Remembering John, Part One: Oh, Yoko!

Only People

'Only people know just how to talk to people
Only people know just how to change the world
Only people realize the power of people
A million heads are better than one
So come on...'

John Lennon
1972


I don't think you can have a serious conversation about Lennon without having a serious conversation about Yoko. No one in post-60s popular music has been more of a polarizing figure than she was and continues to be. But once you get beyond her ill-founded reputation as the "one who broke up the Beatles," you find there is a richness, a beauty, in Yoko Ono.

I recently watched the Dick Cavett Show interviews (from 1971 and 1972) with Yoko and John, and was mesmerized by Yoko. She wasn't the "dragon lady" the press painted her to be; not some spacy, humorless zombie; not some robotic arm candy for John. In these interviews (and in the ones that accompany the marvelous Gimme Some Truth DVD), Yoko comes across as engaging, charming, and well-spoken. She sings. She talks about her films (you get to see a bit of one called "Fly"). She touches on feminism, overpopulation, drug abuse and (what was at that time the beginning of) her 25-year struggle to be reunited with her daughter, Kyoko.

Sure, Yoko's art was for the most part "weird"...and remains challenging even today. But at the core of her work is this need to communicate--to hold a mirror up to some facet of society and say, "Look, look how strange this really is. This is you." To hear her explain it is a far more eloquent thing than I can try to express here.

And her music defied description then; today, much of it still boggles the mind. There are some immediate gems; one I can think of is a song called "Death of Samantha" from 1973, which sounds as fresh as if it were just released. And if you listen to the work of Lene Lovich, or Laurie Anderson, or even the B-52s, you can hear her influence.

The name "Yoko Ono" always meant something to me, long before I was able to piece together who she was. One of my earliest musical memories is of my sister playing John's stunning Imagine album (1971), and of me singing along to the bouncy, catchy "Oh, Yoko!" Think of my mom's reaction when I'd dance around the house singing "Oh...Yoko...my love will turn you on!"

Read more about Yoko Ono here. You'll find out her fascinating personal history, her take on art and peace, and her big resurgence as a dance music diva (thanks to our pals the Pet Shop Boys) and a gay marriage supporter and activist.

Her love will turn you on.