136. JOHN LENNON: Produce your own dream
John Lennon (1940-1980) was an English musician, singer, songwriter, founding member of the Beatles and current cultural icon. This quote is taken from his famous Playboy interview from 1980, just a few months before he was shot and killed. It’s an incredible interview. Lennon had just started making music again after a five year break, during which he had been busy being a ‘house husband’ and looking after his second son. He’s completely honest about the possibility of a Beatles reunion, his relationship with his former bandmates and his love for his wife, Yoko Ono. He’s also extremely funny and charming. The quote I used is taken from the end of the interview where Lennon is asked the question: “What is the Eighties’ dream to you, John?”
I often get sent the “I told them they didn’t understand life” quote attributed to Lennon all over the interweb. It’s a great quote, but after some digging it’s most likely been misattributed.
– What’s your favourite Beatles/Lennon song? Jeez, it’s so hard to pick one, isn’t it? Some of my faves off the top of my head: Don’t Let Me Down, In My Life, Beautiful Boy, The Word and Girl.
– If you’re my age or younger and aren’t that familiar with Lennon or the Beatles (shame on you!) and you have a spare eight hours, I recommend the Beatles Anthology documentary series (some of it is on YouTube).
Discussion (75) ¬
Lovely!
Amazing!
wow
I love Your work, but this comic Is weird.
I understand the tekst, but pictures get me a bad vibe :/
Agree. Looks like a sect of sickos.
Exactly. Gav isn’t saying, “Be like these people.” He’s saying that these people have lost their way. They worship the man but not the message. They expect revelations from a long-dead man instead of becoming their own masters and seeking their own revelations. Not everyone portrayed in a Zen Pencils comic is to be imitated.
Perfect aclaration.
It IS a sect of sickos. That’s the irony. The man who is directly telling people to start practicing a personal ethos, to seek their own meaning and dreams, is the object of worship. This is what happened to Buddha (in some variations of the religion) and Christ. They were both worshipped when they were honest about the fact that they were merely pointing a way.
It’s like worshipping a signpost.
Ha ha, so true.
reminds me of the life of Brian! “I’m not the messiah! Now Fuck off!!”
Yeah, a sect of sickos but wouldn’t it be a paradox to go ahead and follow it blindly whatever they say? Won’t we be analyzing what is good and bad for us? Thought the comic was good until stumbled on to your comment and having second thoughts about the comic. Reminds of the hipster movement.
I love this piece so much; you’ve captured an idea in picture so well. And now I want to quote you directly; keep on rocking!
He hit his previous wife. He also inflicted a bit of psychological abuse to his first son.
Yep. And he talked openly about that later in life.
“I am a violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence. I will have to be a lot older before I can face in public how I treated women as a youngster.”
That’s great that he acknowledges he was wrong, but that doesn’t really excuse that he did it in the first place? I’ve met a lot of people that put Lennon on a pedestal seem to have this “Oh, he felt really bad about it so it’s okay now” attitude towards his domestic abuse…
He was a incredibly flawed man that was able to get away with some pretty shitty things because he was talented.
aren’t we all deeply flawed? I’m not defending him, what he did was wrong, per his own words. There are lots of people who get away with shitty behaviour, because they are talented; but a lot more because they are anonymous. Yet we only judge the talented because he’s known.
Mandella beat his wife too!
Wow! This one is just phenomenal! I didn’t realize what it was until the end and when I realized it, I realized how massive it was!
This is amazing
Sorry, I love this site, and read it a lot, it’s given me lots of encouragement and helped me organise my life and find out about some amazing people. But I’m tired of people rolling out John Lennon as some peace loving genius! He was not a nice man, and would do anything for fame and money, he was a self centered narcissist and not someone we should look up to! He beat his wife, emotionally abused his son, and lied pathologically!
Then you already understand the text of today.
How concise and accurate, perfect comment!
You are totally missing the point of this comic. It is telling you not to worship your idols, and make something for yourself. Lennon was just an imperfect human, with some good qualities. It doesn’t mean their is no truth in what he is saying over here. Humans are focusing too much on the people, rather than collecting the bits and pieces of inspiration and instructions that they left behind. Its up to us, as to what we make of their legacy.
Take the message, ignore the messenger. Though you may not think much of Lennon as a person, isn’t is possible that he might have said something sensible?
