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Remember Love: The Yoko Ono Appreciation Thread
13 March 2014
7.25pm
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Expert Textpert
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yoko-ono-38268_medium.jpg

 

This is the thread where anyone who likes Yoko can talk about why they appreciate her beauty, wisdom, and art.

Personally, I like her so much because she makes me think outside the box.  Reading her books like Grapefruit and Acorn makes me see things from a very different perspective.  No one thinks like Yoko.  When I spend time with her art or her writings I begin to see the power of imagination, and the power of living in the world of our own imagination.

One of my favorite things Yoko says is that “A dream you dream alone is only a dream.  A dream you dream together is reality.”

That is fundamentally true, and it is also why “Give Peace A Chance ” really could have worked.   If only people had taken it more seriously, we could have had a radical change of thought, a Revolution in thought.  In fact, that is the only way for there to ever be real change in the world.  And that is why I like Yoko.

…besides the fact that without Yoko there would be no “Imagine ,” since Grapefruit was the inspiration for it…and no “Oh Yoko!” or “Woman ,” which are among the best songs John ever wrote, Beatles or otherwise.

 

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13 March 2014
8.38pm
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WETSRoosa
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With your avatar and the picture of Yoko so close, it looks like John’s checking out Yoko. a-hard-days-night-george-10

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13 March 2014
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wetsroosa said

With your avatar and the picture of Yoko so close, it looks like John’s checking out Yoko. a-hard-days-night-george-10

 

It does appear as though John is looking upon Yoko from…oh wait…we’re supposed to imagine there is no heaven.

I considered moving this topic into an established thread titled Yoko Ono. But after reviewing the first couple of pages, it did not focus on strictly on appreciation. I could not justify moving ExTex‘s beautifully written post into a thread where there is mostly disdain for her.

Nice work, ExTex.

apple01 

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13 March 2014
9.08pm
Bungalow Bob
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One of my favorite tracks on “Double Fantasy ” is “Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him.” That’s such a cool opening riff, and I like the blend of John and Yoko’s harmonies on the song. :)

13 March 2014
9.35pm
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Billy Rhythm
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Great idea Expert Textpert, now I finally get a chance to prove that I’m no “Yoko Hater”.  While you most certainly have a deeper appreciation for her art than I do, I have the utmost respect for her as a woman.  I’m most convinced that if it weren’t for Yoko Ono coming along when she did, John wouldn’t have made it to 30, let alone 40 years old.  John was at a “sink or swim” junction during his journey across that stormy sea of drugs and it was Yoko’s taking hold of the ship’s wheel that prevented him from being “lost at sea” (“Yes I’m Lonely, Wanna Die”).  It’s not that Yoko even gave him anything to live for but showed him the pathway that he’d long lost sight of, a “pathway” that was first introduced to John by his best friend Stuart Sutcliffe in which he could channel all of the pain he’d experienced in life into his art.  Life with The Beatles had strayed John far from this path, and although this “unfulfilling” life inspired him to new creative heights, it was killing him inside and he wouldn’t have lasted much longer than Brian Jones had he kept up the “beneath this mask I am wearing a frown” act.

 

Yoko Ono helped strip away the façade that was “Beatle John”, and unfortunately that didn’t sit very well for the masses who worshipped “Beatle John”, but it was a necessary undertaking for him to stay alive through to the 70’s.  I find it rather selfish of us Beatle Fans to point out to the “Lost Weekend” with May Pang as some sort of point in history where “John was finding himself”, I know it was lovely to see the picture of him and Paul sitting poolside in Malibu for those of us who’d long dreamed of a Beatle reunion, but it’s only a f**king picture!  He was “lost” without Yoko and even Sir Paul McCartney realised it, he was regressing onto that same pathway of self-destruction almost instantly without Yoko Ono.  John had given us more than enough of his soul and Beatle Fans just wanted more, more, more.  Okay, Beatlemania is a very real occurrence so it’s somewhat understandable, but it just had to end and we should be thanking Yoko for her “intervention” and not vilifying her for it.

