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John Lennon's Word Association List: Fat Elvis, Great New York
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 17, 2011
Modified Dec 17, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 17, 2011
Modified Dec 17, 2011
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From lost documentaries to shopping lists to vintage party footage, we love John Lennon ephemera in all shapes and sizes. And now, Flavorwire points us in the direction of John Lennon's handwritten list of word associations (via the excellent Lists of Note website).
It seems that a fan named Stuart mailed Lennon six pages of interview questions in 1976, and in the midst of his unofficial retirement during that period, Lennon had nothing better to do than answer them!
Among the highlights: New York is "great," Howard Cosell is a "ham," and bootlegs are "good." Elvis is "fat" and David Bowie is "thin." He also tackles all the Beatles and Yoko Ono: Ringo is "friend," George is "lost," Paul is "extraordinary," and Yoko is "love." Too bad the fan didn't also write down, "May Pang."
- Today, how do you associate to the following, described in one word?
New York: great
Elvis: fat
Ringo: friend
Yoko: love
Howard Cosell: ham
George: lost
Bootlegs: good
Elton: nice
Paul: extraordinary
Bowie: thin
M.B.E: shit
John: great
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john lennon
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word association
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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