After all, even the dumbest say something wise and the wisest say something dumb, if only once in a while… Besides, if you dig deep enough, you could come up with dirt on just about anyone; maybe true or maybe false, but there’ll be no way of knowing for sure.
P.S.: Personally, I don’t think much of this quote, but that has nothing to do with who said it.
“Take the message, ignore the messenger”you deserve an Oscar for that. If you read that chapter of The Present i mention below, you will be amazed for the enormous wisdom contained in your own words of which you perhaps are not conscious righ now.
If you want to know who John Lennon really was go to http://www.truthcontest.com click on The Present. Then go directly to the chapter about The Beatles on page 59.
After that you will know why when talking about his wife, etc your really missing the target.
I don’t get it?
I love “Watching the Wheels” as a reflection on his “house husband” years. Throughout much of Double Fantasy, he comes off as a man who has found a place of happiness and peace.
Hi. I recently finished reading all your “comics” and I would firstly thank you for such a great work. Because your work radiates perfection it was a shame that I found a typo or misspelling in this one, but I would only let you know that in the middle of this one ‘worshipped’ is misspelled with one ‘p’. But overall; thanks!
Gosh, you do take the cake, eh?
That’s actually not a typo. Be careful to check your own spelling before you correct others’.
Actually, if the person who wrote the original comment is British or Australian, then he/she is correct.
And their post seemed to me like a friendly correction of what they thought to be a typo, not an obnoxious comment, so no reason for you to get your hackles raised.
Nice play on Lennon’s “We’re bigger than Jesus” quote. That is what you were going for… right? Hahaha.
Nice job, and I totally get it. I’m a big fan of Lennon’s, but I don’t worship the guy. All heroes are flawed. That’s why the message is always more important than the messenger. Something the faithful in this comic don’t understand (nor the faithful in most religions for that matter).
Oh the irony
I loved this one !
Great Adaptation, hmm seems to be the that we’re on same page, updated my blogs few minutes and reading this.all seems to flow.
Good adaptation,we’re on same page my blogpost a few minutes ago was just the same theme, It is the motivation I really love am not actually fans of the Beatles.
Love it.
The irony and cultural parody are brilliant. Very Brave New World.
I imagined our favorite zen monk climbing highest peak and cutting through thickest jungle while reading this. I was confused at the end by all the followers listening to a preacher, enamored by the beatles image.
I fail at irony, had to read the comments.
Good job on this one. I also think the final quote from the interview (about the unknown) would make a good piece – hits the whole truth in one quick shot.
Bravo, Gavin!
It’s beautiful and you’re brilliant, as usual!! The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” could have coined just for your work!!
Looking forward to hearing about your trek to Macchu Picchu!
Thanks
Uthra
Bravo, Gavin!
It’s beautiful and you’re brilliant, as usual!! The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” could have been coined just for your work!!
Looking forward to hearing about your trek to Macchu Picchu!
Thanks
Uthra
In John, we trust!! Lovely.
I think I needed this now. Thank you Gav, for your work.
I admit John Lennon is not really a likeable guy; (I don’t like him, and never will, especially that people seem to attribute him as a peaceful-loving guy), however, one of his good qualities is that unlike some very famous people he admits to the public that he himself is a hypocrite, which I admire because it is something few people do admit.
And kudos to Gav for another good comic! And advance greetings to those who will have their Thanksgiving feast next week! (We don’t have Thanksgiving in the Philippines, so I’m just giving out my greetings!)
The commentary on religion is superb here. Here we have a guy giving a message about finding your own dream and saving yourself but still these people have turned him into a God and worship him.
Isn’t that the same thing that happened to Jesus?
Great job Gav.
The irony is just brilliant here!
It really caught me off guard. I have been checking your page on a weekly basis in anticipation of your next masterpiece. And I’m glad to say that you knocked it out of the park with this one.
We spend most of our energy focusing on our idols rather than actually adapting their message into our own lives. And then we condemn them when it turns out that there is no divinity, and instead imperfection.
Brilliant!
