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YOKO ONO
MORE MAGAZINE: November 2007
Once defined mostly by her marriage to John Lennon, Ono, 74, has gained new respect for her art and music as well as her worldwide humanitarian efforts.
BORN IN Tokyo
LIVES IN New York
SINGNATURE SONGS: "Walking On Thin Ice", "Kiss Kiss Kiss"
WHY SHE'S GOT STAYING POWER: "All I did was to be myself."
Many women are creative, sensitive and intuitive people, but they give up before they try. It was natural in our household for my parents to always be saying, "What do you want to be?" My grandmother was a feminist in the 1920s. My mother was a painter, and she told me that she had to give up painting because she fell in love with my father; she didn't feel that I should be like that.
I'll give this advice to any 25-year-old: Just know that you're all right in every way. Know that the world is your oyster.
My sunglasses are not an artistic statement. They are just a way to protect myself in life.
I'm very careful about my diet, but then I read that it's all right to cheat sometimes, so, OK, I'll cheat with chocolate. And anytime that I am tired, I'll just go down for 15 minutes. Catnaps are important.
In my twenties, I wanted to be a writer, and I think I am. I wanted to marry a priest and, as his wife, take care of the Sunday school. This almost became true - John's spirit was priest-like. I thought I would be with my husband, retired and living a peaceful life. Of course, that dream went out the window. I am certainly not retired, and I'm proud and happy about my active life.
Since I hit 70, I've traveled to over 80 cities in the world, and it has given me more energy. I do performances and lectures, and I do OnoChord with the people - I give out little flashlights to send the blinking message "I love you," and they imagine peace. The flashlights have the name of the city I'm in on them, and people are collecting them - isn't that amazing?
There are so many incredible discoveries we've made, such as research with stem cells, and instead of concentrating on destruction, we should just go with all the positive things. It would be a fantastic society. I want to witness that.
Somebody interviewed me the other day, and the first thing he said was "You were underground 40 years ago, and you're still underground." I love that!
I'm scheduled up to 2009. But I'll find time to improvise my life as well. It's like I'm still swimming in the middle of the ocean - I can't look back or assess the whole thing yet.
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Q. In July you performed at the cutting-edge Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. What was that like?
A. Usually I perform with Sean [Ono Lennon, her son] and his band, but Sean had a gig in Europe and couldn't come, so I had to have a whole new band, and actually it was great -- very young, good people. I was so nervous, but when I finally did the show, it really gave me some strength.
Q. How has it been collaborating with Sean?
A. I wasn't thinking it was going to be a partnership forever; I wanted to do things with him to encourage him to be himself, and that's what's happening now. He's going on tour now. I think, if anything, I helped him by not being too overwhelming. When John and I were doing Double Fantasy, he was there in the studio, and it just came naturally to him. I never tried to educate him about what I did, and John didn't either. So I was surprised that he listened to everything, and he knew every little lick of all of our songs, including the Beatles'.
Q. Are you gratified that younger artists are doing remixes of your songs, on this year's Yes, I'm a Witch and Open Your Box?
A. I'm very happy, very thankful. I think indie music is it now -- that's the future. Each time when I was creating something, it was just a suggestion to other artists and the people who listened to it, too. If the suggestion is taken, I'm very happy. The first record that John and I put out together, Two Virgins, was called Unfinished Music No. 1. I felt it was unfinished until people put their own thing on it, perceptually or physically. But nobody did that -- I think they just trashed it. Finally the instructions are being fulfilled.
Q. Did it take a lot of courage to pose nude on the cover of Rolling Stone with John in 1968?
A. From my point of view it was not that brave, because I come from an art background, where nudity was not particularly different.
Q. What do you know now that you wish you'd known at 25?
A. Life can be so long, and more and more beautiful, because you learn to appreciate it more.
original article here.
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