"We are more popular than Jesus" is a remark made by John Lennon of The Beatles during an interview in 1966, where he argued that Christianity would end before rock music. He added that "Jesus is fine but his disciples are thick and ordinary, they are twisting that which destroyed him for me." His opinion did not draw the controversy when it was originally published in Britain, but angry reactions appeared in the Christian community when the remarks were republished in the United States five months later.
The statement came from an interview conducted by journalist Maureen Cleave, who included it in a March 1966 article for the London Evening Standard, which did not attract public reactions at the time. When the Data Book of a US teen magazine cited Lennon's comments five months later in August, protests erupted in the southern United States. Some radio stations stopped playing Beatles songs, their recordings were burned in public, press conferences were canceled, and threats were made. The controversy coincided with the group's US tour in August 1966, and Lennon and Brian Epstein sought to quell the dispute in a series of press conferences. Some tour events have disruption and intimidation, including precautions by Ku Klux Klan.
Shortly after the controversy broke out, Lennon reluctantly apologized for the comment, saying "if I say that television is more popular than Jesus, I may have escaped just like that". He stressed that he only commented on how other people saw and popularized the band. This event contributed to the lack of interest of The Beatles in a live public performance, and the US tour was the last one they did, after which they became studio bands only.
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In March 1966, the London Evening Standard runs a series of weekly articles entitled "How Does a Beatle Live?" which is displayed, in chronological order, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney. The articles were written by journalist Maureen Cleave, who knew the group well and has been interviewing them regularly since the start of Beatlemania in England. Three years earlier he described them as "Merseyside's darling", and had accompanied them on the plane on the first US tour in February 1964. For his lifestyle series in March 1966, he chose to interview the group individually, rather than all together, like the norm.
Cleave interviewed Lennon on March 4, 1966. At his home, Kenwood, in Weybridge, he found a full-size cross, gorilla costume, medieval armor and well-organized library, with Alfred's works, Lord Tennyson, Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde , George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and The Passover Plot by Hugh J. Schonfield, who had influenced Lennon's idea of ​​Christianity. The Cleave article mentions that Lennon "reads a lot about religion", and cites the comments he made:
Christianity will leave. It will disappear and shrink. I do not need to argue about that; I am right and I will be proved right. We are more popular than Jesus now; I do not know which one will be the first - rock 'n' roll or Christian. Jesus is fine but his students are thick and ordinary. They spun it that destroyed it for me.
The Cleave interview with Lennon was published in the Evening Standard in March 1966 and did not provoke a public reaction in Britain. The church's presence there is declining and Christian churches make no secret of the need to turn their image into something more relevant to modern times. Music historian Jonathan Gould wrote, "The satire comedians have a field day with an increasingly desperate Church effort to make itself seem more relevant ('Do not call me vicar, call me Dick ..')." In 1963, the Anglican Bishop of Woolwich, John AT Robinson, published a controversial but popular book, Honest to God , urges nations to reject traditional church teachings on the morality and concept of God as "parent in the sky" instead of embracing the universal love ethic. The Bryan R. Wilson Text of 1966 Religion in a Secular Society explains that the increase in secularization led to the abandonment of British churches. However, in the US, the church remains popular.
Both McCartney and Harrison had been baptized in the Roman Catholic Church, but both did not follow Christianity. At the beginning of Beatlemania, the group made contact with Revd Ronald Gibbons, who told reporters that the Beatles version of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" might provide the Church of England with a "much-needed shot".
Maps More popular than Jesus
Responses in the US
The day after the Cleave article appeared in the Evening Standard, the Beatles press officer, Tony Barrow offered the Data Teen Book, a teenage US magazine, the right to all four interviews. Barrow believes that the pieces are important to show fans that the Beatles are progressing beyond simple pop music and produce more intellectually challenging work. Like Books Data is a social progressive magazine that addresses subjects such as interracial dating and legalizing marijuana, it seems like a suitable vehicle to carry this information.