Umm, this is not relevant to the comic but,
How was your vacation? 😀
Such an impact that we teach it now! Here’s wishing we pray to them in the future 🙂
https://www.coursera.org/course/beatles
“The Music of the Beatles will track the musical development of the band, starting from the earliest days in Liverpool and Hamburg, moving through the excitement of Beatlemania, the rush of psychedelia, and the maturity of Abbey Road. While the focus will be on the music, we will also consider how recording techniques, the music business, the music of other artists, and the culture of the 1960s affected John, Paul, George, and Ringo as they created the Beatles repertory.”
bless the comments because i did not get the message until i read it. it’s a really beautiful quote.
“It’s like a finger pointing at the moon. Do not concentrate on the finger or you will miss all of the heavenly glory!” ~ Bruce Lee (Enter the Dragon 1973)
That John Lennon was not all that likeable or admirable of a person just helps the potency of the quote. Lennon was at least honest about it, and the visuals attached to the quotation underscore that. Listen to the words and if they help you accomplish something of your own, good. But don’t worship the man.
It’s an important message in our culture, as our culture is shallow and unreflective, and encourages people to look to others for validation and to tell them what to think. (Western culture, after all, has grown out of a long history of religion that is based on a master-servant power dynamic.) People in general constantly look for who to emulate, who to follow, in order to live their lives. Whether they choose a group, a trend in fashion, or an individual.
Many people are part of a “Brave New World” religion whether they know it or not.
If the world has progressed to flying cars then I am sure they must be doing everything right!
so might as well continue with deification of celebrities!
All Hail to the Almighty Beetles 🙂
wish this went through every ‘religious’ persons mind…
the world truely will live as one…
you sir are turning into a legend urself. keep going and kudos
What a truly thought provoking piece here. It makes me think of religious dogma, and the fact we put so much faith in celebs. And his words were even a cautionary tale of how even putting all your eggs in one basket doesn’t secure a spot for you in anything. And honestly we should believe in ourselves, we can use others as a guideline or someone to look up to but why aspire to be a follow. Imagine. I think that song is important, do I worship the singer. No.
ive got an hole in me pocket.
ive got an hole in me pockets.
Knocked it outta the park, Gavin. It really started to disturb me until the end, when I got it, and it was a most visceral reaction. Brilliant. It also says a bit about today’s religion as well, though commenters seem more focused on John.
Keep on rocking, Gav!
Great message, ‘You create your own dream’, everyone needs to realise this, everyone needs to realise that they have the confidence to do it.
Confidence is also a big factor with those that worship the messenger, rather than the message, the message is not – ‘I will do it for you, trust in me’, instead its ‘ you can do it yourself, trust me!’
Which of course boils down to confidence, along with belief. This needs to be taught to our children specifically, instead of
‘no you can’t its too dangerous/risky’ etc
it should be
‘you can do it, it’s definately possible, have a go.’
We can all do sooo much more than we realise, then we know! We just need to really believe.
I love the last panel – the cult members gleefully singing praises to Lennon while his advice is superimposed over their faces. Great duality. Excellent comic, as always!
I like the contradiction of the words and pictures. This is why comics are great.
P.S. Welcome back Gavin.
Hah! Finally a comic. Wonder why it’s taking longer than usual for giving the comic.
Though my day-to-day enthusiasm for this site has decreased, the same excitement rushes back every time I see a new comic.
Excellent job, Gav.
I love John Lennon quotes – and this is just brilliant! keep them coming please =)
If you like The Beatles and want to know what does John REALLY mean in this quote, you must go and read The Present at http://www.truthcontest.com. Go directly to the chapter which is entirely dedicated to The Beatles. Its ashtoningly amazing!!!
My fav Beatles song is “Here comes the Sun” <3 and I like your idea of make them like a new religion XD even if isn't like the daily religions, indeed love the Beatles is one.
Deux enfants naquirent de cette union; mais Pauline malheureuse en ménage fit la rencontre d’un ou vrier typographe Louis Brunet. sac hermes http://www.lusakagroup.com/css/hrems.asp
Happy Birthday, John.
bless the comments because i did not get the message until i read it. it’s a really beautiful quote.
the best lyrics to have superimposed on this cartoon would be those from “Working Class Hero”.
“Salvation lies within” *starts chiselling away with the rock hammer*
By that time he was blind like the people in the comic. Yoko didnt produce no dream, she just sucked his blood. He was always mad at everybody for pointing it out.