Did Yoko Love John? Pete Shotton Comments
F Parella
reply to this: "I think it's pretty safe to say that we all know John
loved Yoko. But do you think Yoko loved John?"
Shotton replied as follows:
This is, indeed, a tricky and quite difficult question to
answer. But then it was a tricky and quite difficult situation for
John to deal with, now, wasn't it?
I would have to say "no." Yoko sought a relationship with John
because of his status in the world. She and her second husband, Tony
Cox, made an agreement that if Yoko could snag Lennon, he'd let her
out of their marriage for a percentage of what she could get out of
John (or some kind of lump sum payment once John had Yoko hooked). It
is a fact that John did pay a settlement for Yoko's divorce. And the
way I understand it, Cox had gotton Yoko out of a mental institution
and she felt beholden to him for that. It sounds pretty terrible, I
know, but John knew all about this. The thing is, he was besotted
with her and was willing to overlook the whole ugly mess. And, of
course, Yoko did a grand snow job on him in regard to it.
Knowing this alone, how could one think she loved John? Perhaps
she "fell in love" with him? No. She was always slightly annoyed
with John; I don't think she cared for his true personality, nor did
she have an appreciation for his wit and charm. He embarrassed her,
actually. She was always rolling her eyes and saying "John" in some
varying tone of exasperation when John was simply "being John."
To get him, she was his sex goddess. After she had him, she
became an icy bitch as well as a dominating mother figure that he
needed so desperately. It's not a pretty picture, folks. And this
was John's life from 1968 on. It's one of those "truth is stranger
than fiction" type things. Very sad.
P-Dub
Hmmmm.... Interesting....
I believe that Yoko did love John in her own way. At the same time, I
agree that Yoko manipulated and used John, and John was so infatuated
with her that he was powerless to see it or stop it.
That all being said, in the end, John was getting back to being himself
in 1981. His death still is one of the greatest tragedies that has ever
occurred in music - period.
Who knows. If John had lived, it's possible that he would've eventually
'seen the light', and left Yoko.
P-Dub: The words of the song 'Woman' seem to make my last statement
unlikely.
GingerBelle Juliesse
Oh wow. A wife getting exasperated at her husband. Who would have
thunk it?
> To get him, she was his sex goddess. After she had him, she
> became an icy bitch as well as a dominating mother figure that he
> needed so desperately. It's not a pretty picture, folks. And this
> was John's life from 1968 on. It's one of those "truth is stranger
> than fiction" type things. Very sad.
You know, even if Pete said this, so what? He was John's friend, not
Yoko's. How well did he know *her*? How can someone judge whether a
person loves another or not if there isn't any obvious hatred, abuse,
etc? In Yoko's day well-to-do Japanese ladies did "wear their hearts
on their sleeves". What might seem like an "icy bitch" to one person,
might really just be perfectly normal.
GingerBelle
Fattuchus
What can I say. There you have it, folks. A quote from Pete Shotton,
John's close friend and someone who knew both John and Yoko. Poor
John.
Fattuchus
wrote:
Pete met John with Yoko a few times. You may want to read his
wonderful book "John Lennon In My Life."
How can someone judge whether a
> person loves another or not if there isn't any obvious hatred, abuse,
> etc? In Yoko's day well-to-do Japanese ladies did "wear their hearts
> on their sleeves". What might seem like an "icy bitch" to one person,
> might really just be perfectly normal.
>
> GingerBelle-
True. Just like in some cultures, it is considered perfectly normal
for a woman to have many abortions without a second thought or to kill
their newborn baby girls (like they do in China) or to force their
young daughters into prostitution. Yes, in some cultures it is normal
to own slaves; it is normal for men to have three or four wives and to
beat them and rape them. In some cultures it is normal to murder your
wife and/or daughters if they bring shame to the family. (that's
called "honor killings") In many places it is normal to marry off
your daughters when they are 8 or 10 years old.
Heck, some places kill their little children to sacrifice them to the
gods; some people practice cannibalism.
This is all true. Happens every day. But what does it say about those
cultures? What does it say about the adults in those cultures?
TheWalrusWasDanny
> To get him, she was his sex goddess. After she had him, she
> became an icy bitch as well as a dominating mother figure that he
> needed so desperately.
...she also used her grip on him to manipulate and gain further fame
and money...and split up the Beatles in the process.
Danny
iarwain
I think it's more likely that Yoko would have divorced John. Women
usually initiate divorce, and she would have gotten a huge monetary
settlement. It's true John left Cynthia, but I think John was much
more dependent on Yoko than she was on Cynthia. There's no way Yoko
would have let John get away with giving her a paltry divorce
settlement like Cynthia let him get away with.
As for whether or not Yoko loved John, my guess would be she did. He
probably loved her more though (meaning she had the power in the
relationship), and I do think she manipulated him and initially saw
him as an opportunity.
Fattuchus
> >If John had lived, it's possible that he would've eventually 'seen the light', and left Yoko.
>
> I think it's more likely that Yoko would have divorced John. Women
> usually initiate divorce, and she would have gotten a huge monetary
> settlement. It's true John left Cynthia, but I think John was much
> more dependent on Yoko than she was on Cynthia. There's no way Yoko
> would have let John get away with giving her a paltry divorce
> settlement like Cynthia let him get away with.
Good points. According to May's book and other sources, there were a
couple of times when Yoko was speaking to attorneys about divorcing
John. According to one of the Keith Badman books and other sources,
even in 1979 Yoko was thinking of divorcing John, but when she spoke
with lawyers, she learned she would not get as much money in a divorce
settlement as she desired, so she stuck it out.
UsurperTom
> there were a couple of times when Yoko was speaking to attorneys about divorcing John.
I was listening to a political radio talk show on WABC radio in 1999
hosted by Curtis Sliwa and Ron Kuby. The was during the impeachment
controversy surrounding Bill Clinton. They were debating about whether
attorney client privilege expires when the client is deceased. Kuby, a
lawyer who worked for William Kunstler, argued that it doesn't and he
told a story where a celebrity whose name he wouldn't mention stopped
by Kunstler's office and he said he wanted to divorce his wife. Kuby
said that the celebrity is now dead and wound up not divorcing his
wife. At the time, I wondered if he was talking about John Lennon.
John may have known Kunstler through Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman,
but John lost interest in radical causes by the time he separated from
Yoko so I'm not sure why he would contact Kunstler.