by Isaac Orwell

“You may say Im a dreamer But Im not the only one

I hope someday youll join us And the world will live as one”—Imagine

John Lennon was born in Liverpool in the autumn of 1940. The Battle of Britain注1 had just ended， but the war with Germany was far from over. It was into this 1）unsound environment that John Lennon 2）emerged. Who would have thought that he would become such a multi-talented musical genius？

Johns early years were certainly not easy. His parents 3）split when he was a 4）toddler and he was raised by his aunt， Mimi Smith. But he remained close to his mother， who encouraged him to learn the 5）banjo， later 6）switching to guitar. 7）Tragedy struck when John was 18， when his mother was struck and killed by a car. Lennon was 8）traumatised by her death. The turning point in his life though came when he developed a strong interest in skiffle注2， a type of rock and roll music， whilst in his teenage years.

It was while playing for a skiffle band he had formed at school that he met Paul McCartney. The two 9）struck up an immediate friendship， and developed a fine partnership， writing and composing songs. After performing under several band names， the pair， along with George Harrison and Pete Best， settled on calling themselves The Beatles. They played eight-hour 10）shifts at various nightclubs in Hamburg， and were popular at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. The drummer， Pete Best， was not particularly good though and held them back. The decision was made to replace him with Ringo Starr， and soon afterwards The Beatles were signed by George Martin for EMI records.

The band began 11）churning out 12）hit after hit， with numerous number ones. Lennon and McCartney were the creative force behind the group， and the amount of quality material they produced was amazing. They began touring the world and were hugely popular， especially in the US. This all changed however， when at a 13）press conference， John Lennon claimed the band were more popular than Jesus， 14）provoking 15）outrage throughout America. They all agreed to put an end to the tours and returned home in 1966.

Around this time， Lennon met Yoko Ono. Although they were immediately attracted to each other， John was married to Cynthia Powell and they had a child. It soon became clear to Cynthia though， where Johns 16）affections lie， and she 17）filed for divorce. John and Yoko married in 1969.

In 1970， Paul McCartney quit the Beatles， causing tension between himself and John. A year later， Lennon released the hugely popular Imagine album. Together he and Yoko 18）campaigned for world peace. Calling for an end to the Vietnam War 19）offended the American government deeply， and he nearly lost his green card as a result.

From 1975 to 1979， John Lennon produced no music of any real quality， preferring to stay at home with his young son Sean， whom Yoko had borne. If he had known what was to follow， it is very likely that he would have stuck with that peaceful lifestyle.

Unable to 20）repress the musical genius inside himself， he wrote the album Double Fantasy.

On December 8th， 1980， the 40-year-old artist was shot and killed by an 21）obsessed fan in New York City. He was entering his 22）luxury Manhattan apartment building when Mark David Chapman shot him four times at close 23）range. Lennon was rushed to the hospital but died 24）en route. Chapman had received an autograph from Lennon earlier in the day and voluntarily remained at the scene of the shooting until he was arrested by police. For a week， hundreds of fans kept a 25）vigil outside Lennons apartment building， and 26）demonstrations of 27）mourning were held around the world.

Chapman was to receive a 28）life sentence， but the rest of the world was 29）deprived of yet more musical brilliance from the former Beatle. Lets all be glad at least， that he gave us a taste of his magic.

1940年秋，約翰·列儂出生于（英國）利物浦。當(dāng)時(shí)不列顛之戰(zhàn)剛剛結(jié)束，但英國與德國之間的戰(zhàn)爭遠(yuǎn)未結(jié)束。就是在這種動(dòng)蕩不安的環(huán)境中，約翰·列儂出現(xiàn)了。誰曾想到，他會(huì)成為這樣一位多才多藝的音樂天才？

顯然，列儂的早年生活并不容易。他的父母在他蹣跚學(xué)步的時(shí)候就離異了，他由姨媽米米·史密斯撫養(yǎng)長大，不過他與母親依然關(guān)系緊密。她鼓勵(lì)他學(xué)習(xí)班卓琴，后來改學(xué)吉他。列儂18歲時(shí)，悲劇降臨，他的母親被車撞死了。她的死讓列儂受到巨大的創(chuàng)傷。后來，在青少年時(shí)代，他對噪音爵士（搖滾樂的一種類型）產(chǎn)生了濃厚的興趣，這成為了他的人生轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)。

