Deleted
Deleted Member
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'God'
Jan 27, 2013 13:49:17 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2013 13:49:17 GMT
I find this so difficult to watch - but I come back to it time and time again. We all have our personal views about John so please, while your watching this, think about him the way YOU remember him. The part of the song that breaks me up is the line "I don't believe in Beatles" after which there's a couple of seconds silence. It's eerie and so very emotional. The man is still in my life and always will be.
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liddypool
I'll Be On My Way
"LIVERPOOL IS THE POOL OF LIFE"
Posts: 216
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'God'
Feb 27, 2013 20:49:11 GMT
Post by liddypool on Feb 27, 2013 20:49:11 GMT
Nice one arthur.big thumps up...... It's nice to hear John say he isn't afraid of death at the end.sort of reassuring .getting out of one car into another.he was genius at putting things into words.
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tkitna
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 214
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'God'
May 10, 2013 10:27:06 GMT
Post by tkitna on May 10, 2013 10:27:06 GMT
The song that turned me off of Mr. Lennon.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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'God'
May 10, 2013 14:14:06 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 10, 2013 14:14:06 GMT
The song that turned me off of Mr. Lennon. For what reason tkitna? Are you particularly religious or don't you like John's 'statement' about not believing in Beatles? Or is there another fundamental reason? Just curious.
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'God'
May 10, 2013 16:43:31 GMT
Post by Mr Kite on May 10, 2013 16:43:31 GMT
The song that turned me off of Mr. Lennon. Jesus ! (sorry). This song is one of Lennon`s most Heart on his sleeve ever! It`s not only a spine tingling song but on one of the greatest albums ever. It`s a pity Lennon came up with the Plastic Ono album so soon into to his solo career as from this album it was all down hill .
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'God'
May 10, 2013 17:15:57 GMT
Post by mrmustard on May 10, 2013 17:15:57 GMT
The song that turned me off of Mr. Lennon. How could this song turn you off John Lennon? It's a great piece of music, very well played and great lyrics. You must be a deeply religious for this to offend but that doesn't make it a bad song if that's the case.
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'God'
May 11, 2013 15:33:47 GMT
Post by ROCKY on May 11, 2013 15:33:47 GMT
edit
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'God'
May 11, 2013 15:34:14 GMT
Post by ROCKY on May 11, 2013 15:34:14 GMT
John was the only one with the balls in the record business to talk(sing) about it!
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tkitna
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 214
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'God'
May 23, 2013 9:30:57 GMT
Post by tkitna on May 23, 2013 9:30:57 GMT
Very religious person.
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tkitna
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 214
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'God'
May 23, 2013 9:39:54 GMT
Post by tkitna on May 23, 2013 9:39:54 GMT
The song that turned me off of Mr. Lennon. How could this song turn you off John Lennon? It's a great piece of music, very well played and great lyrics. You must be a deeply religious for this to offend but that doesn't make it a bad song if that's the case. Yeah, i'm deeply religious. I just find it offensive, but thats only my opinion. I look at it as a very negative song (along with a lot of John's offerings)and the fact that he had so much influence in younger people's life, its just a bad promotion in my eyes. To each their own though of course.
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'God'
May 23, 2013 12:41:08 GMT
Post by ROCKY on May 23, 2013 12:41:08 GMT
John knew people were going to find his songs offensive, but thought no one was singing about these topics and he took it upon himself to do it. Another one is "Women is the Nigger of the World' Just using the N word in a title he knew people would be offended and even talked to a few black leaders about it before the song was released. What he said in the song was true and it got people to think what was being sung instead of songs that you just listen to and hum going up to the 17th floor in a building.
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'God'
May 23, 2013 19:40:01 GMT
Post by Mr Kite on May 23, 2013 19:40:01 GMT
At the end of the day "God" is just a song . I can not understand how it would offend anyone .
Just watch anything after 9pm on T.V. today and you would think God was on the best of Disney C.D.
I can find many things offensive in many religions around the world . As for brain washing kids to walk the streets preying on the vunerable does upset me . If I want to go to church I don`t need someone at my door telling me the world is about to end .
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Post by mrmustard on May 23, 2013 22:07:26 GMT
Tkitna, if you would rather not discuss this please say as I do not want to cause offence. I do find your comments very interesting though.
