John Lennon: The First Rock & Roll Assassination

It was 37 years ago tonight that John Lennon was killed, the first rock and roll assassination. This is what I remember of the night, written almost in the instant it happened.

It was quiet outside, I looked up into the darkness, snowflakes seemed to come out of nowhere. I looked around, no one was walking, there were no cars on the street, the night was as silent as a snow globe. Light flared off the street lights glowing as if gas light, I knew where everyone was. In the surrounding houses and apartments I could see the blue light flicker of their TV screens. I knew what they were all watching, John Lennon had been shot, I had been watching too, but I had to go to work. I turned on the car, it started, but I didn’t hear the engine it seemed as if the night absorbed the sound, it was silent. I turned on the radio “Imagine” was on, I pulled out of the driveway and started down the street, the snowflakes still falling silently out of the darkness. I turned the corner, the trees lining the street arched cathedrally above, “Imagine” ended and the DJ announced “John Lennon was dead, killed by an assassins bullet.” The street seemed to pull the car along, a funeral procession, the blue hearth lights flickering in each house as I passed, the only sound was “Imagine.”