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Family
"On
the one hand, I've had such a normal upbringing with my mum, who has kept me grounded, but on the other, the wild experiences
through my dad" -Julian
"You can't cheat kids.
If you cheat them when they're children, they'll make you pay when they're sixteen or seventeen by revolting against you or
hating you or all those so-called teenage problems. I think that's finally when they're old enough to stand up to you and
say, "What a hypocrite you've been all this time. You've never given me what I really wanted, which is you"" -John
"Ninety percent of the
people on this planet, especially in the West, were born out of a bottle of whiskey on a Saturday night, and there was no
intent to have children. So ninety percent of us- that includes everybody- were accidents. I don't know anybody who was a
planned child. All of us were Saturday night specials. Julian is in the majority, along with me and everyone else. Sean is
a planned child, and therein lies the difference. I don't love Julian any less as a child. He's still my son, whether he came
from a bottle of whiskey or because they didn't have pills in those days. He's here, he belongs to me, and he always will."
-John
"I feel sad that Julian
and Sean are half brothers and should be enjoying time together." -Cynthia
"They're
half brothers, they have the same father, they should be best buddies, they could really be helping each other, working with
each other and enjoying each other's company, but that wasn't to be." -Cynthia
"My work, my son, and my
daughter" -Yoko (on
her greatest loves)
John Lennon
"He
never came to see me, I had to go to him. It's a shame, but you know, forgive and forget. I'd rather not think about the times
I didn't see him." -Julian
"He
got me a drum kit when I was five and bought me my first guitar when I was eleven. When I saw him during school breaks we'd
sit and jame on rock 'n' roll tunes and play some of his stuff too. I'd love it when we'd sing and play together. I felt real
close to him then. If he were still alive, we'd be playing together a lot" -Julian
"I
know a lot of people compare me to my father. It drives me mad sometimes, thinking about it. I just want people to judge the
music without prejudice. Sure, we sound alike. I open my mouth and that's what comes out. I don't force it. I didn't study
my father's sound. It's all natural. I've been through periods when I was confused and didn't know what to do. I've made mistakes.
It's just living, that's all" -Julian
All
I know was that he was away a lot. When he came home and we were together, I recall most of all the fun like flying a kite
in the garden, or the riding on the back of Dad's motorbike down to Ringo's home. The rest of my childhood with Dad is a fog."
-Julian
"But
if Dad was going to be a musician, then he obviously had to be away from home a lot. Nobody is blaming him. I just missed
him and wished he was around more" -Julian
"He
wasn't a great father. He was a great musician. That's always been a touchy one, and it will be until I can find the answer,
but I don't know if there is one" -Julian
"I
didn't hate him, but I was scared of him. I didn't know this man at all, and trying to rebuild a relationship that was never
there made him as frightened of me as I was of him." -Julian
"He
often said it was a shame his family had to pushed into the background. He regretted it, but once the Beatles wagon was rolling,
he could not get off it if he wanted to- He became exhausted and irritable when he was at home, and angry at his own absence
when he wasn't there." -Cynthia
"I
still have great admiration for his talent and great sadness over what happened to him and that he can't be part of Julian's
life." -Cynthia
"I
wasn't trying to push away the family. I was trying to make the family. Every weekend we made sure we called Julian. I made
sure that he was in constant contact with Julian. And he said, 'This is good, you know'" -May
"This was serious business for him and
he seemed determined that whatever was happening around him, there would be a time in his life for Julian. And there was also
an intense regard for his wife, Cynthia. I mean, this was a young father who seemed determined to make sure that things were
right. I know John was preoccupied by the insanity of the tour, but he was insistent there be time to make the call hom and
connect, connect with his wife and his son" -Art Schreiber
"He was back with Yoko and she was going
to have a baby. He was such a warm guy and I think he had always felt guilty about the absent father he had been with Julian.