The song isn't an attack on Christianity. It's a comment on religion in general as well as other things going on in Lennons life at the time. The use of the word 'God' in the song is not referring to a Christian God. I think it's fair subject matter to write a song about religion. It's something that has been around for thousands of years. It has been the cause of war, atrocity, persecution and pure evil. Yet it gives many people solace, hope and a reason to live. Why is it unacceptable for something so part of society to be discussed?
Whom exactly is this bad promotion for? If John Lennon says he doesn't believe in religions, why is that any worse in a religious leader saying 'you must believe in my God as there are no other Gods'. I know which one I find more offensive.
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tkitna
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 214
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'God'
May 24, 2013 4:18:02 GMT
Post by tkitna on May 24, 2013 4:18:02 GMT
Nah, I have no issues at all talking about it as long as we can all be civil and respect each others beliefs. I'm sure this will not be a problem here. Here goes.
The song starts off saying that God is a concept by which we measure pain? Really? How so? Is John talking about all of the religious wars and fighting that has and still does take place? Surely, he must be. I dont think of pain when I think of God. God gave people free will and if you look at the world today and in the past, its pretty evident that people can and will screw up anything. We have emotions and feelings like greed, anger, jealousy, Love, etc,,, that causes us to react in different ways. Alot of the times, these actions can be negative as we all know. Anyways, my point is that human kind is flawed. God knows this, but we always have a trump card in Jesus. The sacrifice that Jesus made probably keeps God from just doing away with us all due to the nasty things we do. To get to the point, I dont think its right to blame God for our stupidity and actions. I feel thats what John is doing with that opening verse.
John then goes into his spiel of all the things he doesnt believe in, including people, that seems to be above or beyond actual reality. One might gravitate towards the idea that he is mentioning things and concepts that cause conflict, but his list includes Dylan and Elvis. I cant grasp that idea now with those two names, so it must be just people or things that are above normal reality. Is John telling us that he gave up on all of that (since he was indeed included on the list himself with the inclusion of the Beatles) and he just wants to be a common person now? I think thats where he's going, but the execution was poorly done. This one line killed it for me - "I don't believe in Jesus". I dont believe John realizes what Jesus has done for him. If John truly doesnt believe in Jesus (I dont think he did), how can I like this song? Just coming from my standpoint.
Sorry for being long winded. My take on religion is that there are several different beliefs and teachings, but there's a ton of gray areas there also. I'm a believer that all religions are a derivative of each other and they somehow got a bit skewed along the way. Its like if somebody told another person a story and then that person told the story and so on and so on. At the end, the final persons story gets changed up when it filters through the grapevine. The thing about religion is that I feel most of them recognize Jesus Christ at the least, even if some of the stories differ somewhat. Also people have a habit of changing things just for their own sakes. Disagreements probably caused most of the different denominations and branches. I really dont know though.
Like I said, lots of gray areas. I'm trying to elaborate on John more so then my beliefs, but I had to explain where my opinions are coming from. If anybody feels the song has a different meaning, i'm interested in hearing it.
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'God'
May 24, 2013 10:25:46 GMT
Post by Amadeus on May 24, 2013 10:25:46 GMT
He probably meant everything he said but keep in mind it was said in the midst of a meltdown in the midst of The Beatles breakup and Heroin withdrawal and years of isolation from 'real life'. With those pressures, different people with different emotional makeups will react in different ways. He reacted in public because of his position and it comes across as a spur of the moment rant. His feelings at the moment. Only thing is, if he changed his mind about some of the things in the song (as was his wont from time to time), those thoughts are still indelibly there on record.
And as he himself said, during the whole bigger than Jesus thing, "Oh yeah, he said that? Well who is John Lennon anyway?"
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'God'
May 24, 2013 21:20:20 GMT
Post by mrmustard on May 24, 2013 21:20:20 GMT
I think you are thinking too hard about this. The line 'God is a concept by which we measure our pain' means very little. I really think it was a tag line that sounded good in his head. A mere collection of words involving the word God. He clearly had the idea to make a big list about things he didn't like all culminating in the most shockable statement of no more Beatles. It's 1970, he's shedding his skin of Beatle John.
Getting back to the religious aspects. I was raised a Roman Catholic but strayed the path of righteousness in my mid teens. I have a real problem getting my head around the concept that Jesus saved us or God saved us. How so? I no longer believe in God or Jesus or any form of organised religion. If Jesus was never sent by God to this earth, crucified and ascended to heaven, what would have changed in this world? The world is a pretty fucked up place at the moment. Every day we read about war, atrocity, corruption, children being tortured and murdered in the most horrific ways possible. Where is God for that child at that moment? Nowhere. So how has he saved?
