John Lennon: songwriter, pop icon, ...closet conservative?

John Lennon’s former personal assistant, Fred Seaman, recently stated in an interview for a new documentary called “Beatles Stories” that Lennon had become more conservative as he got older and was embarrassed by the radical politics of his younger years.

Seaman also said Lennon expressed support for Ronald Reagan and would have voted for Reagan over Jimmy Carter if he had been eligible to do so.

This story is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. The idea that the man who wrote “Imagine,” “All You Need Is Love” and “Give Peace A Chance” suddenly became a right-winger in his later years is a complete absurdity.

This is just another blatant attempt to make money off a celebrity by saying something outlandish to the press. Seaman is full of it.

I’m shocked he doesn’t have a book to promote, as that’s usually the case in situations like this. Perhaps he’s hoping to make a little bank off the talk show circuit.

Seaman has shown in the past he’s not above exploiting his former boss. In the late 90s, Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, took him to court over his theft of Lennon’s personal photographs and letters.

With that sort of track record, anything said by Seaman should be taken with a grain of salt.

It is pretty doubtful Lennon’s politics would change to that extent. Sure, the political views of people change as they get older, typically becoming less extreme and heading closer to the center.

It’s very possible Lennon might have shied away from the more extreme views of his younger years, but very unlikely he changed his beliefs in such a radical way.

You have to keep Lennon’s background in mind. He grew up in Liverpool, a working class city with socialist tendencies.

Lennon’s anti-war stance was a view long held by him — he refused to pose for a photograph with a war memorial on the Beatles’ first trip to Hamburg.

Given his pacifist stance and that he returned to his Member of the Order of the British Empire (an honor granted to him by the Queen) in protest of the United Kingdom’s involvement in the Nigerian Civil War and the Vietnam War, it’s unlikely Lennon would align himself with any political party that frequently used military force.

As for Seaman’s statement about Ronald Reagan, it’s not too surprising Lennon expressed a fondness for him.

Lennon had met Reagan on a broadcast of Monday Night Football in 1974. Reagan explained the rules of American football to Lennon and by all accounts, they got along well in their brief meeting.

Had Lennon recognized Reagan’s use of National Guard troops to quell peace demonstrations in Berkeley, their meeting might have turned out differently.

The John Lennon I know from his music would not have become a neo-conservative. Even if he had, he would have said so in song or to the press.

Seaman’s revelation about John is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

What made John Lennon’s music so brilliant and beautiful was its humanity and brutal, unflinching honesty. That’s what made him one of the greatest artists of all time.