Johnny Come Out To Play...In Your Empty Garden

  

What happened here, as the New York sunset disappeared? I found an empty garden among the flagstones there. Who lived here? He must have been a gardener that cared a
lot, who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop...and now it all looks strange.


Today the Grammy nominations were announced. Big deal. The state of the music industry is a complete joke. Fly by night artists, with fly by night cd's who won't be remembered five months from now, let alone five years from now. It makes a day to remember John Lennon, on this twenty-sixth anniversary of his murder, even that much more special.

I grew up brainwashed by the media, and even by my Dad, in thinking Elvis was "The King." I completely disagree with that "logic." We have a bunch of Elvises walking around the music industry today...pretty boys, with pretty hair, who are handed pretty songs to sing. Commercialized crap, if you ask me. The Beatles, now they were the "kings." They were the innovaters. They took music to a whole different level, and rock and roll was forever changed.

So tonight, as I sit in my room, sipping red wine, listening to John Lennon, remembering how truly great he was, I am so appreciative of what he gave us. What he left behind for generations to come.

Rather than leave you all with a classic from John or the Beatles, I want to leave you with a song that George Harrison wrote about his friend John shortly after his death. It is called "All Those Years Ago." If you know the song, you'll appreciate the words and probably sing along. If you don't know it, really listen to what George says about John, in this fantastic tribute to a great artist. I will be at Strawberry Fields tonight, braving wind chills in the teens to pay my respects and remember one of the best of all time.