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'God'
May 24, 2013 22:13:05 GMT
Post by ROCKY on May 24, 2013 22:13:05 GMT
I think once you get older you start thinking like you do mrmustard. It's just like Santa Claus when you were little, then you start thinking when you get a little bit older, there ain't no guy in a red suit delivering all these gifts all over the world I'm not going to be taken in by this fairy tale anymore! Same thing with God or whatever superior being that has been shoved down your throat. As for Jesus, to me he was nothing more than the Elvis of his time, if you get what I mean.You either liked him or you didn't, most did. But I do believe there is something superior going on here, I mean if there wasn't we all would be just bumping into one another now wouldn't we? lol
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tkitna
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 214
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'God'
May 26, 2013 22:38:13 GMT
Post by tkitna on May 26, 2013 22:38:13 GMT
I think you are thinking too hard about this. The line 'God is a concept by which we measure our pain' means very little. I really think it was a tag line that sounded good in his head. A mere collection of words involving the word God. He clearly had the idea to make a big list about things he didn't like all culminating in the most shockable statement of no more Beatles. It's 1970, he's shedding his skin of Beatle John. So the song means nothing? John just wrote it for nothing more then shock value? Maybe so, but he could have chosen a better subject. I realize he was going through his stupid primal scream therapy and all that jazz, but its just not a happy trip for me. The entire album was a bummer actually. Oh well, if people are into that kind of depressing stuff, then thats all that matters I suppose. God sent Jesus to us to see if we were worth saving. The path was written for Jesus and all he had to do was carry it out. Thank God he did. It was the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus could have turned his back very easily but he didn't, and since he sacrificed himself, he has taken the burden for our sins. That saddens me Mr.M and i'm going to pray for you. Dont be offended by that, but it will make me feel better. As long as you give yourself to Jesus, your sins will be forgiven and you'll enter the gates. Jesus proved to the lord that we were worth saving. I'm not sure what he saw in us, but he it must have been something. If he didnt make the sacrifice, then hell would be a lot fuller. People sin. We cant help ourselves, its just our nature. People that follow Jesus seem to do a whole lot less of it though. Yes the world is fucked up right now and has been on the decline for quite some time, but its been written also. Its only going to get worse with the lack of religion and decent morals. Like I said though, its been written. Revelations tells us the story. Speaking of the children that get harmed and so forth, that is a friend of mines biggest hang up too. He cant believe that a forgiving God would allow those things to happen. Let me remind everyone once again that mankind has freewill. As for the people that commit those horrible crimes, they will get whats coming to them. Jesus even said in the Bible that to a person that would harm a child, they may as well tie a stone around their neck and throw themselves into the water ("If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matt 18:6).) - actual verse. That doesnt sound so severe to people in this day and age, but trust me, that was a stern warning from Jesus then. They have been warned. Also, I truly believe God intervenes at some point to helpless victims and people. As they say, he never gives you more then you can handle. I have to take solace in that because some of the evil out there is to tragic to even comprehend.
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tkitna
I'll Be On My Way
Posts: 214
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'God'
May 26, 2013 22:45:09 GMT
Post by tkitna on May 26, 2013 22:45:09 GMT
I think once you get older you start thinking like you do mrmustard. It's just like Santa Claus when you were little, then you start thinking when you get a little bit older, there ain't no guy in a red suit delivering all these gifts all over the world I'm not going to be taken in by this fairy tale anymore! Same thing with God or whatever superior being that has been shoved down your throat. As for Jesus, to me he was nothing more than the Elvis of his time, if you get what I mean.You either liked him or you didn't, most did. But I do believe there is something superior going on here, I mean if there wasn't we all would be just bumping into one another now wouldn't we? lol The Bible is a guide book. I dont think Elvis performed miracles and came back from death. I never read anything to that extent anyhow, but I admit to not reading all the books on him either.
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'God'
May 27, 2013 12:24:36 GMT
Post by ROCKY on May 27, 2013 12:24:36 GMT
I see you missed the whole concept of the idea. Who ever anyone picks you're going to come up with this statement. I wasn't comparing Elvis to Jesus for what he did, but for how famous he was at the time. I could have picked Kennedy as well. Remember in the end: just believe in yourself for that is reality.
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