Let's face it, if it weren't for May, he wouldn't have even kept in touch with Julian. Guilt had set in. He was determined
not to repeat that experience" -Mario Casciano
"After his son Julian came to visit in
the winter of 1977, John seemed down. He indicated to me that he didn't want to do to Sean what he did to Julian, the absences
and all that. He was a good father but he was also strict with Sean, especially during the times when they were without a
nanny. But he was especially loving to the child."
-Michael Allison
"John, as a father, was forced, I'm afraid,
to be a part-time dad. For the first few years when we saw him, it was between tours and recording albums. He would sleep
until late and be up until late, so when he saw Julian, he was lovely. Bemused, I think because he didn't quite understand
that this little boy was his. As Julian got older, John became more emotional about being a father...I think he took a very
strong look inside himself and saw what he'd been missing." -Cynthia
"My earliest memories of my dad were between
the ages of three and five, swimming in the pool with him, just doing kid stuff. He used to sit me on the front of his bike
in front of him and take me down to Ringo's once in a while, which was fun. I don't recall missing him when he was away on
tours that much, because I was always preoccupied by my mother, school, and the fans at the gate, and whenever Dad came back,
that was great. It was strange, but it didn't seem unusual because it was part of everyday life." -Julian
"The most important thing in my father's
life? World peace. Me and my brother. My mom." -Sean
"The fact that my father almost completely
stopped his musical career to raise me makes me feel good...I think it's great that he would take time out for five years
to raise me. He said the first five years of a child's life are the most important and I guess they are, you know?" -Sean
"Around me he was just a father. I just
loved being with him. If we went to stare at a wall, I would be happy...just his presence was all I needed." -Sean
"He often said it was a shame his
family had to pushed into the background. He regretted it, but once the Beatles wagon was rolling, he could not get off it
if he wanted to- He became exhausted and irritable when he was at home, and angry at his own absence when he wasn't there."
-Cynthia
"There is nothing but love now. If he was able to come into the room now, we'd hug and cry."
-Julian
"But that is now all in the past. Yes, Mum and I were treated with disrespect. Yes, there was
a lot of anger from Dad towards the two of us, but I can now understand why. Maybe it's the passing of time and me being older."
-Julian
"I was actually very like Dad as we were both angry young men. He had locked all his emotions
away about his own mother. It then came out as anger." -Julian
Cynthia Lennon-Charles
"I
have to thank Mum for who I am. She has played the bigger part in my life, keeping me together, in the way I am and the way
I treat people. She has always been the most important thing in my life, and will always be." -Julian
"The
closest person in my life, who is everything for me, who guided me and who helped me find myself, was my mother. She was always
that kind of person that let you resolve your problems yourself. I mean, if you really couldn't do it she would help. But
I had to figure out things myself and that was important, she sort of let me be ." -Julian
"I
have to say, though, that it was my mum, Cynthia, who made me the concious man I am today. Obviously, Dad had his beliefs
and his way of doing things. But it was Mum who taught me my values in life. It is out of respect for her that I want
to be a good son, a good man, and a good human being." -Julian
Yoko Ono Lennon
"She's
a mother to Sean and I'm a mother to Julian and we try to protect our children considering the legend that we are left with"
-Cynthia
"I unleashed hell on her, but we've made our peace. We're okay.
There was no point in continuing the anger. It's a waste of time and energy." -Julian
Roberto Bassanini
"My
stepfather stepped in when my dad stepped out. The guy that took me to school. He was the guy that took me on holidays. The
guy that picked me up when I fell down. He was the guy that taught me about life. So for me he was my father. You know, a
lot of people don't like to hear that but on my behalf it's true." -Julian
"I
now believe in living for the moment. I learned that from my step-father Roberto. He loved life to the extreme - every second
of every day counted for him, but it is only the last couple of years that I have tried to follow that path myself." -Julian
Julian Lennon
"Well,
I just want him to grow up happy. That's the main thing." -John
"Just
love, that's the main thing you know. He's just going to be happy and know he's wanted. I'm not having any of that boarding
school or sending him away. He's going to be with us all the time" -John
"Lycee seems the only place
for him in his position. I feel sorry for him, though. I couldn't stand ugly people even when I was five. Lots of the ugly
ones are foreign, aren't they?" -John
"Well,
Cyn got possession, or whatever you call it. I got rights to see him on his holidays and all that business and at least there's
an open line still going. It's not the best relationship between father and son, but it is there. He's 17 now. Julian and
I will have a relationship in the future. Over the years he's been able to see through the Beatle image and to see through
the image that his mother will have given him, subconsciously or consiciously. He's interested in girls and autobikes now.