Lennon's quote is featured in a July 3 article in The New York Times Magazine and does not provoke a reaction. At the end of July, when the Data Book re-published the interview, Art Unger editor put Lennon's quote "I do not know who will be the first - rock 'n' roll or Christian!" on the cover. Also on the cover is a quote from Paul McCartney about America: "This is a bad country where blacks are dirty niggers!" In Birmingham, Alabama, WAQY DJ Tommy Charles heard about Lennon's statement from his co-worker Doug Layton, and immediately got angry, saying, "That's for me, I will not play The Beatles anymore." Charles and Layton asked the audience for comments on Lennon's comments and his response was very negative. Charles later stated, "We just felt it was so absurd and immoral that something had to be done to show them that they could not get away with things like this". Al Benn, who is bureau manager for United Press International News, heard of WAQY's show and immediately filed news reports in New York City, culminating in a headline on The New York Times on 5 August. More than twenty other stations followed WAQY's lead with similar announcements. Several stations in Deep South went further, organizing demonstrations with bonfires, attracting teenagers to openly burn recordings of Beatles and other memorabilia.
Epstein was deeply concerned by the reaction he considered canceling the group's US tour, believing that they would actually be harmed in some way. He then flew to the United States and held a press conference in New York City, where he publicly criticized the Data Book, saying the magazine had taken Lennon's words out of context, and expressed regret on behalf of the group that "people with certain religious beliefs should be offended in any way". Epstein's efforts had little effect, as controversy quickly spread beyond the borders of the United States. In Mexico City there were demonstrations against the group, and a number of countries, including South Africa and Spain, made the decision to ban Beatles music on national radio stations. The Vatican issued a public statement about Lennon's comments.
The Beatles went for their US tour on August 11, 1966. According to Lennon's wife, Cynthia, she was nervous and upset because she had angered people just by expressing her opinion. The Beatles attended a press conference in Chicago, Illinois; Lennon did not want to apologize but was advised by Epstein and Barrow that he should be. Lennon said that "if I say that television is more popular than Jesus, I might get away with it" but emphasized that he only commented on how others perceive and popularize the band. He described his own belief in God by quoting Bishop Woolwich, saying, "not as a parent in the sky, I believe that what people call God is something in all of us." Realizing that he does not compare himself to Christ, he tries to explain the decline of Christianity in England. Pressed for apology by a journalist, he said: "if you want me to apologize, if it will make you happy, then okay, I'm sorry." Journalists gave sympathetic responses, and told Lennon that Bible Belts "are well known for their Christian attitudes".
When the tour started, it was marred by protests and harassment. Phone threats accepted, and concerts escorted by Ku Klux Klan. Robert Pitman, responding to US appeals, wrote, "It seems nervous for Americans to raise their hands in shock, as week by week, America is exporting to our subculture that makes the Beatles look like four old churches which is harsh. "Reactions are also criticized in the US; a Kentucky radio station announced that it would deliver the Beatles' music broadcasts to show "contempt for personified hypocrisy," and Jesuit magazine America wrote: "Lennon only states how much a Christian educator will be prepared to admit."
The Memphis city council, realizing that the Beatles concert was scheduled in the Southern Mid-Coliseum during the tour, opted to cancel it instead of having "municipal facilities used as a forum to mock anybody's religion", and also said, "The Beatles are not welcome in Memphis". Ku Klux Klan nailed a Beatles album to a wooden cross, swearing "revenge", with conservative groups staging further public burnings of the Beatles records. Pastor Jimmy Stroad stated that a Christian rally in Memphis "will give youths in mid-South the opportunity to show that Jesus Christ is more popular than the Beatles". The Memphis show happened, on August 19; the evening shows went as planned, but there was a small panic when firecrackers were lit on the stage during the night show, which made the group believe they were the target of the shot.
The Beatles hated the tour, partly because of the controversy and adverse reaction of Lennon's comments, and were unhappy about Epstein continuing to organize live performances that were increasingly at odds with their studio work. The controversy has also overshadowed the US release of their 1966 album Revolver, considered the band as the best and most mature musical statement of the day. After the tour, Harrison is seriously thinking of leaving the group, but is convinced to stay on the condition that the Beatles will begin to focus solely on their work as a recording artist. After the break, they reunited in November 1966 to begin recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , which was a major critical and commercial success when it was released in June 1967.
