This past Saturday was the anniversary of John Lennon's birth. He would have been 70 years old. Can you believe it? Since I heard it was a nifty thing to do, I visited Strawberry Fields in Central Park to raise my voice with hundreds of folks. What an experience!
Here's one of my wee photo essays. (Click on it to see more detail.)
There was a band set up that joined with countless guitars and even one fellow with trumpet and harmonica. Many brought flowers to wave and/or place on the Imagine mosaic. There was Lennon impersonator who I have to say was pretty on his game... knew lyrics that hardly anyone else did. One commentator nearby was hilarious. After many songs, he's exclaim, "GOOD JOB GUYS!" And once in reaction to someones song request said, "THAT'S PAUL SONG. THIS IS JOHN'S DAY!" And on the video below, he's the one at the end who yells, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHNNY!!" Also, a little kid on his dad's shoulders saw the distant flicker of the candles on the mosaic and loudly asked, "DO THEY HAVE CAKE UP THERE???"
I'm sure there are tons of photos and videos of this evening all over the interwebs because in addition to mine, there were about a bajillion cameras. I felt very New Yorky this day. I know Lennon belonged in some way to everyone. (As a kid, I remember seeing some graffiti in Albany, Oregon just after he was shot. It said, "Lennon Lives.") But Lennon seemed so amazingly tied to NYC. And it was so neat to stand in Central Park and sing such wonderful words with so many folks. Wow!
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