Music Review: The U.S. vs. John Lennon Music from the Motion Picture

This evening, 8 December, marks perhaps the single most tragically senseless day in the history of rock. It was on this date, 26 years ago, that John Lennon was gunned down by Mark David Chapman.

It was also on this date that popular culture was robbed of one of its most precious assets. Lennon wasn't just an ex-Beatle — he inspired many of us to accept a sense of responsibility in our creative endeavors. He was, and remains, an inspiration to those of us who hold to the naive proposition that music (or film or writing or art) can, in fact, change the world.

The Nixon-era Feds apparently believed him, too. After "Give Peace A Chance" became an anti-war anthem for Vietnam protesters, the Nixon administration built an FBI file around his activities. When Lennon announced plans in 1972 for a world tour to encourage voter registration and protest the war, the Federal government pounced with a deportation order.

All of this is chronicled in the film The U.S. vs. John Lennon. And to make a brutally long story mercifully short, Lennon eventually won the case.

Adversity often fuels a creative spark, and it was during this time that Lennon was at his most adventurous. He wasn't concerned about making a hit record so much as he was concerned about using his superstar status to affect social and political change. It just so happened, though, that he made some infectious, rockin' tunes in the process.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon: Music From the Motion Picture showcases some of Lennon's best work from this period. An interviewer once asked him if he considered himself a genius. Lennon's reply was, "If there's any such thing as a genius, then yeah." It was that ability to be both self-effacing and sarcastic in a single phrase that made him one of the true rock greats. More than that, he was a spokesman for a generation. He was, in so many ways, our voice. What we were thinking, he said. And he said it in a way that was often angry, always tinged with humor, and never weighted with pretension.

Article Author: Ray Ellis

Ray Ellis is a freelance writer who has been dissecting pop culture and its effect on how we view ourselves for over twenty years, ruffling feathers and dragging unsuspecting pedestrians along for the ride whenever possible.

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