John Lennon: Republican?

[Dave]

It seems in the last few years of his life, John had mellowed a bit and his political leanings had changed. We all remember John being a bit of a radical and quite obviously a more liberal minded fellow in his younger years. Toward the end though, he apparently took a liking to Reagan for one and may have voted for him in the month before he died.

Never would of thought of John as being conservative but it just goes to show that some people can change.

 

John Lennon was a closet Republican, who felt a little embarrassed by his former radicalism, at the time of his death - according to the tragic Beatles star's last personal assistant.

Fred Seaman worked alongside the music legend from 1979 to Lennon's death at the end of 1980 and he reveals the star was a Ronald Reagan fan who enjoyed arguing with left-wing radicals who reminded him of his former self.

In new documentary Beatles Stories, Seaman tells filmmaker Seth Swirsky Lennon wasn't the peace-loving militant fans thought he was while he was his assistant.

He says, "John, basically, made it very clear that if he were an American he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on (Democrat) Jimmy Carter.

"He'd met Reagan back, I think, in the 70s at some sporting event... Reagan was the guy who had ordered the National Guard, I believe, to go after the young (peace) demonstrators in Berkeley, so I think that John maybe forgot about that... He did express support for Reagan, which shocked me.

"I also saw John embark in some really brutal arguments with my uncle, who's an old-time communist... He enjoyed really provoking my uncle... Maybe he was being provocative... but it was pretty obvious to me he had moved away from his earlier radicalism.

"He was a very different person back in 1979 and 80 than he'd been when he wrote Imagine. By 1979 he looked back on that guy and was embarrassed by that guy's naivete."

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/28/lennon-was-a-closet-republican...

[XLFD]

I think the author may have got it wrong.  If we consider that he moved politically as he aged, so that Imagine later on embarassed him, he probably did.  But let's look at another of his songs, albeit written before that, Revolution:

 

You say you’ll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it’s the institution
Well, you know
You better free your mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao
You ain’t going to make it with anyone anyhow

 

It sounds more like he may have been more of a anti-Statist Libertarian to me when he 'wised up'.