We are all John Lennon. If you’re not, you’re Sarah Palin.

John Lennon had a great, ethereal rocking and lascivious life. His voice wasn’t bad, either. He could write classic songs, too. But he was a bit of a lout and according to his closest son Sean, was a violent misogynist, too. I’m sure John Lennon was a lot of things, both negative and positive. Like a lot of us.

But unlike a lot of us, John Lennon made everyone around him better. He knew when to challenge and when to soothe. In close encounters with everyday folk and fans alike, Lennon assuaged the nerves and made everyone around him comfortable. We, the listeners who never met him, felt the same thing. We loved the voice and some of us loved the words and there were even a few of us who loved what he stood for.

What did John Lennon stand for? Fuck if I know. Perhaps it was peace. Perhaps it was love. But most of all, it was his peculiar challenge to authority, his humour in the face of unbelievable odds and a rare form of irreverence that enveloped Lennon over so many hearts.

I love John Lennon. I miss his music, his voice, his humour. But most of all, I miss knowing at any time I could turn on the TV or open a newspaper and John Lennon would be there with a savage quote that perfectly encapsulated the times. We don’t have anyone like John Lennon anymore. He could writhe around in bags and lay in bed with Yoko and his critics would savage him but we still all loved him.

Because in the end, his soul, his being was all that mattered. Lennon was and is still totally of time, whether it was 1963 or December 8, 2010.