The Ballad of Paul and Linda

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This is a total heartbreak for my family and I. Linda was, and still is, the love of my life. I am privileged to have been her lover for 30 years, and in all that time, except for one enforced absence, we never spent a single night apart. When people asked why, we would say — “What for?” Our family is so close that her passing has left a huge hole in our lives. We will never get over it, but I think we will come to accept it. In the end, she went quickly with very little discomfort, and surrounded by her loved ones. The kids and I were there when she crossed over. They each were able to tell her how much they loved her. Finally, I said to her: “You’re up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion. It’s a fine spring day. We’re riding through the woods. The bluebells are all out, and the sky is clear blue.” I had barely got to the end of the sentence, when she closed her eyes, and gently slipped away. She was unique and the world is a better place for having known her. Her message of love will live on in our hearts forever. I love you, Linda.

- Paul McCartney’s statement after Linda McCartney’s death on April 17, 1998

I have been known to be forever a lover of John and Yoko, and I have declared that forever they are my hero. But a little look over at Paul and Linda would make anyone who's in the same path as me think twice. Linda was, just like Yoko, in a hard position because even though she was from a rich family living in NYC's Fifth Avenue, daddy a successful Harvard lawyer and art collector, in the spotlight because she was a widower with one daughter and she was American. The Brits don't get it. It was always like that back then, though. You're an idol, you're a lover--people dislike your beloved. When Linda married Paul, she married his fame and rockstar life too. It was only in the recent years people actually love her for who she really is. Read more Paul's writing about Linda here.

"...She loved riding so much. Sometimes she’d get up on her a horse and I’d say: “You don’t want to get down, do you?” She preferred it up there than on the ground."

Everything is clearer when you're in love

"It's too much of an important day to think of my birthday - it's all about being there for mum and remembering dad. I try not to think, 'What if?' But it gets hard for me to imagine what life would have been like if he had lived. I just think it's sad that I've never been able to enjoy an adult relationship (with my dad) like I had with my mum and my friends. But I try not to beat my head against the wall asking what could have been. People think I was too young to remember him but there are lots of things I remember about my dad, like him teaching me how to swim, how to use a knife and fork and him rolling up his cigarettes. I remember him telling me about England and promising he'd take me to (his hometown of) Liverpool. But he never did."

Sean Lennon

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEAN

Oh John

How would you characterize George's, Paul's and Ringo's reaction to Yoko?

It's the same. You can quote Paul, it's probably in the papers; he said it many times that at first he hated Yoko, and then he got to like her. But it's too late for me. I'm for Yoko. Why should she take that kind of shit from those people? They were writing about her looking miserable in the film Let It Be, but you sit through sixty sessions with the most bigheaded, uptight people on earth and see what it's fuckin' like and be insulted. And George, shit, insulted her right to her face in the Apple office at the beginning, just being ``straightforward,'' you know, that game of ``I'm going to be upfront, because this is what we've heard,'' and Dylan and a few people said she'd got a lousy name in New York. That's what George said to her! And we both sat through it. I didn't hit him; I don't know why. Ringo was all right, but the other two really gave it to us. I'll never forgive them, I don't care what fuckin' shit about Hare Krishna and God and Paul with his ``Well, I've changed me mind.'' I can't forgive 'em for that, really. Although I can't help still loving them either.

Do you have a picture of ``when I'm sixty-four''?

No, no. I hope we're a nice old couple living off the coast of Ireland or something like that - looking at our scrapbook of madness.

Of course, John didn't live up to 64 years old. Well, bright stars burn fast.

Lovers in Japan

People were always trashing Yoko Ono, blaming her for breaking up the beatles, but Josie knew they were just jealous that John preferred Yoko to some bloated megaband. Nobody really ever really loved a lover. Because love was a private party, and nobody got on the guest list.

Paint it Black by Jane Fitch

(I really like the picture above because John and Yoko didn't seem like John Lennon and Yoko Ono. They just seemed like two people falling in love and taking a picture together, just like other high school sweethearts)

And John Remains Dead

It will be released internationally this Christmas but I think we have to seriously wait, since it's not a commercial movie. Some parts of the story is "hollywoodised", because of course, John didn't live a life that most people would understand. Been waiting for it so bad.

His Son is His Sun

Yoko, Sean and John, 1977

A Piece of Sean

Can you see his resemblance to daddy?

You want more piece of the very touching Sean Lennon's childhood? Listen to this cute-but-when-you-think-about-it-again-you'd-cry version of "With A Little Help From My Friends" filled with John and Yoko's voices, here.

I Remember You Well/Perhaps we'll meet again in another life

We miss you, John. We still want you here.

Picture taken by Yoko herself, right after the tragic shoot. Auctioned for 13,000 dollars

I wish Sean a love his father had always have



From John to Yoko:

Interviewer: Why can’t you be alone without Yoko?
John Lennon: But I can be alone without Yoko, but I just have no wish to be. There’s no reason on earth why I should be alone without Yoko. There’s nothing more important than our relationship, nothing. And we dig being together all the time. Both of us could survive apart but what for? I’m not going to sacrifice love, real love for any whore or any friend or any business, because in the end you’re alone at night and neither of us want to be. And you can’t fill a bed with groupies. It doesn’t work. I don’t want to be a swinger. I’ve been through it all and nothing works better than to have someone you love hold you.

Playboy: John's [Lennon's] anger about the way people resented you has certainly come through in this interview. Do you feel the same way about the fan's reactions, Yoko?
Yoko Ono: No. I feel amazed I'm amazed that people can be so concerned about somebody else's life. I mean, what about their own lives?
Playboy: Maybe that's why they're so concerned about somebody else's life-because they can't deal with their own, or their own is simply boring.

From Yoko to John:

December 8, 2007
I miss you, John. 27 years later, I still wish I could turn back the clock to the Summer of 1980. I remember everything - sharing our morning coffee, walking in the park together on a beautiful day, and seeing your hand stretched to mine - holding it, reassuring me that I shouldn't worry about anything because our life was good.I had no idea that life was about to teach me the toughest lesson of all. I learned the intense pain of losing a loved one suddenly, without warning, and without having the time for a final hug and the chance to say, "I love you," for the last time. The pain and shock of that sudden loss is with me every moment of every day. When I touched John's side of our bed on the night of December 8th, 1980, I realized that it was still warm. That moment has haunted me for the past 27 years - and will stay with me forever.Even harder for me is watching what was taken away from our beautiful boy, Sean.He lives in silent anger over not having his Dad, whom he loved so much, around to share his life with. I know we are not alone. Our pain is one shared by many other families who are suffering as the victims of senseless violence. This pain has to stop.Let's not waste the lives of those we have lost. Let's, together, make the world a place of love and joy and not a place of fear and anger. This day of John's passing has become more and more important for so many people around the world as the day to remember his message of Peace and Love and to do what each of us can to work on healing this planet we cherish. Let's: Think Peace, Act Peace, and Spread Peace. John worked for it all his life. He said, "there's no problem, only solutions." Remember, we are all together. We can do it, we must. I love you!