 

I even credit Yoko Ono for preserving the Beatles’ “Myth” and not allowing them to reduce their legacy to that of The Rolling Stones by continuing on long after they shoulda called it a night.  I’ll try and remember Yoko’s “eulogy” as best I can for I haven’t read it in awhile and don’t even remember where I read it (Nicholas Schaffner’s ‘Beatles Forever’ maybe?) but it always stuck with me and went something like this:

 

The Story of The Beatles is much like the Story of The Golden Temple

One day the builder of this Magnificent Temple stared hard at its Beauty

He began to wonder what it would look like many years from now

As he pondered the prospect he began to worry much

He then proceeded to burn down his Glorious Temple for he couldn’t stand the thought of it deteriorating with age

And that’s why The Beatles will always remain a Beautiful Myth

Because they ended before they deteriorated

 

I think that she’s bang on here, I know we all like to make our imaginary compilation albums when mixing all the best Solo Beatles’ tunes into different albums that they may have released had they kept on going, but do any of us compile their worst post-Beatles recordings onto one album?  If we were to do this, it’d make The Rolling Stones’ ‘Black and Blue’ or ‘Dirty Work’ albums seem like ‘Abbey Road ‘.  While Yoko’s “burning down the temple” was most unpleasant to watch and listen to, it absolutely had to happen and we should thank our lucky stars for Yoko Ono to help John set the fire…:-) 

 

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13 March 2014
9.40pm
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Great post, @Billy Rhythm.  I agree with you 100%.

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13 March 2014
10.09pm
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Von Bontee
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I’ve had nothing but praise for Yoko’s Plastic Ono Band and Fly albums here in the past, so why stop now?

Paul: Yeah well… first of all, we’re bringing out a ‘Stamp Out Detroit’ campaign.

         

13 March 2014
10.17pm
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I can’t say I’m a big fan of either her music or her art, though some of it I do like, but what I do know (or believe) is that a lot of the hatred/unpleasantness she gets is not only unjustified, but way out of line. Some comments I’ve read about her are just…. so insulting. I suppose she’s misunderstood in some ways, which makes her an easy target.

Moving along in our God given ways, safety is sat by the fire/Sanctuary from these feverish smiles, left with a mark on the door.

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13 March 2014
10.55pm
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Interesting article in The Guardian about the Yoko Ono retrospective at the Guggenheim in Bilboa.

(X posted to the News Thread.)

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13 March 2014
11.17pm
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An appreciation of Yoko?

 

…….The ‘light’ side. Why not? I’ll read with interest.

13 March 2014
11.41pm
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I like this song by Yoko Ono

https://youtu.be/52nwiTs7bk8

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17 March 2014
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For those who are interesed, here is Yoko’s website:

http://imaginepeace.com/

And here is a link to some upcoming shows with Nels Cline and Talvin Singh, and with Thurston Moore and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth.  I’m always impressed by the people Yoko manages to work with.  It shows that she is still a relevant counter-culture figure, perhaps in a way that Paul McCartney is not (I think Paul is still relevant to mainstream rock and pop culture, but not the counter-culture).

http://www.hackneyhive.co.uk/i…..ce_id=3165

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17 March 2014
9.16pm
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Billy Rhythm
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Expert Textpert said 
I’m always impressed by the people Yoko manages to work with.  It shows that she is still a relevant counter-culture figure, perhaps in a way that Paul McCartney is not (I think Paul is still relevant to mainstream rock and pop culture, but not the counter-culture).
 

Most definitely, Yoko’s had numerous number ones on the Dance Charts, several of her songs are staples in the underground club scene, especially throughout Europe.  Paul & Yoko would be at complete opposite ends of the spectrum here.  I’d have to say that Paul’s shown some potential recently with the ‘Appreciate’ track from ‘NEW’ but he’s got a long way to go if he hopes to seriously compete with Yoko on the dance floor.  It’s much like with Hamburg’s “counter-culture” that Paul was a little more on the outside looking in on while John & Stuart would indulge.  Yoko has influenced a significant part of this “counter-culture” on many levels, not much different than the way Paul has influenced a generation or two of “pop-culture”….:-)

11 July 2014
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Seemed appropriate to post this Guardian article in defense of Yoko here.

parlance

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11 July 2014
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parlance said

Seemed appropriate to post this Guardian article in defense of Yoko here.

parlance

Awesome.

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2 August 2014
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I love Yoko! yoko-ono_01

stay-on-topic

This was in a non-Yoko thread at first. Two mods agreed that the sentiment best belongs in this thread.

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2 August 2014
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Bongo said
I love Yoko! yoko-ono_01

stay-on-topic

This was in a non-Yoko thread at first. Two mods agreed that the sentiment best belongs in this thread.

Love is blind.

11 August 2014
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I’ve just been listening to her Desert Island Discs episode from 2007. I quite warmed to her.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/fe…..y/a3252bf4

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11 August 2014
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Hate her music and there’s a lot more I dislike about her, but since this is an appreciation thread I won’t go into that.

What I do find interesting and what I like about her, is the way she thinks and says things. She is creative and has such a different mind, and a lot of her ideas are so interesting. I do not think it’s all great or beautiful, but I always enjoy reading about it and seeing it.

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21 October 2014
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I just read in “A Hard Day’s Write” that, according to John, the lyrics to “Julia ” were co-written by Yoko. I did not know that.

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