I'm just sort of a figure in the sky, but he's obliged to communicate with me, even when he probably doesn't want to." -John
"I
needed to find out who I was outside the music industry, and for the first time in my life I found true peace of mind" -Julian (returning to music)
"I've found constancy and balance between creativity and normality" -Julian (on music)
"Well,
the first time I heard him sing, after John had died, really freaked me out. Because it just sounded unbelievably like his
father" -Cynthia
"Years later he said something in an interview which was to hurt me very much. He told Playboy
magazine: "Julian was born out of a bottle of whiskey on a Saturday night." John was with Yoko Ono then but I was still offended
and so was Julian. It was so untrue. I could tell that John said it to impress the interviewer but it still hurt. For a start,
we didn't even drink whiskey in those days but the worst part was the implied denial of our love. We were very much in love
and very happy- Julian truly was a love child." -Cynthia
"We
are very close. We're like brother and sister now" -Cynthia
"You
know, he had a lot of trouble and he's a really talented guy. If he was anybody else, he would be totally successful. The
guy has a great voice, he's a good songwriter, he's a good musician" -Sean
"I
haven't seen him for a long time, but it's been a nice gesture" -Lee (Julian sent flowers
to her during her brain cancer treatment)
"You should take him for
what he is, by himself. He's very good by himself. Take away John Lennon and he'd be greater. You can't do that. He's the
son of a famous father." -George Martin
"I happened to be driving
out to see Cynthia. It was just after John and she had broken up, and I was quite a mate with Julian. He's a nice kid" -Paul
"Julian happens to be a
very talented young man. He's got a lot of good tunes. But apart from physically looking like John, with his glasses and long
hair, he really isn't anything like John. He's more like his mother- he's much gentler, softer. John was very tough and gave
the Beatles their hard edge" -George
"It's
a dumb move on the publishing company's part because I don't think it helps the songs in the long run. But if anybody's going
to do it, I'd rather it be Julian. I've got to laugh at that." -Paul (on Allstate's Auto
Insurance use of "When I'm 64" by Julian)
"I
saw him last night, and he was extremely morose and arrogant, which is very unlike him. I think maybe he feels he’s
been used a lot. And I think, to some extent, he has. Particularly by all the flighty young girls on the make. I think that
must be very strange for him. I mean, I was very flattered by it, when I had gotten onto the club scene, to suddenly be surrounded
by beautiful blondes of seventeen. Then you suddenly realize that, basically, they’re just standing next to you in the
hope that there’s going to be a photograph, or that you might give them a million pounds or something stupid. And five
weeks later they look like they’re dying. There’s something very tragic about it, and I think Julian is too intelligent
to go through that and not become a bit scarred by it." -Pete Townshend
"He
is a very sensitive sould and we feel very close to each other and get on very well. He's going through difficult times, too,
especially because he's seventeen. It's very delicate. Cynthia did a very fine job bringing him up and I don't want our closeness
to interfere with his closeness to his mother. It's a very complex situation" -Yoko
"These
days, I don't hear from Julian, but I had a long relationship with Julian since he was five or something, and he was such
a sweet boy, but also it was very difficult for him too. And I remember different things where I almost felt his pain, you
know, so it's a very difficult situation. He was very, very exposed in some ways, so now I think it's good that he's taking
time...I'm not going to force him to be close to me or anything. He knows where I am and if he wants to come I'd be very happy,
but I'm sure that he's taking care of himself in the way that he wants to." -Yoko
"He
doesn't owe me anything. I'll make life as easy for him as I can but it's no use me thinking what I would do if I was him
because I'm not him and he isn't Little Me" -John
"Growing
up the son of the Beatle didn't seem any different to me as a kid. It was the people around me that made me notice that there
was something different. It was hard to understand why people would like me more or dislike me for having a famous father.
