History Trivia / JohnLennon

* {{Jerkass}}: One of the most well documented examples in the history of music. His life is rife with episodes where he humiliated or abused someone. An OlderAndWiser Lennon would eventually publicly recognise this and admit he disliked that side of himself.
* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: As the Beatle most in tune with the zeitgeist of his era, much of his work has a dated quality these days, particularly the psychedelic later-period Beatles songs, the TrueArtIsIncomprehensible material with Yoko, and his fondness for the ProtestSong in his solo career. It's been suggested that this is a big reason why younger generations who get into The Beatles seem to gravitate more toward Paul (and George).

* {{Jerkass}}: One of the most well documented examples in the history of music. His life is rife with episodes where he humiliated or abused someone. An OlderAndWiser Lennon would would eventually publicly recognise this and admit he disliked that side of himself.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: While in Canada during a Bed-In for Peace, he was asked to play Woodstock and was eager to do so, but he couldn't get back into the U.S. due to immigration problems. Talks also broke down because the festival organizers also only wanted either him alone or the Beatles, and he wanted to perform with the Plastic Ono Band.

* OldShame: He hated several of his old Beatles songs due to their misogynistic lyrics, especially "Run for Your Life", which he is on record as having said he wished he had never written.

* TheBully: Lennon was notorious for being this in his school years. Although gradually mellowing out as he matured, throughout his whole life he would always carry nasty shades of it.

* HistoryRepeats: When John saw for the first time a picture of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuda_Zenjirō Yasuda Zenjirō]], who was Creator/YokoOno's grandfather, he supposedly said "[[{{Reincarnation}} that's me in a former life]]", to which she responded "don't say that. He was assassinated". Come 1980, and what would the tragic fate of John Lennon be?

* TheBully: Lennon was notorious for being this in his school years. Although gradually mellowing out as he matured, throughout his whole life he would always carry nasty shades of it.

* CreatorBreakdown: His highly acclaimed 1970 solo album, ''Music/JohnLennonPlasticOnoBand'', was the fruit of months spent in "primal scream" therapy, during which he brutally confronted his feelings of ParentalAbandonment and disillusionment with his life as a Beatle. Another single from this era, "Cold Turkey," is about his struggle to get over his heroin addiction.

* HistoryRepeats: When John saw for the first time a picture of [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuda_Zenjirō Yasuda Zenjirō]], who was Creator/YokoOno's grandfather, he supposedly said "[[{{Reincarnation}} that's me in a former life]]", to which she responded "don't say that. He was assassinated". Come 1980, and what would the tragic fate of John Lennon be?

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Lennon liked to write in the first person. As his career went on and especially after he met Yoko Ono his music became more personal and even exhibitionistic, with a lot of songs dealing with his relationship with her and his own search for truth, love and wisdom in life.

* HistoryRepeats: When John saw for the first time a picture of [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuda_Zenjirō Yasuda Zenjirō]], who was Creator/YokoOno's grandfather, he supposedly said "that's me in a former life", to which she responded "don't say that. He was assassinated". Come 1980, and what would the tragic fate of John Lennon be?

* HistoryRepeats: When John saw for the first time a picture of [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuda_Zenjirō Yasuda Zenjirō], who was Creator/YokoOno's grandfather, he supposedly said "that's me in a former life", to which she responded "don't say that. He was assassinated". Come 1980, and what would the tragic fate of John Lennon be?

* HeAlsoDid: Contributed a sketch to the famously ribald show ''Theatre/OhCalcutta''

** Some of his later solo albums also reek of unfortunate situations taking their toll on the musician. ''Music/MindGames'' speaks from a time of disillusionment and a nagging threat of deportation[[note:This is depicted on the album's front cover, John in a field walking away from a prominent, overshadowing Yoko-sunset--representing the powerful impact she had on him]]. After that is ''Walls and Bridges'', where John does not seem to be much better off for his temporary split from Yoko Ono.

** Some of his later solo albums also reek of unfortunate situations taking their toll on the musician. ''Music/MindGames'' speaks from a time of disillusionment and a nagging threat of deportation[[note]]This is depicted on the album's front cover, John in a field walking away from a prominent, overshadowing Yoko-sunset--representing the powerful impact she had on him[/note]]. After that is ''Walls and Bridges'', where John does not seem to be much better off for his temporary split from Yoko Ono.

** Some of his later solo albums also reek of unfortunate situations taking their toll on the musician. ''Music/MindGames'' speaks from a time of disillusionment and a nagging threat of deportation. After that is ''Walls and Bridges'', where John does not seem to be much better off for his temporary split from Yoko Ono.

* CreatorBreakdown: His highly acclaimed 1970 solo album, ''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'', was the fruit of months spent in "primal scream" therapy, during which he brutally confronted his feelings of ParentalAbandonment and disillusionment with his life as a Beatle. Another single from this era, "Cold Turkey," is about his struggle to get over his heroin addiction.

** Some of his later solo albums also reek of unfortunate situations taking their toll on the musician. ''Mind Games'' speaks from a time of disillusionment and a nagging threat of deportation. After that is ''Walls and Bridges'', where John does not seem to be much better off for his temporary split from Yoko Ono.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Various remixes, outtakes, and demos of unfinished Lennon recordings have been released, starting with the ''Milk and Honey'' album. This included Lennon's fellow Beatles adapting two low-quality Lennon home demos into "new" Beatles songs in 1995, "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love."