Mahatma Gandhi was arguably the most famous political activist who preached nonviolence and John Lennon was the most famous rock star who preached nonviolence. John still didn’t understand something about the Indian independence leader. Yoko Ono questioned whether people should follow in Gandhi’s footsteps.
What John Lennon said about Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In the interview, John discussed his views on politics. He endorsed the message of The Beatles’ “Revolution,” saying that he wanted to see the plan for any possible revolutions. John revealed that he would only show up to a barricade if he was handing out flowers, referencing Flower Power, a famous photograph of a protestor putting a flower in the barrel of a soldier’s gun.
He also discussed two of the most well-known peace activists of all time. “Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King are great examples of fantastic nonviolents who died violently,” John said. “I can never work that out. We’re pacifists, but I’m not sure what it means when you’re such a pacifist that you get shot. I can never understand that.”
Yoko Ono had her own thoughts on nonviolence
Yoko ruminated on why she and John were nonviolence advocates. “Maybe we have so much violence in us that we suppress it,” she said. “Gandhi’s trip was because of Gandhi, but maybe if someone wants to do what Gandhi did, it might not work for them.
“It’s the same about the Western man’s illusion about Christ,” she added. “If you follow Jesus exactly, you are going to be on the cross. For somebody who is not on the cross — in a conceptual, symbolic sense — you will always feel guilty that somehow you are not on it. The whole masochism is created by the cross image.”
John Lennon wanted Mahatma Gandhi on the cover of ‘Sgt. Pepper’
These comments were not the only connection between John and Gandhi. According to the History Channel, the “Imagine” singer originally wanted Gandhi to be one of the numerous famous figures on the cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. A cut-out of the nonviolence activists was part of the photo shoot for the cover.
However, EMI chairman Sir Joseph Lockwood thought including Gandhi in the artwork could backfire, because Beatles fans in India might find it blasphemous. He was worried that a controversy could hurt the album’s sales in India. He was especially upset by the idea that Gandhi would share the cover with Diana Dors, an actor who is widely considered a sex symbol. The Beatles used a palm tree to hide the cut-out of Gandhi on Sgt. Pepper.
The Indian independence activist wasn’t the only historical figure nixed from the cover. John wanted Jesus Christ and Adolf Hitler to be part of the crowd. Ultimately, The Beatles dodged a bullet by having the good taste to leave those two off of Sgt. Pepper.
John admired Gandhi even if he didn’t understand the tragic end of his life.
