All you need is Love

Hi everyone!

I need your help. Go to BBC's Great Britons and vote for John Lennon.

I've made my feelings about the whole Great Britons poll known more or less to anyone who will listen, and regardless of the fact that I think it's deeply flawed (John Peel the DJ one of the 100 Greatest Britons?) I really feel that we should be voting for John Lennon. Regardless of whether you like the Beatles, John Lennon gave the world a new way to think. Unlike most people, John used his celebrity to bring to the fore causes he cared about: Peace, feminism, you name it. He risked FBI surveillance to stand up for what he believed in.

And he was one hell of a songwriter.

"It's hard to find anyone in British History who has given more enjoyment and excitement to more people than John Lennon. And I can't think of a more straightforward claim to greatness than that." said Alan Davies, the comedian who presented the case for Lennon last night.

I rather imagine that John would've hated the notion of being called a Great Briton. Or rather, he would've hated the notion of the poll at all. Which is exactly why you should vote for him. He'd stick two fingers up at it and the other people in the top ten he's competing with, and that's what makes him fantastic.

John Lennon saved me. I appreciate the seemingly ludicrous sentiment of this statement, but it is true. I don’t mean he saved me in some overblown religious manner or that he was some saint who had magical powers. But John Lennon saved me from myself, from the very depths of despair, depression and uncertainty. Just like Elvis and Buddy Holly saved John from himself, Lennon saved me from myself. Elvis gave John something to aspire to, he gave John a dream. John gave me himself and so many dreams. It’s not an exaggeration to tell you that I love him. Not in some dreamy romantic way, but I do love him.

He was no saint, I know that better than you might imagine. He was no devil, I know that better than you might imagine. I don’t really know what to say. I never met John and yet it often feels that I’m closer to him than the people around me. He died before I was even born and yet he is such a profound part of my life and the world around me that I cannot imagine life without him. He reminds me so much of myself: in good ways and in bad. He is the eternal clown: a smile on his face and a tear in his eye. Just like me. He is the eternal rebel: scowling, questioning. Just like me. I don’t even presume to be even half the person that he was (Hell, I’m not in the Top Ten Great Britons!) but he reminds me of myself. He had a cruel and vicious tongue. Just like me. He had such anger that it built up to violence and a temper he spent his life trying to curb. Just like me. He was a mass of contradictions fighting to be resolved. He wanted to be loved and accepted but was the eternal outsider. Just like me.

Alan Davies has just explained Lennon’s greatness much more articulately than I could. It seems that I can write whatever you want me to with lucidity, even excitement and grace but I cannot explain to you exactly why I love John Lennon. I’m not Noel Gallagher, namedropping John as an excuse to rip off his songs. I just love John. Some of you might even know what I’m talking about, especially if you know of John, his life and his work.

He didn't massacre and subjugate the Irish like Cromwell. He didn't execute people just for being Catholics like Elizabeth I. He didn't exploit the workers of Britain and destroy small businesses like Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He didn't steal stories like Shakespeare did. He is a great human being which is why, I suspect, he won't win: we Britons demand perfection from our heroes. But let's go vote anyway!

And I believe that had he not been murdered, I would love him just the same. Unfortunately for someone born post Dec. 1980, that choice was taken away from me.

Stay lucky and please go vote!

All you need is Love

Hi everyone!

I need your help. Go to BBC's Great Britons and vote for John Lennon.

I've made my feelings about the whole Great Britons poll known more or less to anyone who will listen, and regardless of the fact that I think it's deeply flawed (John Peel the DJ one of the 100 Greatest Britons?) I really feel that we should be voting for John Lennon. Regardless of whether you like the Beatles, John Lennon gave the world a new way to think. Unlike most people, John used his celebrity to bring to the fore causes he cared about: Peace, feminism, you name it. He risked FBI surveillance to stand up for what he believed in.

And he was one hell of a songwriter.

"It's hard to find anyone in British History who has given more enjoyment and excitement to more people than John Lennon. And I can't think of a more straightforward claim to greatness than that." said Alan Davies, the comedian who presented the case for Lennon last night.

I rather imagine that John would've hated the notion of being called a Great Briton. Or rather, he would've hated the notion of the poll at all. Which is exactly why you should vote for him. He'd stick two fingers up at it and the other people in the top ten he's competing with, and that's what makes him fantastic.

John Lennon saved me. I appreciate the seemingly ludicrous sentiment of this statement, but it is true. I don’t mean he saved me in some overblown religious manner or that he was some saint who had magical powers. But John Lennon saved me from myself, from the very depths of despair, depression and uncertainty. Just like Elvis and Buddy Holly saved John from himself, Lennon saved me from myself. Elvis gave John something to aspire to, he gave John a dream. John gave me himself and so many dreams. It’s not an exaggeration to tell you that I love him. Not in some dreamy romantic way, but I do love him.

He was no saint, I know that better than you might imagine. He was no devil, I know that better than you might imagine. I don’t really know what to say. I never met John and yet it often feels that I’m closer to him than the people around me. He died before I was even born and yet he is such a profound part of my life and the world around me that I cannot imagine life without him. He reminds me so much of myself: in good ways and in bad. He is the eternal clown: a smile on his face and a tear in his eye. Just like me. He is the eternal rebel: scowling, questioning. Just like me. I don’t even presume to be even half the person that he was (Hell, I’m not in the Top Ten Great Britons!) but he reminds me of myself. He had a cruel and vicious tongue. Just like me. He had such anger that it built up to violence and a temper he spent his life trying to curb. Just like me. He was a mass of contradictions fighting to be resolved. He wanted to be loved and accepted but was the eternal outsider. Just like me.

Alan Davies has just explained Lennon’s greatness much more articulately than I could. It seems that I can write whatever you want me to with lucidity, even excitement and grace but I cannot explain to you exactly why I love John Lennon. I’m not Noel Gallagher, namedropping John as an excuse to rip off his songs. I just love John. Some of you might even know what I’m talking about, especially if you know of John, his life and his work.

He didn't massacre and subjugate the Irish like Cromwell. He didn't execute people just for being Catholics like Elizabeth I. He didn't exploit the workers of Britain and destroy small businesses like Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He didn't steal stories like Shakespeare did. He is a great human being which is why, I suspect, he won't win: we Britons demand perfection from our heroes. But let's go vote anyway!

And I believe that had he not been murdered, I would love him just the same. Unfortunately for someone born post Dec. 1980, that choice was taken away from me.

Stay lucky and please go vote!