Essays Contents
Two Virgins
March 23, 2024
When I was 18 years old I broke away from "the establishment."
Whatever that phrase may mean to some people...
"breaking away from the establishment" meant to me...
... to not let other people define who you are...
by standards that aren't true to a natural human life...
such as definitions for "beauty" or "coolness" or "normal"...
... to not follow "trends" or "customs"... like a sheep...
but rather... dress to express who you really feel you are.
... to think... for yourself... about the world you're seeing...
... to NOT believe something
just because you were TOLD to believe it...
... to question the world around you...
... to not let yourself be manipulated by power players...
or... power brokers... either in government or entertainment...
and... to question even those who are questioning the system.
There was intrigue afoot... and... we were such innocents.
They had no qualms about shooting you on a university campus...
aiming at you... with your scary ole signs...
or your angry ole black skin...
and shooting a military weapon directly... at... you...
or... inventing laws guaranteed to dis-empower you...
even to... manufacturing illegal drugs...
and setting you up... to fall for it...
with another dose of hopelessness...
luring you in... with promises to be on your side...
and... replacing innocent you... with villains...
saying, "aren't we all BROTHERS...!"
"want some COCAINE...?
There were a LOT of... bad guys...
and... if you were anti-establishment
then you... were supposed to be... like THEM...?
I was shaking it ALL off.
Maybe it was those "bouffant" hairdos... or the panty hose...
Rejecting the corruption and foolishness...
was not rejecting my country.
And so it happened that... that summer...
I was hanging out with a few friends
feeling free... down on "the street"...
"the street" being the place where all the hippie shops were...
and... some guy hurries over to our group and tells us...
"Lennon's Two Virgins" album just came in
and it's the original album cover... with the pictures".
It was a limited re-release... I think...
Everyone headed towards the little record shop...
except for me. I had no need... or interest...
in gawking at two naked people... front and back...
even if it was... John and Yoko.
All in all... I've respected the creative mind of John Lennon.
Is he telling us a story...? in pictures...?
It could mean... so many things...
Yoko was Japanese... and they are not shy that way.
John's song "Imagine" had us... look more closely...
at all the accepted mores...
and to explore... and discover... the truth...!
but... I did not agree at all with his personal solutions.
I did not believe in nudism.
I did not see the workability of any communist system.
The idea that "there was no heaven... above us only sky..."
was actually... kind of scary...!
and was not going to fly with the Christian crowd...!
If the meaning of "Two Virgins" is...
that they have re-discovered their innocence...
is he saying we should ALL do this...?
I mean... why put it on an album cover...!
if you didn't... believe in this...?
Are we returning to the Garden of Eden now...?
Is... nakedness... really our natural state...?
Should not we all feel shamed... for... looking...?
I believe DIGNITY... is a human being's "natural state."
But... the idea of two virgins... was interesting.
Societies have always respected a woman's virginity...
but... shouldn't the woman... AND the man... be virgins...?
Shouldn't we both aim to marry as virgins... both of us...?
Perhaps when you fall in love with someone...
you will understand this idea better.
You... don't want to know ANYBODY else.
You want to fill your cup only with good things...
... true things.
Have we resigned ourselves to be robots... or slaves...
or will we put each other... in each other's hands...
and... always be there... for each other...
put it in a pre-nuptial as part of your promises to each other.
Love should not rely on magic... so much.
We need to know... each other...
We need to... trust... each other.
When two people marry... they have a lifetime now...
to... get to know each other...
and to live that love for real.
not like a remake of a movie... but... for real.
You... each other... in a marriage...
are now being looked at through the eyes of love...
and you want to... live that dream for real.
Love... saves you from any shame...
If it takes time to know each other...
and come to desire each other naturally...
with a whole and a free heart...
with promises of trust...
it just makes the whole thing... such a lovely dance.
"Two Virgins" by John and Yoko
wikipedia entry
full album title:
Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins
"The Unfinished Music series was an attempt by the pair to keep a record of their life together. With Ono's "Grapefruit" in mind, they had imagined that the sound was not etched into the vinyl's grooves but was meant to be created by the listener's mind."
Lennon described Unfinished Music as
"saying whatever you want it to say. It is just us expressing ourselves like a child does, you know, however he feels like then. What we're saying is make your own music. This is Unfinished Music."
attribution:
"John Lennon Discography". Homepage.ntlworld.com.
Archived from the original on 28 May 2013.
Retrieved 25 March 2013.
"The album was re-issued (albeit unlicensed and unauthorized) in the US during the 1970s and 1980s."
"In a retrospective assessment, William Ruhlmann of AllMusic
remarked that it was:
"not unlike what you might get if you turned on a
tape recorder for a random half-hour in your home",
calling the music "naked."
"Two Virgins" by John and Yoko
wikipedia entry
full album title: Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins
"John Lennon Discography". Homepage.ntlworld.com.
Archived from the original on 28 May 2013.
Retrieved 25 March 2013.
tape recorder for a random half-hour in your home",