AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The only full-length shows that John Lennon ever performed after the breakup of The Beatles were in 1972, the One to One concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden. The shows helped shine a light on deplorable conditions at a facility for disabled children. Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, had recently moved to the States, and a new documentary called "One To One: John & Yoko" focuses on the 18 months they lived in a Greenwich Village apartment, dedicating themselves to political activism. It's streaming now on HBO, and their son, Sean Ono Lennon, was an executive producer on the film. He says the guiding principle behind his parents' activism was simple.
SEAN ONO LENNON: You know, peace and love is the answer. There's that famous quote of my dad, where he says, you can't fight the man with violence because violence is the language that, you know, the powers that be understand at. But what they can't deal with is love and humor. And I think that's - kind of sums it up.
CHANG: His parents seemed inseparable in their activism. I mean, John and Yoko, even that pair of names was like its own entity. And so I asked Sean how hard was it for his mom to carve out an identity that was separate and distinct from his father's?
S LENNON: It was an ongoing story throughout my entire life, and I think it has a happy ending in that in the last decade or so, it seems obvious that the world has come around to appreciating my mother for who she is. But I think I would phrase it slightly differently in that it's not that she needed to carve out an identity 'cause she has one of the strongest, most singular identities of anyone I've ever met.
CHANG: (Laughter).
S LENNON: But it's more that the world had to come around to seeing her for who she was...
CHANG: Yeah.
S LENNON: ...Or who she is.
CHANG: Yeah. For people who still don't know, Yoko Ono had a huge, vibrant art career before she even met your father. I mean, she still does have this huge, vibrant art career. And it feels like there has been kind of a real reset of how the public perceives Yoko Ono now, like, from the woman who allegedly broke up The Beatles to a woman who has always had and still has a singular artistic vision and voice, as you mentioned, someone who has always been kind of ahead of her time. And I was wondering, what has that shift been like for you to watch as her son?
S LENNON: Well, one thing that my mother always said was that she would take all of the negative energy, you know, the anti-Yoko hatred, and she would say that energy is just energy, so you can turn it into anything you like. And she always said that she would take that negative energy and turn it into something productive and creative. And I did watch her kind of do that. It never brought her down. It never stopped her from creating and putting herself out there, and I really think that it paid off. Ultimately, it made me really feel pretty good about my own life just because, you know, you never know how long it'll take for people to appreciate you if you just kind of hang on and don't give up.
CHANG: What do you think is still the most misunderstood thing about Yoko Ono?
S LENNON: OK, well, the most misunderstood thing is that she can't sing.
(LAUGHTER)
S LENNON: Because I will say...
CHANG: You need to watch this documentary, people...
S LENNON: Yeah.
CHANG: ...Because, yes, I agree with you.
S LENNON: And, you know, I understand. I don't blame people for not appreciating a certain style of my mother's more experimental vocalizations. But what I think is unfortunate about it is that that kind of avant garde, you know, howling, as it were, really overshadows the fact that she does have very beautiful conventional songs as well.
CHANG: Yeah.
S LENNON: And almost no one has heard those because they don't get the attention. But she sings and writes beautifully, I think, and she has many facets to her, you know, musical vocabulary.
CHANG: You know, I've been a huge Beatles fan my entire life, but I had never seen footage of your dad perform the song "Mother" until I watched this documentary. And it's a song about how your father felt the loss of both his parents, a loss of different kinds. And to watch your dad's face while he was singing "Mother" was so moving to me, and it made me wonder about you. What was that like for you to see your dad perform this song, mourning the absence of his parents? - because obviously, you've had to mourn the absence of one of your parents. How do you think about that, what you and your father shared in terms of the loss of at least one parent?
S LENNON: Well, you know, I've got to say, it's heavy, man. It's a heavy performance, specifically the one you're talking about. But the thing that I remember most about it is that there's a moment where he hits a wrong key on the Wurlitzer and he gives a little cheeky grin...
CHANG: (Laughter).
S LENNON: ...And kind of smiles at the audience, kind of acknowledging that he made a mistake. And that sort of sums up my dad to me.
CHANG: Yes.
S LENNON: It's like, even in the most serious times, he always could crack a joke or make you smile.
CHANG: Love and humor.
S LENNON: Yeah, exactly. And so I think that's sort of the essence of what I think is beautiful about the John and Yoko thing is that it's actually - they're talking about serious stuff, but it's - they do it with a lot of fun and humor. I mean, look at the bed-in, you know? It's hilarious. They're literally...
CHANG: (Laughter) In bed.
S LENNON: They're in bed, and everyone's making fun of them. And to this day, I see people, you know, talking about the bed-in like, look, they had a maid, and they were protesting. You know, why couldn't they make their own bed? And I'm like, you guys are just falling for it...
CHANG: Right.
S LENNON: ...Because the whole thing was to get attention for the peace movement. And it was funny, and they knew it was funny.
CHANG: Well, you and your dad famously share the same birthday, October 9, which coincidentally, Sean, is also my dad's birthday, October 9.
S LENNON: Really?
CHANG: Yeah.
S LENNON: That's interesting.
CHANG: Yeah. Your...
S LENNON: Do you feel like there's any personality overlap?
CHANG: Oh, my God. My dad's a huge fan of your dad. And so - and yes, my dad can absolutely laugh at the most serious moments while we're all feeling very grave about something (laughter).
S LENNON: Yeah. Yeah.
CHANG: So there is a connection there.
S LENNON: Yeah.
CHANG: But I wanted to ask you - you're 50 years old now. You're a decade older than your dad was when he died.
S LENNON: Yes.
CHANG: How much do you think about that, about how much longer you have lived compared to your father?
S LENNON: It is a little bit weird. It just feels - it's existentially challenging because I look at him, you know, in his late 30s, and I see him as older than me. And I can't help it. I don't know if that'll...
CHANG: 'Cause he's your dad.
S LENNON: ...Ever change. Yeah, exactly. Or, you know, it's kind of like the way my mother looks at me, and she still thinks of me as a kid.
CHANG: Yeah.
S LENNON: And it just kind of never ends. So there is a little bit of cognitive dissonance, I would say. It's hard for me to believe that I'm older than he was. But also, I do think that for whatever reason, maybe it's my Japanese genes or whatever, but I do feel like I still look possibly younger than he did.
CHANG: You do.
S LENNON: And I don't know if we lived different lives or if people are just eating healthier in my generation.
CHANG: Asian don't raisin.
S LENNON: Yeah, exactly. Yellow don't mellow is what I say.
CHANG: (Laughter) That rhymes better.
S LENNON: (Laughter) Yeah, but I don't know if it's politically correct or not.
CHANG: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MOTHER")
JOHN LENNON: (Singing) Goodbye, goodbye.
CHANG: Sean Ono Lennon is the executive producer for the new documentary "One To One: John & Yoko." It was so lovely to talk to you, Sean. It really was.
S LENNON: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MOTHER")
J LENNON: (Singing) Father, you left me. But I never left you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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