John Lennon: Working class hero and legal activist.

• Author: Normey, Rob

For me, John Lennon, for all his excesses and flaws, was a great musical hero and one of a select group who have been able to marry blazing musical talent with meaningful politically and socially charged songs, combined with genuine activism and a commitment to civil liberties. He was also inspired by his wife, Yoko Ono, to engage in a unique combination of music and performance art. Part of his legacy is that he continues to inspire countless individuals in their efforts to make a difference as citizens. I have just viewed a documentary from a few years back: The USA v John Lennon. It centers on the drama of his years from 1970 to 1976 in New York City as he immersed himself in the political radicalism of the era and then found himself on the receiving end of a vindictive and no doubt paranoid campaign on the part of Richard Nixon and several key advisers. The campaign was designed to influence the immigration system in order to force Lennon out of America (Yoko had previously acquired her green card during her residence in New York before meeting up with John in London).

In addition to his immense contributions to popular music as a member of rock's greatest group and then as a questing and always forthright and revealing solo artist, Lennon deserves to be remembered for much more. The film, together with one of my favourite books on a musician, Jon Weiner's Come Together: John Lennon in his Time, has brought to mind for me three significant initiatives that he and Yoko engaged in during their time in Canada and the United States. While many of Lennon's fans will probably consider that they know just about everything possible about this icon, in fact, his political and legal efforts have facets that continue to be worth recounting. Let me run through these highlights by organizing them around three of his songs.

Give Peace A Chance

This song has a close connection to Canada. The Beatle with the strongest political conscience penned it in 1969 as a means of better explaining the "Bed-In" for peace that he and Yoko engaged in during their honeymoon. He had spontaneously responded to a reporter pressing him about just why the couple had engaged in such a "silly" initiative that he felt it really was time to "just give peace a chance." The phrase then came up again and again in interviews. To communicate their message of peace in a time overshadowed by the unrelenting news of violent and seemingly never-ending battles in the Vietnam War, he...