30 Years Later, Lennon's Killing As Senseless as Ever

Thirty years ago today John Lennon was senselessly shot down in front of his apartment building, The Dakota, on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Yoko Ono wrote her own reflection on her husband's life at her blog today, as fans gather around the world to commemorate his life and mourn his loss.

The most important gift we received from him was not words, but deeds. He believed in Truth, and had dared to speak up. We all knew that he upset certain powerful people with it. But that was John. He couldn’t have been in any other way. If he were here now, I think he would have shouted so we can all hear it. That truth was important. Because without knowing all the truth of what we did, we could not achieve world peace.

Lennon and the Beatles and Yoko Ono will be forever associated with the counterculture and the social and political upheaval of the 60s--and Lennon and Ono were hounded by the U.S. government due to their outspoken ways. But the iconoclastic and brilliant musician's beliefs often fluctuated, and he left us with a legacy in a series of songs that are in turn cynical, idealistic, angry and optimistic about the fate of the world. His life was cut too short to know where he would have ended up politically, artistically, and personally, and that's a huge part of the tragedy of his loss. 

Lennon's violent death, which still has the power to sadden and shock us so many years later, seems to epitomize something particularly noxious about American culture, where activists and peacemakers and politicians and yes, even artists in the public eye, have all been gunned down for trying to change the status quo.

Alternet readers, share your thoughts on Lennon's life and legacy in the comments section.