Mama don't go, Daddy come home.” John Lennon

                   John Lennon

Not only a shadow follows a person, but their childhood bad memories which usually grow and turn into a trauma in life. Most people prefer to ignore any psychological stress they might have in their childhood. There are some famous people who have suffered some kind of distress, and open to the public pieces of their problems. Years ago, I saw Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s widow, celebrating with her late husband’s fans, his birthday on TV. She reminded all John’s fans about how important it was to celebrate the day that someone was born, and consequently celebrate life. Yoko said that John Lennon had had a difficult childhood and he had suffered this sad feeling for a long time. I always saw John Lennon as an adult. I never thought about him as a child. It is very egocentric to say that, but it is true. Perhaps idols are like that, without personality, or any past before they became famous. It is depressing to admit. Last week, by accident, I had a chance to see a movie about John Lennon’s childhood. This movie was about the time he met Paul McCartney, John’s fellow band member. By that time, Paul was in his early teenage years, and the movie started right after his mother passed away. We, as the audience, never know if the movie reflects reality or not, but I felt so sorry for Paul, and I understood his pain when he wrote “When I find myself in times of trouble Mother Mary comes to me speaking words of wisdom, let it be.” On the other hand, inside John’s family, trouble was there as well. He was living not with his mother, but his aunt. It was very complicated atmosphere because his mother never told the complete true story about why his father had left from John’s life. The movie to continue open little by little fragments of a broken family. When finally John knew all the information about his father, he could put together pieces about his childhood, but the feeling of being rejected and abandoned from both parents, must be something he carries within his shadow. Here is part of John’s Lennon song that reflects his feeling and his pain.

“Mother, you had me but I never had you, 
I wanted you but you didn't want me, 
So I got to tell you, 
Goodbye, goodbye. 
Farther, you left me but I never left you, 
I needed you but you didn't need me, 
So I got to tell you, 
Goodbye, goodbye. 
Children, don't do what I have done, 
I couldn't walk and I tried to run, 
So I got to tell you, 
Goodbye, goodbye. 
Mama don't go, 
Daddy come home.”