Music Monday: (Just Like) Starting Over
This past Friday (October 9th) was John Lennon’s birthday. Had he lived, he would be celebrating his 75th year. When I began my Beatles fandom (see “Hey Jude” for more about that), John started out as my favorite Beatle. I daresay some of that was because he had just been assassinated, so he was getting a lot of press attention. But there was also something about his rebellious, no-nonsense attitude that appealed to this pre-teen. That’s not to say I didn’t like his music. There’s no question he was a talented songwriter, though I have to say, many of his post-Beatles songs didn’t connect with me nearly as well as McCartney’s. One song of John’s that has a special place, though, is “(Just Like) Starting Over.” This is the song that was in the UK charts at the time of his death. Indeed, the week he died, it was on its way down, having made the top twenty–maybe even the top ten. After his death, it shot to number one, closely followed by a re-release of “Imagine,” and another new song, “Woman.”
My friend Nick and I had this song in our repertoire, so for your chord chart, here are the chords as I figured them out back when I was sixteen years old (click to enlarge):
And here’s the song:
Happy birthday, John!
Wow, Colin – I truly love this song and always have. The other two you mention too. And for me, there was always something about John Lennon which stood apart from the other Beatles. (in my head I’m hearing Bee-uhls, i.e. maybe Paul’s early way of saying their name???) Maybe it was due to his non-conformity, his rebel style and behavior that you’ve pointed out.
I was fascinated at the time by the photo of him and Yoko in the bed. Actually, I was fascinated by their whole relationship, in general.
So much has been written about John, Yoko, their relationship, their personalities, etc. He was a bundle of contradictions: a rebel who just wanted a normal life; someone who courted controversy, but wanted his privacy. To me, the saddest part of his life was that it ended just as it seemed as if he was finally getting that balance.
Before it jumped to number one, my Mum thought this was an Elvis song! 🙂
Oooohhhh nooooo! That voice? Elvis? That’s too funny! 🙂
Well, John does do a bit of an Elvis impersonation when he starts into the first verse “It’s been so long since we took the time…,” so I suppose she could be forgiven. Except that the rest of the time he sounds so Lennon! 🙂