by Ethel Smith

Created on: September 02, 2008   Last Updated: October 08, 2010

Would John Lennon still be a credible artist and would he have any impact, political or otherwise, if he were alive today? I would like to think so but I am not so sure that he would.

Whenever any person dies he or she is cast in your memory forever at the age they were when they died. This is why some are forever young in your mind's eye. There are loved ones that we have lost that will forever be middle aged, old people or maybe even children. We tend to associate the person with the age that they were at their end. So just imagining Lennon as an old guy is difficult.

Perhaps he would have fulfilled his dreams and helped World peace or created one last musical masterpiece. Sadly we will never know. Then again he could have been suffering with dementia, cancer or any one of a number of age related illnesses by now. Seeing him as a fumbling, frail old man seems impossible when he was always such a larger than life character.

If he had been ill then, in many ways, his fame would have been less vital all these years after those heady days of The Beatles. After all his untimely and tragic death gave him a higher accolade in many ways than his great career actually did.

Lennon was just returning to his musical career when he was cold-bloodedly shot down. He was reconciled with Yoko, his wife, and seemed at one with himself and the world. So often in life this is when people are taken from us. However, for all we know his triumphant return to the world of music may have been short lived.

John Lennon was also very much a man of the time. What he would have been like if he had lived nearly thirty years more, who knows. He would have been a Grandfather and, although he would no doubt have kept that rebellious streak, he would have been relatively old, at 68 plus. Obviously his life would have impacted on those of his immediate family, his wife, children and grandchildren. However, to have kept himself new, fresh and relevant would have taken hard work and John was not renowned for his industry. Unfortunately if he were still alive today John may have become a little like the sad character Paul McCartney has. Hard to imagine I know, but definitely possible. Thank God we will never know.

One thing I do know though is. that John Lennon created some beautiful music over the years. Most of it is still played and recorded today and he has influenced many of today's young musicians. Without even still being alive this work has impacted on today's music scene, and in a totally positive way.

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