Ένα από τα πράγματα που πολύς κόσμος αγνοεί για τον John Lennon [γεννήθηκε σαν σήμερα πριν από 82 χρόνια, 9 Οκτωβρίου 1940], είναι η ιρλανδική καταγωγή του. * Το Λίβερπουλ υπήρξε επί αιώνες πόλος έλξης για τους φτωχότερους Ιρλανδούς μετανάστες. Η προσωνυμία του ως “Second Capital of Ireland” μαρτυρεί την ύπαρξη μιας ακμαίας ιρλανδικής κοινότητας, στην οποία ανήκε η οικογένεια Lennon.
Για την ιστορία, το όνομα έχει προέλθει εκ του παραδοσιακού …O’ Lennon, προερχόμενου με τη σειρά του από το αρχαϊκό O Leannain.
Τώρα, η σημασία του ονόματος “O Leannain” είναι …guess what : “αγάπη”. Σύμπτωση αρκετά ενδιαφέρουσα, ιδίως αν μεταφέρει κανείς στα αρχαία ιρλανδικά τη φράση με την οποία με την οποία θα μείνει πιθανώς στην ιστορία ο μεγάλος Beatle : “all you need is Lennon”.

* Στην πραγματικότητα, όχι μόνον αυτού, αλλά και των άλλων δυο songwriters του γκρουπ, Paul McCartney, George Harrison.

One of the things most people don’t know about John Lennon [he was born in October 9, 1940], is his Irish ancestry. * For centuries, Liverpool has been a major destination for the poorest of Irish immigrants. Its nickname as “Second Capital of Ireland” testifies to the existence of a thriving Irish community, to which the Lennon family belonged.
For the record, the name has come from the traditional … O’Lennon, deriving from the archaic O Leannain. Now, the meaning of the name “O Leannain” is … guess what : “love”. A coincidence quite interesting, especially if one translates into ancient Irish the phrase with which the great Beatle will probably go down in history : “all you need is Lennon”.

* In fact, not only his, but also of the other two songwriters of the group, Paul McCartney, George Harrison.

THE LUCK OF THE IRISH [SOMETIME IN NEW YORK CITY, 1971]

If you had the luck of the Irish,
You’d be sorry and wish you were dead
You should have the luck of the Irish
And you’d wish you was English instead
A thousand years of torture and hunger
Drove the people away from their land
A land full of beauty and wonder
Was raped by the British brigands
Goddamned
Goddamned
If you could keep voices like flowers
There’s be shamrock all over the world
If you could drink dreams like Irish streams
Then the world would be as high as the mountain of morn
In the ‘pool they told us the story
How the English divided the land
Of the pain and the death and the glory
And the poets of auld Eireland
If we could make chains with the morning dew
The world would be like Galway Bay
Let’s walk over rainbows like leprechauns
The world would be one big blarney stone
Why the hell are the English there anyway?
As they kill with God on their side
Blame it all on the kids and the I.R.A.
As the bastards commit genocide
Aye, aye
Genocide
Okay
You should have the luck of the Irish,
You’d be sorry and wish you were dead
You should have the luck of the Irish
And you’d wish you was English instead
One more time
You should have the luck of the Irish,
You’d be sorry and wish you were dead
You should have the luck of the Irish
And you’d wish you was English instead
Hey, yes, you’d wish you were English instead