John Lennon Wanted The Beatles to Buy Their Own Private Island in Greece
After completing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, John Lennon suggested that The Beatles purchase their own private island off the coast of Greece. They shopped around, but the plans eventually fell through.
The band celebrated the completion of ‘Sgt. Pepper’ by vacationing off the coast of Greece
According to Joshua M. Greene’s Here Comes The Sun: The Spiritual And Musical Journey Of George Harrison, The Beatles vacationed in Greece following the completion of Sgt. Pepper.
“Sergeant Pepper had absorbed nearly six grueling months of studio work, nearly seven hundred hours,” Greene wrote. “The intensity of production had put a strain on relations among George, John, Paul, and Ringo.
“In July 1967 they decided to celebrate the album’s completion and renew their friendship by taking a trip to Greece. Despite Epstein’s mismanagement of certain contracts, money still flowed their way.”
While in Greece, John proposed something interesting to his fellow bandmates.
John suggested The Beatles purchase a private island where they could form a utopian society
While the band vacationed in Greece, John proposed The Beatles look for a private island to buy. “Designed properly, such a place might show the world how to lead a utopian life,” Greene wrote.
“Utopia was hardly a new idea. By 1967, hippie communes dotted the American landscape, and England’s Summerhill, an experiment in unstructured childhood education, was celebrating forty-six years of operation. John proposed that Beatle families and friends find an island where they could live in a circular arrangement of houses connected by tree-lined avenues.
“At the hub would be a central glass-enclosed arena, a biodome that would serve as stadium and playground. ‘They’ve tried everything else,’ he said, ‘wars, nationalism, fascism, communism, capitalism, nastiness, religion—none of it works. So why not this?’
“The entourage arrived in Athens, rented a boat, and sailed up the Greek coast looking for an island to renovate. Before leaving for Greece, George purchased an album of Sanskrit prayers. One prayer in particular became the group’s theme song while on the boat.”
While sailing through the Aegean Sea, George and John chanted mantras for hours. However, they never found an island.
The Beatles did not buy a private island
When their trip to Greece ended, so did The Beatles’ plans to buy a private island.
“The idea of creating heaven on earth was short-lived,” Greene wrote. “‘We were great at going on holiday with big ideas,’ Ringo said, ‘but we never carried them out. It was safer making records, because once they let us out we’d just go barmy.’
“Some time later, John did buy an island, a small outpost off the coast of Ireland used by farmers to graze goats. He spent only a short time there. Eventually he leased the land to a hippie community and never went there again. Sharing Utopia together as a group was a dream that never came true.”
The Beatles might not have bought a private island together for a utopian society, but they did operate in their own little world. They lived in the band’s circle and influenced a generation of people.