Aftermath
Lennon was asked about the controversy during a trip to Canada in 1969. He repeated his opinion that The Beatles had more influence on young people than Christ, adding that some ministers had agreed with him. He called the protesters in the United States a "fascist Christian," saying he was "very big to Christ, I always liked him, he was right." In 1978, he thanked Jesus for ending the Beatles tour, saying "if I do not say [it] and disappoint the Ku Klux Klan Christians, well, God, I may still be there with all the other performances. bless America, thank you, Jesus. "
In 1993, Michael Medved wrote in The Sunday Times that "today, comments such as Lennon will never cause controversy, an insulting attitude to religion all but expected from all major pop artists." In 1997, Noel Gallagher claimed that his Oasis band was "bigger than God", but his reaction was minimal.
In a 2008 article that marks the 40th anniversary of The Beatles' double album The Beatles (also known as "White Album"), the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, statement:
John Lennon's statement, which sparked deep anger, especially in the United States, after years of sounding like a "boast" by a working-class English youth confronted with unexpected success, having grown in Elvis and rock legends and scrolls. The fact remains that 38 years after breaking up, the songs of the Lennon-McCartney brand have shown tremendous resistance to the passage of time, becoming a source of inspiration for more than a generation of pop musicians.
Responding to the statement, Starr said, "Is not the Vatican saying we may be Satan, and they still forgive us? I think the Vatican has more to talk about than the Beatles." In the April 14, 2010 edition, L'Osservatore Romano responded to Starr's comments, stating that "John Lennon does not require forgiveness from the Vatican, L'Osservatore Romano reprinted 1966 article on John's comment Lennon noted that Lennon had apologized for his comments and that Beatle's colleague Paul McCartney had criticized them. "In 2010, Starr said that he has now found religion, adding," For me, God is in my life... I think the search has been around since the 1960s. "
In 2012, the Houston Music music blog compares some aspects of popular media and concludes that Jesus is more popular than the Beatles. In 2015, The Philippine Star says that nearly half a century later, Lennon's statement proved half-wrong, reporting that "rock 'n roll is dead but Christianity is growing with Catholics experiencing tremendous growth through the leadership of Pope Francis. ".
Others mention
On May 18, 1968, Lennon called another Beatles to attend a meeting at Apple Corps to announce that he was the reincarnation of Jesus' life: "I have something very important to tell you all, I am Jesus Christ. The meeting was postponed for lunch and Lennon never mentioned the subject again. In May 1969, Lennon and McCartney recorded "The Ballad of John and Yoko", with Lennon singing the phrase, "Christ, you know it's not easy, you know how hard it can be, The way things are going, They" will crucify me. "In an interview with the BBC a few months later, Lennon calls himself" One of Christ's greatest fans ", speaks of the Church of England, his vision of heaven, and the unhappiness of not being able to marry Yoko Ono in church.
On December 3, 1969, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice asked Lennon to play a part of Jesus in the production of the Jesus Christ Superstar stage, which he rejected, although he said he would be interested if Ono could play part of Mary Magdalene. Lennon mentions Jesus again in the 1970 song "God," singing, "I do not believe in Jesus," but also sings that he does not believe in the Bible, Buddha, Gita , and Beatles. Lennon's lyrical criticism also focuses on the line "Imagine no heaven" from his 1971 song "Imagine".
Lennon was murdered on December 8, 1980 by Mark David Chapman, who had become a reborn Christian in 1970 and was hit by Lennon's comment "more popular than Jesus", calling it blasphemy. He later stated that he was more angry with the song "God" and "Imagine", even singing the last song with the lyrics changed: "Imagine John Lennon dead".
See also
- Religion in the United Kingdom
- Religion in the United States
- The religious view of The Beatles
References
Note
Quotes
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Source of the article : Wikipedia
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