Imagine

December 8th marks the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death.

"I think were always attracted to John Lennon because he was someone who truly made a difference. Whether you liked him on the Beatle level or the politically-active level— the songwriting level, the cultural level, he was someone who always spoke his mind, was always honest. And if you remember back to the early Beatle pictures, he was always the one with his tie askew or his jacket unbuttoned. He was different. He was an iconoclast. He didn’t fit the mold. And in so many ways, he broke the mold." -- Max Weinberg, drummer, Bruce Springstreen and the E Street band; Max Weinberg Seven

In 2002, Yoko One donated the rights to Lennon's songs to Amnesty International. Several artists, including one of my favorite bands, the Deftones, are recording some of these songs to raise funds for the organization.

Lennon's honesty is well-documented. Here are a few of my faves:

"ON THE SIXTIES

"If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliche that must have been left behind in the 60s, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal."

ON RELIGION

"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that, I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

ON PEACE

"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace."

But with this group in power, forget about it. Peace isn't profitable. We gotta keep the military-industrial complex rolling.