I didn't understand about the fame. It was difficult, but it was a learning thing." -Julian
"I
don't remember seeing him as a child. It was the height of the Beatle thing so I was working all the time, I never considered
what it was doing to him, I didn't even count it. The mother was at home, I was away, like most guys at 24 or 25, they're
too intent on their career really, you know" –John
“I bought him a slide but he’s
got it already. He goes up and down on it but I’m always buying him things anyway. There are a few things stuffed away
in the attic which he’s get. But Cyn takes care of it all” –John
(before Christmas 1965)
"It's a funny thing, the fans know we
are married and that we have a child. Some write to John about the baby- they call him 'baby Beatle'- but they ignore the
fact that I exist. But one of the things I have realized now is the high price one has to pay for fame in loss of personal
freedom" -Cynthia
"Don't you think he's wonderful?" -Brian
Epstein
Kyoko Cox
"I
lost Kyoko when she was about 5. I was sort of an offbeat mother but we had very good communication. I wasn't particulary
taking care of her, but she was always with me- on stage or at gallery shows, whatever. When she was not even a year old,
I took her on stage as an instrument- an uncontrollable instrument, you know. My communication with her was on the level of
sharing conversation and doing thing. She was closer to my ex-husban because of that" -Yoko
"I
was an offbeat mother from the beginning. I wasn't always with her, though there was spiritual communication between us. But
since she disappeared there was a time in my life when John and I would be watching TV and a child would come on the screen,
we would switch the channel because I couldn't bear seeing children. Because it reminded me of Kyoko" -Yoko
Sean Lennon
"I have a lot of love and
respect for Sean, whatever he does" -Julian
"I love Sean to death, I think he's a very smart kid" -Julian
"I have no bones to pick
with Sean whatsoever, I care about him a great deal, I used to babysit him. He's blood, he's my brother." -Julian
"He's special to us and
he's beautiful physically and otherwise" -John
"In the
way we think, Sean chose us as parents" -John
"Sean looks oriental but
looks like John. People say it's eerie." -Yoko
"It's very difficult for
him because most people immediately compare him to John, but he's an artist and a musician in his own right. Sean has a very,
very big father, but he is very good and I'm sure that John is very happy about that...He's very arty. He hates cheesy things,
so it's good in that sense. He's become the kind of boy John would have approved. Sean has grown into mainly focusing on his
talent, and refining his talent, and it's a nice quality in Sean that he has a very pure heart." -Yoko
"The joy is still there
when I see Sean. He didn't come out of my belly, but my God, I've made his bones because I've attended to every meal, and
how he sleeps, and the fact that he swims like a fish because I took him to the ocean. I'm so proud of all the those things.
But he is my biggest pride." -John
'I’m
not involving Sean in the businesses because I think he should have the time to fly on his own, as an individual, and that’s
what he was doing until he helped me create this record. I just want him to have that time, as much as he can. He will have
to take responsibility for it all at some point, but maybe by then it will have simplified. If I can somehow set it up so
that he will not have to be burdened so much, I would love to do that. I’m trying to do as much as possible before I
go.” -Yoko
Yoko's Grandchildren (by Kyoko)
“They’re
really beautiful people, and I enjoy them very much. I think they were intimidated at first, to come to my place. But now
they’re used to it, and they love it. We have a great time, going to my country farm.” –Yoko
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