Declassified Fbi Files
Declassified Fbi Files
What did the FBI have against John Lennon?
I'm watching something on TV about the declassified FBI files on John Lennon, and I don't understand what the big deal was. They keep saying he was "dangerous" because he was a war protestor. So what, he protested the war. There's a lot of people today that protest the war in Iraq, but that doesn't mean they want to overthrow the government. John Lennon was a musician, not a politician. He may have been against the war in Vietnam, but so were many people in that time. So what's wrong with protesting a war? If you protest the war, the FBI classifies you as dangerous??
He was on Nixon's enemies list was what started it.
The legal justification the FBI used was the arrest in London for drug possession. This arrest was later proven to be a set up, and the particular officer, who had done this to a number of celebrities, was punished for it.
After this was revealed, the INS dropped the proceedings to remove the Lennons from the US.
There had been incidents in the early seventies that were leading to trouble. Jimi Hendrix had been staying at John and Yoko's house (they were out of town) when he took his ultimately fatal overdose. The political stance that they took was a kind of lightning rod. It attracted attention from people who were of similar opinions, of opposite opinions, and More Than just a few crackpots.
They were using their celebrity for this reason, to draw attention to war, not just in Viet Nam, but around the world. When he returned the MBE, he did so to protest the UK's actions in Africa, their support of the US in Viet Nam and because Cold Turkey dropped in the charts (as the late George Harrison once said "it's always a laugh a minute with John Lennon"). He was the first to do this, the others eventually followed for various reasons, Paul coming last in protest against the policy in Northern Ireland.
I remember that people were upset because he created a parallel between himself and Jesus in the Ballad of John and Yoko ("Christ you know it ain't easy, you know how hard it can be, the way things are goin' they're gonna' crucify me").
Most of the political songs (oddly enough except Yoko's "Born in a Prison") from Sometime in New York City are hopelessly dated. The majority of the songs were about current events, things that people don't even remember today (for example, if I were to mention the names Attica and John Sinclair) would you know what I meant?).
One of the songs from that era still rings a bell with me, though one of my closest friends replies "Yuck" when I mention it , is Happy Christmas War is Over! which I would encourage you to track down on some music site if You Can. I managed to find it on a 45 Rpm Record, but I'm a collector.
I don't think it will ever beat Hey Jude for number of sales, or even White Christmas, which Hey Jude beat out for the most sales of any single ever. It was a Paul song, but with John's approval. Paul said he was going to take out the "the movement you need is on your shoulder" line, but John told him that he would not, because it was the best line he had ever written. Quite a statement from the Beatle who was always the stronger one with lyrics.
It gives a message that can carry down through the ages, so, like the chorus, it goes on and on and on.
Funny, but writing this, I almost thought I could smell sandalwood incense.
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