I think the sadness of the early departure of an amazing artist partially stems from the notion that they had so much more to tell us—and somehow, we needed to hear it. This is no doubt part of the sadness experienced with anyone’s passing. For me, John Lennon’s death was visceral. My mother woke me up for school early to tell me the news. I was in the 8th grade. Throughout the day some of classmates made fun of my sadness, imitating the sounds of gunshots when they passed me in the halls.

Here is my Top Ten John Lennon playlist.

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