John Lennon's lost interview reveals his fear of being spied on by the Nixon-era US government
The long-lost 1975 recording, found recently by veteran British broadcaster Nicky Horne, captures Lennon speaking candidly from his New York apartment about his suspicion that federal agents were monitoring his every move because of his anti-war activism
Nearly 45 years after his death, a rediscovered interview offers a rare and intimate glimpse into John Lennon's state of mind during one of the most turbulent periods of his life - when he believed the US government was spying on him.
The long-lost 1975 recording, found recently by veteran British broadcaster Nicky Horne, captures Lennon speaking candidly from his New York apartment about his suspicion that federal agents were monitoring his every move because of his anti-war activism, reports The Guardian.
The full interview will be aired today, on what would have been his 85th birthday.
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"I know the difference between the phone being normal when I pick it up and when every time I pick it up, there's a lot of noises," Lennon told Horne, convinced that his line had been tapped.
At the time, the former Beatle was embroiled in a high-profile legal battle with the Nixon administration over alleged illegal wiretapping and attempts to deport him. Lennon, then 34, had been outspoken against the Vietnam War and a symbol of the counterculture movement, making him a perceived political threat to US authorities.
He described what he saw as clear signs of harassment - cars tailing him, men standing watch across the street, and unexplained "repairs going on in the cellar" of the Dakota building where he lived with Yoko Ono. "They're coming for me one way or the other," he said.
A rediscovered "gold dust"
Horne, who was just 24 when he conducted the interview for London's Capital Radio at Lennon's home in Manhattan, stumbled upon the original reel-to-reel tapes nearly 50 years later in a dusty box at his home. He called the find "gold dust." While portions of the interview had aired decades ago, the full conversation had never been heard publicly in its entirety.
Horne reveals he was nervous before the interview, with Lennon putting him at ease and even baking chocolate cookies for him. But sitting cross-legged on the singer's white shag pile carpet to interview him, Horne "realised as I looked down that I'd spilt some chocolate crumbs on this pristine white carpet, and I was trying desperately to sort of pick them up one by one so that he didn't see that".
Lennon's doubts and dreams
Beyond the paranoia and political pressure, the interview also shows a softer, self-critical side of Lennon. He admitted that he almost scrapped his 1974 solo album Walls and Bridges, recorded during his separation from Yoko Ono. "I couldn't stand to listen to it," he confessed, adding that friends persuaded him to release it. The record later went gold in the United States.
Despite the stress of fame and fear, Lennon's optimism for the future shines through the tape. "I'll be around for another 60 years and doing it until I drop," he said wistfully, adding that only "acts of God" could stop him.
The final note
Lennon's life was cut short just five years later, in December 1980, when he was shot dead outside the Dakota building by a deranged fan. He was 40 years old.
The rediscovered interview, now being restored for public release, captures the contradictions that defined Lennon - the global icon who dreamed of peace but feared he was being watched, the self-doubting artist who baked cookies for a young interviewer while wrestling with the weight of fame and politics.
