Julian Lennon and my daughter Charlotte

On Monday night I went to the Sydney Opera House to see my oldest daughter Charlotte sing in a combined choir of primary school children. 720 children in the choir! It was an enjoyable concert; I was quite impressed with the level of talent in the children.

One of the songs they performed was Julian Lennon's Saltwater. Initially it took me a little while to drag out of the murky recesses of my brain the original artist. It's a beautiful song, lovely chord progressions, lilting melody. It's very Beatles-ish, even down to the guitar solo. I listen to that and then listen to Free As A Bird and wonder if it's the same song. Well no, they're completely different but nevertheless...

Of course that got me thinking of Julian Lennon and wondering where he is and how he's faring. (I should note at this point that I'm a big Beatles fan.) Having been born in April 1963, he's now older than his father was when he was killed (John Lennon 9-Oct-40 — 8-Dec-80). I'm sure that must be a huge wake-up when you reach that age where you are older than your parents at their death. Sort of a notice that you are definitely mortal. John's life was terminated early, though.

Luckily for me, my father is very much still alive and he himself doesn't hit that age for another 12 years. I reckon he'll stay on for another 15 - 20 past that he's such a tough old bastard. Charlotte's got nothing to worry about, her great-grandmother is still alive and kicking up a storm. 90-something.