Το 1969, ο Jerry Levitan,έφηβος τότε, συνομίλησε με τον Τζον Λένον στο δωμάτιο του ξενοδοχείου, όπου διέμενε. Οι πεποιθήσεις του Λένον, οι ιδέες του και όλα όσα πίστευε και έγραψε, τραγούδησε γι'αυτά, αποτυπώνονται στο βίντεο που ακολουθεί!
>>JERRY: Could you please tell me what the situation is with you entering the United States?
>>JOHN: Uh… Well there's a lot of people that don't want me in, y'know, they think I'm going to cause a violent revolution, which I'm not. And they… the others don't want me in because they don't want me to cause peace either, y'know. Because peace is big. And war is big business, y'know, and they like war because it keeps them fat and happy. And… I'm anti-war, so they're trying to keep me out. But I'll get in. Y'know, cause they'll have to own up in public that they're against peace, y'know.
>>JERRY: Uh, what can we, as the youth of Toronto…like what can we do to try and help you?
>>JOHN: Uh, help me by helping yourselves, y'know,and uh, the militant revolutionary isask them to show you one revolution that turned out to be what it promised, militantly.Take Russia, France,anywhere they're at it. What they do is they smash the place down,and they build it up again and the people that build it up,hang on to it and then they become the establishment. And you guys are going to be the establishment,in a few years. And it's not worth knocking it downbecause it's convenient to have the rooms and the machinery.The thing is to protest but protest non-violently. Because violence begets violence,y'know, and if you run around a while you get smacked,and that's it, y'know that's the laws of the universe.And they've got all the weapons, they've got all the money. And they know how to fight violence because they've been doing it for how many years,suppressing us. And they only thing they don't know aboutis non-violence… and humour.And there's many ways of promoting peace, do everything for peace;Piss for peace, or smile for peace,or go to school for peace, or don't go to school for peace,whatever you do just do it for peace, y'know.It's up to the people, you can't blame it on the government,say they're doing this and they're, oh they're going to put us into war.We put them there, and we allow it,y'know, and we can change it,if we really want to change it, we can change it.
>>JERRY: Uh, what about the.. uh Paul, Ringo, and let's see, G…
>>JOHN: George?
>>JERRY: George.
>JOHN: Uh, we're all four individuals and George is saying to me, George is doing it in his own way with the way he goes about his life. It's not that they're shouting on the street corner “I want peace” and then beating up your mates, like that so… You've got to try and work your own head out, y'know, and get non-violent. And that's pretty hard cause we're all violent, inside, we're all Hitler inside and we're all Christ inside. And it's just to try and work on the good bit of you.
>>JERRY: Um… Like I read in the paper that um, you know everyone seems to think that George is the…nice guitarist and stuff like that but, I'm not too keen on George,I like him and that but um, I have this feeling that you're sort of drifting away from people y'know, you're still like,sort of like a symbol, I mean,y'know like The Beatles, like god… stuff like that and…But no one in school like, if you ask them,what's your favorite group they'll say, The Beegees,y'know, like I'll ask them,
why don't you like The Beatles, they're fantasic, great,except that they'll say like, um, for example the marijuana charges, and they'reall, they're all hippes,they're gone from us, they're dirty now.
>>JOHN: Oh, I see well, those kids…they sound like.. sort of square,they've just got to get from their parents… wings, y'know,I know, they're like… robots, not…like..
>>JERRY: Once um,I just got this feeling out of your double LP after I was listening to it for a long time, I started getting this feeling that they'rea message in it, y'know?
>>JOHN: Yeah, messages are there on all levels, on all, in all music, and whatever level you get it on,I have added to when I wrote it or sung it, but some of that stuff, I…write it, record it, and play it, and I still don't hear it at all,few months later I'm lying down, and I say I think I'll listen to The Beatles
album, and try and hear it in retrospect and not objectively. And it's about everything,so, It's about UK, it's about USSR,it's about nothing and it's about USA;anything you hear is there, y'know,it's all there either trival or profound, whatever.It's all there, y'know, and it's the same as in a flower,everything's there. Y'know, it just is, and if you look long enough,all answers are in it, y'know, and same with the music.oh, keep the big box… I' don't know, I've no idea where it is…ok well that's… I've just shoved that in the black case …no not the black case, my (inaudible)'s in there…
that's my white jacket… bye bye…play that to 'em, yeah, peace.
