Rolling Stones releases Lennon’s last interview

Rolling Stones editor Jonathan Cott spoke to John Lennon for nine straight hours for this interview, that has never been fully heard before. According to the publication, the interview was supposed to run as the cover story but because Lennon was murdered merely three nights after this interview was taken, Cott ended up writing an obituary for the legendary musician of Beatles fame. Only a few parts of this interview were then used for the obituary which means that a lot of the conversation that took place between Cott and Lennon is still unheard today.

In honour of the English singer and songwriter’s 30th death anniversary, Rolling Stones has released a transcription of the entire conversation that took place between them. In the interview, Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, talk at lengths about their collaborative work, and how Lennon ‘disappeared’ after having a baby. “But the illusion that I was cut off from society is a joke,” he said. “I was just the same as any of the rest of you; I was working from nine to five – baking bread and changing some nappies and dealing with the baby. People keep asking, ‘Why did you go underground, why were you hiding?’ But I wasn’t hiding. And I did fairly average things, I went to the movies.”

Lennon also discussed why many of his songs question reality. “In a way, no thing is real, if you break the word down. As the Hindus or Buddhists say, it’s an illusion. It’s Rashomon. We all see it, but the agreed-upon illusion is what we live in. And the hardest thing is facing yourself.”