Every now again you pick up a random factoid that raises an eyebrow and leaves you wondering why you’ve never heard it before – or why someone else hasn’t made more of it.
That occurred this morning while I was running and listening to a podcast. The host mentioned an album that was a joint effort by the Beatles’ John Lennon and Yoko Ono, “Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions.” It was released in the United States on May 26, 1969. Critics describe this album as the “highest-selling Avant-Garde album in music history.”
I wasn’t born until 1972, but I grew up with four older siblings, three of whom were fans of the famed British band. My familiarity with Beatles’ music is limited to their classic hits, but the host made note of the fact that this 1969 album featured a five-minute loop of the heartbeat of Yoko Ono and John Lennon’s preborn baby.
Sadly, Yoko Ono suffered a miscarriage. The album contains a two-minute cut of silence to acknowledge and grieve the child’s death.
Were Lennon and Ono making a pro-life statement, acknowledging the obvious – that a child in the womb is a living baby and deserving of protection?
There is no evidence to suggest such a motivation, but something else happened six years later that is tangentially connected.
It’s now known that in 1975, Yoko Ono became pregnant again. It seems the couple had struggled through an extended separation and Ono was prepared to abort the baby unless John Lennon objected.
In an interview with the BBC in 2007, Ono, who is now 92, explained her tragic logic.
“I know it sounds strange now but I thought, ‘Well, I should let John decide whether to keep it or not,’” she said. “We’d just got back together and I became pregnant very soon, and I didn’t know if it was the right moment to have a child because maybe he didn’t want it. I just didn’t want to burden him with something he didn’t want.”
Thankfully, John Lennon did want to parent the baby boy, who was then named Sean. He was born on Lennon’s 35th birthday. John even stepped away from his music for years in order to be more present and involved. On the December night in 1980 that Lennon was murdered, he had reportedly been hustling home in order to see Sean before he went off to bed.
Sean turns 50 this October. Like his father, he’s a musician. “I never played music because I was good at it,” Sean told People Magazine. “I lost my father and I didn’t know how to fill that void. Learning how to play his songs on guitar was a way to process the loss with an activity that made me feel connected to him.”
Sean then added:
“When you’ve lost a parent, things like that motivate you — because you’re trying to find them. Making music always made me feel like I was getting to know him better.”
Poignant and heartbreaking.
Learning about a cut on a vinyl record featuring a pre-born baby’s heartbeat, I couldn’t help but think of the profound moment back in 2019 when Focus on the Family hosted “ALIVE FROM NEW YORK!” – the largest pro-life rally in state history. Over 20,000 people packed Times Square to watch and listen to a live ultrasound of Abby Johnson’s preborn baby.
In a city that never sleeps or seems to settle down, the sound of the baby’s heartbeat bounced off the buildings and filled the air as the hushed crowd leaned in. It was a remarkable and sacred moment.
In the ongoing quest to protect and defend every life, the Lord continues to provide sacred moments of unquestionable and undeniable truth. Neither John Lennon nor Yoko Ono were likely making a pro-life statement when they published their unusual album in 1969 – but that’s exactly what they did.
As those in the pro-life trenches, we need to regularly look for opportunities to highlight God’s beautiful gift of life. The Lord is always at work, always ready to use us to influence and help change an abortion-minded couple’s mind. We’re on a rescue mission and we must leverage every opportunity to point out the sacredness of every innocent life – especially to those otherwise blinded by the evil and wickedness all around them.
Image from Getty.
