Playboy Interview 1980
Page 15
John: It's a flower, a type of
freesia, but what it means to us is that if two people picture the same image at
the same time, that is the secret. You can be together but projecting two
different images and either whoever's the stronger at the time will get his or
her fantasy fulfilled or you will get nothing but mishmash.
Playboy: You saw the news item that said you were putting your sex fantasies out
as an album.
John: Oh, yeah. That is like when we did the bed-in in Toronto in 1969. They all
came charging through the door, thinking we were going to be screwing in bed. Of
course, we were just sitting there with peace signs.
Playboy: What was that famous bed-in all about?
John: Our life is our art. That's what the bed-ins were. When we got married, we
knew our honeymoon was going to be public, anyway, so we decided to use it to
make a statement. We sat in bed and talked to reporters for seven days. It was
hilarious. In effect, we were doing a commercial for peace on the front page of
the papers instead of a commercial for war.
Playboy: You stayed in bed and talked about peace?
John: Yes. We answered questions. One guy kept going over the point about
Hitler: "What do you do about Fascists? How can you have peace when you've
got a Hitler?" Yoko said, "I would have gone to bed with him."
She said she'd have needed only ten days with him. People loved that one.
Yoko: I said it facetiously, of course. But the point is, you're not going to
change the world by fighting. Maybe I was naive about the ten days with Hitler.
After all, it took 13 years with John Lennon. [She giggles]
Playboy: What were the reports about your making love in a bag?
Yoko: We never made love in a bag. People probably imagined that we were making
love. It was just, all of us are in a bag, you know. The point was the outline
of the bag, you know, the movement of the bag, how much we see of a person, you
know. But, inside, there might be a lot going on. Or maybe nothing's going on.
Playboy: Briefly, what about the statement on the new album?
John: Very briefly, it's about very ordinary things between two people. The
lyrics are direct. Simple and straight. I went through my Dylanesque period a
long time ago with songs like "I am the Walrus:" the trick of never
saying what you mean but giving the impression of something more. Where more or
less can be read into it. It's a good game.
Playboy: What are your musical preferences these days?
John: Well, I like all music, depending on what time of day it is. I don't like
styles of music or people per se. I can't say I enjoy the Pretenders, but I like
their hit record. I enjoy the B-52s, because I heard them doing Yoko. It's
great. If Yoko ever goes back to her old sound, they'll be saying, "Yeah,
she's copying the B-52s."
Yoko: We were doing a lot of the punk stuff a long time ago.
Playboy: Lennon and Ono, the original punks.
Yoko: You're right.
Playboy: John, what's your opinion of the newer waves?
John: I love all this punky stuff. It's pure. I'm not, however, crazy about the
people who destroy themselves.
Playboy: You disagree with Neil Young's lyric in "Rust Never Sleeps" -
"It's better to burn out than to fade away..."
John: I hate it. It's better to fade away like an old soldier than to burn out.
I don't appreciate worship of dead Sid Vicious or of dead James Dean or of dead
John Wayne. It's the same thing. Making Sid Vicious a hero, Jim Morrison - it's
garbage to me. I worship the people who survive. Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo.
They're saying John Wayne conquered cancer - he whipped it like a man. You know,
I'm sorry that he died and all that - I'm sorry for his family - but he didn't
whip cancer. It whipped him. I don't want Sean worshiping John Wayne or Sid
Vicious. What do they teach you? Nothing. Death. Sid Vicious died for what? So
that we might rock? I mean, it's garbage, you know. If Neil Young admires that
sentiment so much, why doesn't he do it? Because he sure as hell faded away and
came back many times, like all of us. No, thank you. I'll take the living and
the healthy.
Playboy: Do you listen to the radio?
John: Muzak or classical. I don't purchase records. I do enjoy listening to
things like Japanese folk music or Indian music. My tastes are very broad. When
I was a housewife, I just had Muzak on - background music - 'cause it relaxes
you.
Playboy: Yoko?
Yoko: No.
Playboy: Do you go out and buy records?