John Lennon is widely known as a peach loving hippy but videos of him losing his temper changed his legacy for some fans.
Easily one of the most successful music acts in history, the members of The Beatles all became incredibly rich and famous. More importantly, it seems very likely that The Beatles’ legacy will never be forgotten for many different reasons.
On top of being a member of The Beatles, John Lennon’s solo career was also incredibly successful and influential. By the time Lennon passed away, he was widely known as a hippy who wanted peace in the world. As it turns out, however, footage of Lennon losing his temper has left some fans questioning who he really was.
John Lennon Lost His Temper In The Music Studio In A Secretly Released Behind The Scenes Tape
When John Lennon had his life taken from him in 1980, the music world suffered a profound loss. Even though Lennon was only forty years old when he took his final breath, he’d already written many songs that have had a huge impact on generations of listeners.
Part of the reason why Lennon was able to write so many popular songs was that he cared deeply about the music he wrote. With that in mind, it makes sense that he could be short-tempered when he was in the studio recording music.
What are the ten best songs John Lennon wrote for The Beatles, according to Far Out Magazine?
Song Title:
Rank:
Album:
Release Year:
“Come Together”
#10
“Abbey Road”
1969
“I’m Only Sleeping”
#9
“Revolver”
1966
“Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”
#8
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
1967
“Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”
#7
“Rubber Soul”
1965
“Tomorrow Never Knows”
#6
“Revolver”
1966
“I Am The Walrus”
#5
“Magical Mystery Tour”
1967
“All You Need Is Love”
#4
Released as a single
1967
“Across The Universe”
#3
“No One’s Gonna Change Our World” & “Let It Be”
1969 & 1970
“Strawberry Fields Forever”
#2
“Magical Mystery Tour”
1967
“Help!”
#1
“Help!”
1965
Still, given the fact that Lennon was always known for his peace and love beliefs, his temper can be surprising. After all, Lennon can be seen getting angry and swearing in some behind-the-scenes footage that has surfaced.
Joni Mitchell and John Lennon famously wrote beautiful songs but their feud got surprisingly ugly.
In 2020, the YouTube channel “Jaden is fine” uploaded a short compilation of times Lennon got angry on camera. That video, which is titled “John Lennon raging for over a minute”, features several moments of Lennon losing his temper while recording music.
In many areas of the world, people tend to be very upset whenever someone utters a curse word that refers to part of a woman’s body. However, there are many people from England, where Lennon was born, that use that curse word that starts with a c much more freely.
In behind-the-scenes footage of Lennon in the studio, it quickly becomes clear that he used that curse word regularly when he was angry.
In one clip, Lennon can be seen trying to sing when suddenly the music completely drops out. In response to that, Lennon instantly turned his head towards someone in frustration and said, “Come on” before uttering that curse word.
In 1971, Lennon released a song titled “How Do You Sleep?” which was was directed at his former bandmate, Paul McCartney. In one clip from the aforementioned video, Lennon can be heard singing the words, “How do you sleep you” before adding the curse word.
John Lennon Yelled At An Interviewer
During the aforementioned video on the YouTube channel “Jaden is fine”, there are two clips of John Lennon interacting with an interviewer. In both of those clips, Lennon and the interviewer can be seen getting angry as they argue over protest methods.
When John Lennon passed away, he left his son Julian Lennon out of his will which made things hard for the rock star’s child and wife Yoko Ono.
Before Lennon passed away, he wrote a lot of songs that featured strong political statements. Since Lennon was so talented at expressing complicated ideas, many of his songs were used when other people protested.
What are John Lennon’s five best political songs, according to Louder?
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”
“Working Class Hero”
“Give Peace A Chance”
“Imagine”
“Gimme Some Truth”
During the longest clip from the aforementioned video, Lennon argues with an interviewer about how one of his songs was used at a protest. As he calls the female interviewer out about something she said in the past, Lennon looked furious.
“You were saying that in America, they’re so serious about the protest movement. But they were so flippant that they were singing a happy-go-lucky song which happens to be one I wrote and I’m glad they sang it. And when I get there, I’ll sing it with them. When I get it. And that was a message from me to America or to anywhere that I use my songwriting ability to write a song that we could all sing together.”
Later during the video, Lennon can be seen arguing with the same interviewer. While speaking with a raised voice and a certain condescension, Lennon seemed baffled to be defending his protest methods.
“We did an advertising campaign for peace. Can you understand that? A very big advertising campaign for peace.”
The Truth About John Lennon’s Temper
Given the popular image of John Lennon that exists, it may shock some to see the legendary performer lashing out in anger. In reality, however, it could easily be argued that it is a bit silly. After all, even though Lennon sang about peace, he was still a human being and everyone has a temper.
After John Lennon became world famous, he released a song that freaked out the FBI so much the they began spying on him.
At the end of the day, Lennon was an artist who truly cared about his music and the ideals he fought for. With that in mind, it makes sense that he would get angry when he felt like his vision was being questioned or ruined and express it.
Bands that had members feud with each other, according to The Independent.
The Beach Boys
The Everly Brothers
Hall & Oates
The Kinks
KISS
Journey
Oasis
One Direction
Pink Floyd
Simon and Garfunkel
The Smiths
Yes
There are loads of stories about musical artists losing their temper behind the scenes. One example of that is the fact that Metallica now laughs about the time James Hetfield punched Lars Ulrich.
All things considered, it could easily be argued that video footage of Lennon getting angry is no big deal. In fact, the person who uploaded the compilation of Lennon getting angry on YouTube made it clear they didn’t mean to disparage his legacy. “This video is purely for a laugh, I love our Johnny boy and wouldn’t make a hate post about him.”
That said, there is good reason for people who think that Lennon was a peace-loving hippie to reexamine parts of his life. While clips of Lennon getting angry arguably aren’t that meaningful, some dark facts about the singer shouldn’t be forgotten.
On the internet, there are a myriad of articles about all the awful things Lennon did with his wife. For example, Lennon once slapped his first wife out of jealousy, he beat up a friend so badly they were hospitalized, and he seemingly abandoned one of his sons.
