SFL Friday -- Grow Old With Me.

Rumpole notes that tomorrow would be John Lennon's 70th birthday.

I've spent the last few days listening to the newly remastered versions of John's last two albums, the one he formally released shortly before his death (Double Fantasy) and the rough cuts he worked on that Yoko released posthumously (Milk and Honey).

It's pretty remarkable how many songs deal with the future, the spiritual reunion of John and Yoko in heaven, and in fact directly foreshadow his death.

Just off the top of my head, I'm thinking about lyrics like this from "Grow Old With Me":

Grow old along with me
Whatever fate decrees
We will see it through
For our love is true
God bless our love
God bless our love

Or this from "Every Man Has A Woman That Loves Him":

Every man has a woman who loves him,
Rain or shine or life or death.

If he finds her in this life time,
He will know when he presses his ear to her breast.

Why do I roam when I know youre the one?
Why do I laugh when I feel like crying?

Every woman has a man who loves her,
Rise or fall of her life and in death.

Or this from "Dear Yoko":

Oh Yoko!
I'll never ever ever ever gonna let you go,
Oh Yoko!
I'll never ever ever ever gonna let you go,

Even when I'm miles at sea,
And nowhere is the place to be,
Your spirit's watching over me dear Yoko,

Then there's this from "Borrowed Time":

Now I am older
The more that I see the less that I know for sure
Now I am older ah hah
The future is brighter and now is the hour

Living on borrowed time
Without a thought for tomorrow
Living on borrowed time
Without a thought for tomorrow 

I could go on and I'm probably missing the most obvious examples, but you get the idea.

You have to wonder whether there was something in the zeitgeist, in that amazingly short yet fertile period that John and Yoko and his creative team worked on these songs, that these artists picked up on and channeled directly into their music.

Whatever it was, as John himself seemed to realize, his presence most definitely lives on.

RIP