John Lennon was not only the greatest songwriter in history, but he also was never afraid of expressing his opinions. The Liverpudlian shared a lot of noteworthy quotes during his life and career, and one of his most distinctive qualities was his candour.
Naturally, the most popular statement made by the founder of The Beatles was made in March 1966 when he addressed the London Evening Standard. He unintentionally altered the definition of a rock star. God-fearing people around the world strongly criticised him when he said that Christianity was out of date. “It will shrink and vanish,” he declared. “I will prove to be right in the end, so there’s no need to argue with that”.
Now that we’re more well-known than Jesus, I’m not sure which will catch on first: rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. While Jesus was fine, his followers were clumsy and unremarkable. I think the way they are twisting it ruins it for me.
The Beatles would receive hate from the Ku Klux Klax, America’s worst extremist Christians, for their offensive remark. On a more sombre note, it also tragically served as a major driving force behind his 1980 murder at the hands of criminally insane Mark David Chapman.
Even so, Lennon wasn’t always as controversial, despite having made a career out of speaking his mind. Occasionally, he offered different viewpoints on other musicians, which revealed more about him personally than the subjects. Among the most fascinating of these concerned Bob Dylan, a musician he greatly admired. The Scouse icon actually called Dylan’s decision to reject his own name Robert Zimmerman in favour of a less respectable stage name “bullshit.”
In particular, “God” is one of the best songs from the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album from 1970. The former leader of the Fab Four lists a number of things in it that he didn’t believe in, including kings, Buddha, his old friend Jesus, and the bitter breakup of his former band, The Beatles. Additionally, he states, “I don’t believe in Zimmerman,” alluding to Dylan’s given name.
When Jann S. Wenner questions Lennon about why he chose to use Zimmerman rather than Dylan in the book Lennon Remembers, his intriguing response outlines his dislike for stage names and the fallacy they stand for. “Because Dylan is bullshit,” Lennon explained. His name is Zimmerman. You see, I have no faith in Dylan, and I have no faith in Tom Jones either. His name is Zimmerman. John Beatle is not my name. John Lennon is it. Just like that.
