Thursday August 13, 2020 “I Don’t Wanna Know” Julian Lennon
One more Liverpudlian, the forgotten Beatle baby.
John Lennon’s first born, he looks like him and sounds like him as well, but he wound up almost as an aside to all of the Beatlemania and would be replaced in his father's esteem by his stepbrother Sean.
Paul McCartney wrote “Hey Jude” for Julian as he drove to visit him and his mother Cynthia when he heard John was divorcing her when Julian was age 5. Probably a long drive given the time necessary to create such a classic.
Julian also figures prominently in other Beatle tunes as he provided the inspiration for “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” (remember that from a previous frivolous Friday) with a nursery school drawing he did and told his dad it was, yes, Lucy in the sky with diamonds. Lucy O'Donnell being the name of one of his nursery school classmates.
The other song that may have impacted Julian was John Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy” a lovely ode to his son which ends with “darlin, darlin Sean’ surely a musical slight for Julian.
Given his parentage, Julian did not grow up rich, but rather he attended public schools and his inheritance was controlled by his stepmother Yoko Ono, Sean's mother, maybe not the best circumstance.
He is currently an active environmental philanthropist and continues his on again off again musical career to some critical acclaim if not commercial success. "It’s the kind of music that would receive greater praise if it weren't made by the son of a Beatle" said one critic.
Stay safe and well...and substitute ‘daddy’ for ‘baby’ in this tune for a suggestion of how Julian might have felt about his father John when he wrote this song.
