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I am here to rain on this tribute to the work of John Lennon in New York City in early October 2001 on two counts- musically and politically. As to the music. I make no bones about the fact that, as a product of the Generation of '68, I grew to adulthood with this music, however, in any choice between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, in my book the Stones win hands down. The same applies to comparisons to Lennon as an individual artist. John Lennon could write lyrics with the best of them, no question, but here is the real question- which song, for example, better expresses the sense of working class alienation and, more importantly, what to do about it- Lennon's Working Class Hero or The Stones' Street Fighting Man?That said, even taking comparisons between artists out of consideration John Lennon's work, as witness here, and has not aged well. This, despite the profuse trade puffing by host Kevin Stacey and other narrators to the contrary. Part of this is because his works are so personal that they are not easily covered. Recently listening to some covers of the The White Album leads me to believe that this is true, as well, for most Beatles songs. Thus, the tribute, as a whole came off rather muzak-like, with the partial exception of Sean Lennon's work with Rufus Wainwright on That Boy and Nancy Marchant's powerful rendition of Nowhere Man. Now to the politics. Yes, we know that John Lennon, sincerely I believe, stood for `giving peace a chance' and for `power to the people, right on;' but frankly, those slogans today, as we are facing another titanic struggle against the imperial monsters over Iraq and Afghanistan just seems like some much children's talk. What the narrators held to be Lennon's profound wisdom on the peace question are things that seemed embarrassingly childish to me back even when they were first uttered. No, it is not enough to just think good thoughts about peace or have peace in our hearts for that to occur as if by magic. We have to go out and struggle for it against some people who will see us in our graves before they give `peace a chance'. And here my friends is the kicker. This tribute was performed in New York City on October 1, 2001 a few weeks after the criminal actions of a bunch of Islamic fanatics wrecked havoc on that city. Perhaps I would have been more impressed by the tribute if one person- host, performer or from the audience- in the whole one and one half hour program had mentioned peace and the desire for it not in the great by and by but actually mentioned some opposition to the war in Afghanistan that was being prepared even as they sang and was then only a few days from starting. Maybe, in the light of circumstances that couldn't be done in New York City during those weeks but I will be damned if I will listen to people spout forth about peace when they were not out in the streets with the few of us who were protesting the Afghan war then. Hell, I was afraid to go out in the streets and face the redneck reaction that was stirred up then too. But that is where `peaceniks' had to be. What would Mr. Lennon have to say about that? Mrs. Lennon certainly didn't have anything to say. I am amazed at the perfect paring up of artists with the songs selected.They really do justice to the music and add a new dimension to it. Covers are not always so great but these are exceptional for the most part.John would approve!We watched this live on tv, couldn't wait to own it! Loved Moby, Shawn & Rufus's performence of "Across the Universe"!!! Kevin Spacey blew us away with "Mind Games". Velvet Revolver did "Revolution" better than any other band has ever done!!! A must have dvd for any John Lennon fan!!!!This was a tribute to John Lennon, Not Yoko Ono. Kevin Spacey was a fabulous, wonderful host for this program. His energy was at the top and his heart was worn on his sleeve the whole time he spoke. I think the best performance was by Dave Mathews doing In My Life. All in all I enjoyed the music, lyrics of John Lennon's songs, as always. I liked some of the performances very much and others, not at all. But the DVD is worth owning for the heart and healing that comes through. I also wished Julian would have been there. That felt a bit hypocritical. We can heal the world but we can't heal our own personal wounds and come together on a more personal and indivual level. Recorded just weeks after the terrorists attacks on September 11th, this once in a lifetime evening brought various artists together in New York City to raise profits, and also to raise awareness of the universal message of peace that John Lennon practiced before he was tragically murdered himself. Lennon's message came forth most of all in his music, and this DVD showcases the prominent singers and artists who supported his words as they take turns singing his classics. The best performances here are Stone Temple Pilots doing "Revolution," Dave Matthews performing "In My Life," Alanis Morissette performing "Dear Prudence," and Dave Stewart and Nelly Furtado combining their talents for an amazing version of "Instant Karma." The old interview footage and commentary of Lennon between performances as he speaks of his values and the effect of religion and politics on society is an added bonus. Host Kevin Spacey was an obvious fan of John Lennon, but he seems a little out of sorts with his presentation and his part in singing "Mind Games" is simply awful. |
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