他在學(xué)校里組建了一支噪音爵士樂隊(duì)，并在參加樂隊(duì)表演時(shí)遇見了保羅·麥卡特尼。兩人一拍即合，成為一對好搭檔，一起寫詞作曲。樂隊(duì)的名字幾經(jīng)變換之后，這兩人和喬治·哈里森、皮特·貝斯特一起，將樂隊(duì)命名為“甲殼蟲”。他們在（德國）漢堡的各個(gè)夜總會(huì)輪流演出，每場8小時(shí)；他們在利物浦的“洞穴俱樂部”也大受歡迎。由于鼓手皮特·貝斯特不是特別優(yōu)秀，樂隊(duì)的發(fā)展受到了制約。于是，他們決定讓林戈·斯塔爾取而代之。不久之后，甲殼蟲樂隊(duì)就被喬治·馬丁簽到了百代唱片公司（EMI）旗下。

從此，甲殼蟲樂隊(duì)便開始拋出無數(shù)金曲，登上榜首的歌數(shù)不勝數(shù)。列儂和麥卡特尼是團(tuán)隊(duì)背后的主創(chuàng)力量，他們創(chuàng)造出來的優(yōu)質(zhì)素材數(shù)量驚人。甲殼蟲樂隊(duì)開始在世界進(jìn)行巡回演出，極受歡迎，尤其是在美國。然而，約翰·列儂在一次新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上稱其樂隊(duì)比耶穌還受歡迎，這一言論激怒了整個(gè)美國，從此一切都改變了。于是他們同意終止巡回演出，并于1966年回國。

大約就在這個(gè)時(shí)候，列儂遇見了小野洋子。盡管他們一見鐘情，但是當(dāng)時(shí)列儂已經(jīng)娶了辛西婭·鮑威爾，并且兩人育有一個(gè)孩子。然而辛西婭很快明白了列儂的心之所向，于是申請離婚。1969年，列儂和小野洋子結(jié)為夫婦。

1970年，保羅·麥卡特尼離開甲殼蟲樂隊(duì)，他與列儂之間的關(guān)系也因此變得緊張。一年后，列儂發(fā)布了大受歡迎的專輯《想象》，和小野洋子一同呼吁世界和平。列儂提倡結(jié)束越戰(zhàn)的呼聲大大得罪了美國政府，為此他差點(diǎn)失去了綠卡。

1975年到1979年間，列儂沒有創(chuàng)作出真正有分量的音樂，寧可留在家里陪伴洋子與他所生的年幼兒子肖恩。如果他知道接下來將發(fā)生的事情，他很可能會(huì)繼續(xù)過這種波瀾不驚的平靜生活。

然而，他無法抑制自己內(nèi)心的音樂天分，又寫出了專輯《雙重幻想》。

1980年12月8日，這位40歲的藝術(shù)家在紐約被一名狂熱的歌迷槍殺。當(dāng)時(shí)，就在他正要進(jìn)入曼哈頓的豪華寓所時(shí)，馬克·大衛(wèi)·查普曼向他近距離開了四槍。盡管列儂被緊急送往醫(yī)院，但在途中死亡。當(dāng)天早些時(shí)候，查普

曼曾拿到列儂的親筆簽名。槍案發(fā)生后，查普曼自愿留在現(xiàn)場，直到被警方逮捕。整整一個(gè)星期，數(shù)百名歌迷守候在列儂家的公寓大樓外，世界各地的人們也紛紛涌向街頭為他哀悼。

盡管查普曼被判終身監(jiān)禁，然而，世界已經(jīng)不再有機(jī)會(huì)分享這位前甲殼蟲樂隊(duì)成員的音樂才華了。但是，至少他曾讓我們品嘗過他的魅力，讓我們?yōu)榇硕械叫牢堪伞?/p>

約翰·列儂，這位被譽(yù)為搖滾史上最偉大的音樂家，是英國著名搖滾樂隊(duì)“甲殼蟲”（又譯“披頭士”）的靈魂人物，同時(shí)也是詩人、社會(huì)活動(dòng)家、反戰(zhàn)人士。列儂與保羅·麥卡特尼的合作是20世紀(jì)最成功、也是最具影響力的創(chuàng)作組合之一。 1970年樂隊(duì)解散后，列儂發(fā)行的個(gè)人專輯《想象》備受贊譽(yù)，主打歌《想象》也成為傳唱度極高的經(jīng)典歌曲。也許是天妒英才，1980年12月8日晚上10點(diǎn)50分，列儂在紐約的寓所前被一名狂熱的男歌迷槍殺，舉世震驚。搖滾樂壇從此失去了一位傳奇人物。