ISTANBULLITE, Nostalgic Writings by an Istanbulite

ART WORK

JOHN LENNON / WHEN THE MUSIC DIED DECEMBER 8, 1980

“WHEN THE MUSIC DIED”, was the headline on the cover of Time Magazine’s December 22,1980 issue. Beatles, the band which changed music forever in 1960 had long disintegrated and John Lennon had started a solo career with his wife Yoko Ono in New York City where they had moved. Lennon, despite President Nixon’s deportation efforts had become a peace activist in the seventies and soon recognized as the symbol for the peace loving people all over the globe. During this era he had produced two critically acclaimed albums: Give Peace a Chance and Imagine. On December 8, 1980 he was murdered senselessly by a lone gunman in front of his Apartment Building in New York City. His final album titled the double Fantasy was released a mere three weeks before his brutal murder. He was 40 years old when he passed away.

The music did not die for me that day but it stopped forever. I was 33 years old now, transforming from youth to maturity, was happily married with a loving wife and a two year old daughter and a house to pay for. Gone were the days of going to bars, drinking, concerts and selfish living. I was still going to enjoy the music in the coming years, but I had no more Idol’s to look up to. My two daughters were my idols now. My five year old daughter would kiss the poster of Michael Jackson in the mall. The new generations were developing new music, new singers, new groups and new idols. As our daughters grew into teenager years they were bringing the new music to our house. I enjoyed the new music but often times I would not remember the singers name or the song except the melody.

And as I made the next move to the middle age, I had often started going back to the music which had stopped in December of 1980, where the songs and music became my youth and my once idols became long lost friends.