time listening to the later stuff than i otherwise would have looking for hidden gems. there are some bright moments for sure, but most of his mid-70s stuff feels disappointingly weak to me.

https://www.quora.com/What-if-John-Lennon-were-still-alive

Some fun and surprisingly otm answers in here.

Whoa whoa whoa -- let's not get TOO crazy with these predictions

It is likely that Lennon would have taken an active role in video production as video and film was always an interest of his. With Yoko's involvement the videos would have likely been more avant-garde.

Wasn’t it McCartney who was more interested in video/film and art in general ?

i like to imagine middle-aged lennon as a genial, low-profile celebrity, mellowed out but maybe popping up to support a cause here and there. politically i feel like he would have ended up on various stages and platforms not to play music but to say "we're all here together because apartheid has got to end" etc. strong chance of him doing "we are the world" too, i'd reckon. just because he was a loud aggro kind of wave-maker as a young man doesn't mean he wouldn't find his way around to lower-key forms of activism. like i mean who knows, i guess, but why not assume the best.

He'd turn into Bob Geldof?

If Bob Dylan had died in the early ‘80s, people today would probably theorize that he would have become a marginal, right-wing crank recluse (instead of a Nobel Prize winner who tours constantly).

maybe he would've covered Elvis Costello's "All You Need is Love."

have you heard the song Getting Better

no, I couldn't hear it above "Run For Your Life" turned up to 11

it's weird how ppl single that song out, it isn't particularly unusual for its time

If Bob Dylan had died in the early ‘80s, people today would probably theorize that he would have become a marginal, right-wing crank recluse (instead of a Nobel Prize winner who tours constantly).

Maybe, I’m just making an observation about the unreliability of these predictions.

If Billy Corgan had died in 1991, no one would imagine him with a bald head.

Remember all the old man bitching about space on Infidels tho.

imagine there's no Corgan, it's easy if you try

« Run for your life » is such a terrible song it almost prevents RS from being dud-free (but then there’s « What goes on »... or even « Michelle », for some !). And I don’t even talk about the lyrics.

Btw lolz about all this Beatles derailing when it was said upthread that nobody cared about the Beatles anymore in the 10s !

Well yeah but we’re ilxors, not people

I am clear evidence that nobody totally cares about the Beatles

Queen have left the Beatles in the dust in the 2010s. Never mind the spousal abuse let's blame Lennon's turgid solo career for his decline.