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Fascinating TLS and signed typed questionnaire from John Lennon directed to Arthur Rosen, a patient at the New York Psychiatric Institute, in March of 1976. The TLS, one page, 8.5 x 11, Lenono Music letterhead, postmarked March 2, 1976, reads, in full (spelling and grammar retained): “Why dont you type out your questions on paper…leaving a space for answers…enclose a STAMPED ADDRESSED ENVELOPE…and who knows what will happen!? I would answer them in my own time. all the best, love, but not too many (questions).” Signed prominently at the conclusion in black ink by John Lennon, who signs on behalf of his wife and baby son, “+ Yoko” and “+ Seaman,” and adds small face doodles of the entire family.
Rosen responded with a typed letter postmarked on March 30, 1976, containing a total of eight questions spaced out across the front and back of three 8.5 x 11 sheets, with Lennon signing his name after the seventh in black ballpoint, “Love, John Lennon,” and adding a small sketch of his spectacled face and a handwritten message: “It’s short n’ sweet, don’t ask for more.”
Rosen’s questions and Lennon’s typed responses are as follows:
“1. Norwegian Wood: ‘So I lit the fire…’ Were you implying that the guy in the song (you?) burned her house down in anger at being used?”
Lennon: “Sort of.”
“2. Why did you stop singing through your nose? On your earlier recordings your voice is much more husky and nasal. (Compare You Gotta Hide Your Love Away with Ballad of J&Y) was this a conscious decision or a natural evolution?”
Lennon: “Probably age and whim.”
“3. We're putting together our fantasy dream band. We start with John Lennon: Rhythm Guitar and Vocals. Who should we get to complete group?”
Lennon: “Why spoil a good thing?”
“4. Does anybody ne -on-the-scene (Springsteen, Patti Smith, reggae, etc) excite you musically? What performers do you find yourself listening to?”
Lennon: “I've liked Reggae evr since it was Bluebeat/Ska. I havent caught Pattie Springsteen.”
“5. Having read something about your early life and career, it seems you were quite an angry fellow – clad in leather jacket and ducktail – the kind teachers swore would never amount to anything, the kind mothers warned their children to stay away from. Several years later you were rich and famous. But you were also dressed in expensive suits (usually identical to the ones P., G., and R. were wearing) Seemingly, you had to wave and smile whenever a camera was held in front of you, and your own personality was often transformed commercially into a cartoon character (esp. the Richard Lester films). Did you resent this whole period? Or, did you enjoy it? Was there ever a struggle to suppress angry and creative feelings? Did you have to compromise your music in any way? And was your first solo album an outpouring of any repressed (primal?) feelings?”
Lennon: “Resenting the past is futile. I enjoyed it and I hated it. depending on what day it was. The first compromise is playing to an audience. The first solo album was the FIRST solo album.”
“6. What's the capital of North Dakota?”
Lennon: “No idea.”
“7. Do you think the Beatles changed anything in the world? I mean, now ‘everyone’ has long hair and ‘everyone’ smokes grass, but did anything really new (say, a qualitative change in consciousness or outlook) really develop? Did any substantial number of people really ‘turn off (their) minds and float downstream’ to anything ‘different’? Or, was the 60's (rock, drugs, flowers, peace) just a passing phenomenon, much like the flappers of the 1920's? When you sang ‘the dream is over’ – was this more than just the break-up of a rock group? Do you have any new dreams? Could you explain this question to me?
Lennon: “Nothing is seperate from everything (or anything).”
“8. What's John Lennon up to nowadays, besides changing diapers? And why doesn't he gather up a small band, pop over to the Beacon Theater or the Bottom Line, and let the good times roll?
Lennon: “Changing diapers is a full time job.”
The text of Rosen’s letter, in full: “It seems I've been writing a lot of ‘Dear John’ letters lately, mostly to you. Anyway, here are the questions you agreed to ponder. I've followed your instructions to the letter and made sure I wasn't followed. I hope you won't find them too studious or verbose. It took a lot of self-control, but I managed to refrain from asking whether Paul is really dead, and whether the Beatles will ever get back together (incidentally, will the Beatles ever…?) Now, John, before you put pen to paper, think a bit. In school, didn't you hate writing down answers to questions? Also, writing is so inhibiting; you have to worry about your spelling and there's always the danger of getting ink over your favorite suit. So, wouldn't it be more fun, more spontaneous (more REAL!) to just blurt out your answers and have someone (say, me) jotting them down? If you could just spare one half hour…we could swap stories about our therapy! (I realize and respect your desire to maintain the privacy of your own home, but could we perhaps meet at your office? Or, how about a neutral site? Max's? Geneva?) PLEASE consider. It would – no bull – really be a great thrill for me. In the last three years, I've really come to know what ‘Feel so suicidal/Even hate my rock and roll’ means and I'd love to meet the man who wrote them. Whatever, thanks for your response. And thanks for all your music.” In overall fine condition. Accompanied by both original mailing envelopes.
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