Thursday, 12 April 2007
Beautiful, Beautiful Boy
By Colleen Shannon of Santiago Dreaming
I was going to school in New York and staying with my sister at her apartment on West 53rd Street and 8th Avenue when John Lennon died.
My sister's apartment was on the west side of the building facing 9th Avenue and up high. I remember that we were always hearing the wail of a police car or an ambulance siren whenever one raced to Roosevelt Hospital up on West 59th Street and 10 Avenue. In fact, the sound of sirens was such a part of living in the apartment I quickly got to the point where the sound of them failed to register in my conscious mind.
I heard about the shooting from the television soon after John Lennon was shot and then, not much later, the news of his death. The news reports were being done from outside of Roosevelt Hospital and as I watched I knew I had probably heard the siren of the police car that brought him there but that, as usually, the sound of it had not gotten past my subconscious mind. I remember being shocked by the news that John Lennon had died but at the same time I felt removed from it.
The next day I heard that people were gathering in front of the Dakota apartment building and toyed with the idea of going up there myself but in the end decided not to because it didn't feel like the right thing to do. Years later I read an article on John Lennon's death and in it Yoko Ono said one of the hardest things for her in the days after her husband's murder was hearing the sound of his voice floating up from the radios being played loudly by the people gathered in the street below.
In the early Eighties, cable television was fairly new and some channels just transmitted blue screens with text scrolling down it. For sound they tapped into some radio station's broadcast.
The night following Lennon's death I had the TV on one of those channels while reading and I heard the announcer say that the next song was being played in memory of John Lennon. That was the first time I ever heard Beautiful, Beautiful Boy and as Lennon's voice filled the room I felt an overwhelming sense of lost and sadness. At the end of the song I heard John Lennon whisper, "Goodnight, Sean, see you in the morning," and my heart shattered.
At that moment I knew if John Lennon wasn't safe in this world then none of us were and I broke down into deep heart wrenching sobs; grieving my loss, a little boy's loss, and the world's loss.
Close your eyes, have no fear,
The monster's gone, he's on the run,
And your daddy's here.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy.
Before you go to sleep, say a little prayer,
Every day, in every way
It's getting better and better.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy.
Out on the ocean, sailing away,
I can hardly wait to see you come of age
But I guess we'll both just have to be patient.
'Cause it's a long way to go,
A hard row to hoe,
Yes, it's a long way to go but in the meantime.
Before you cross the street, take my hand,
Life is what happens to you
While you're busy making other plans.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy.
Before you go to sleep, say a little prayer,
Every day, in every way
It's getting better and better.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy.
Darling, darling, darling, darling, Sean.
Good night, Sean,
See you in the morning.
Posted by Ronni Bennett at 05:30 AM | Permalink | Email this post
Comments
And now I'm crying, too. John Lennon was a loss to the world, but so much more to his son. My father died when I was six, and I know it is hard to be a child and not have your father's hand to hold while you cross the street; hard to wake in the morning without him. That someone could do that to a child so casually, not even think of what the cost would be of his crazy actions, is almost unbearable.
Posted by: Maya's Granny on Apr 12, 2007 7:52:19 PM
Until I read what you wrote, Maya's Granny, I had not realized that since I too grew-up without a father most of my life this must have been why hearing John Lennon's goodnight to his son hit me so hard. I thought it was because John Lennon and The Beatles where such a big part of my teen years. I was twelve when I first saw them on The Ed Sullivan Show and I still remember exactly where I was that night.
Posted by: la peregrina on Apr 13, 2007 11:08:27 AM
I tried to comment on this last night, but something went kaflooey with my ability to access websites.
I found your story quite an interesting illustration of just how people with whom we have no direct contact touch our lives.
Yes, life without certain significant people in our lives always leaves us with questions, wondering....why?...what if...
Of course this line is especially meaningful:
"Life is what happens to you
While you're busy making other plans."
Posted by: Joared on Apr 14, 2007 4:08:07 AM
Joared- "...life without certain significant people in our lives always leaves us with questions, wondering....why?...what if..."
That is exactly how it is- what if?
I also like your statement about how people we don't even know touch our lives. I know when I read about the death of a celebrity I have one of four reactions- none, shock (usually if they are young when they die), sadness, or (for very few) I feel sadness and think, "Now I'll never get a chance to meet him/her."
Not that I would ever really have a chance to meet that person but something about them makes me think they would be someone I would not mind having as a friend.
Posted by: la peregrina on Apr 16, 2007 3:03:44 PM
Last week Heather Pick passed away after ten years of fighting breast cancer. She was a local tv news reporter. It was obvious she wasn't just TV sweet, but genuinely sweet.
She worked until close to her time of death. It was hard to tell she was that ill. She said she didn't want to let cancer steal away what she loved doing.
I was soo struck watching the report, my wife told me it was ok if I wanted to cry.
I did.
Posted by: Herm on Nov 10, 2008 1:43:06 AM
