John Lennon Wrote His Girlfriend ‘Lewd’ Letters: ‘Nothing I Could Display Publicly’
John Lennon wrote music for the Beatles. He also wrote “lewd” notes to his girlfriend Cynthia Lennon. Even though she wanted to display his letters, they were often filled with “insanely grinning hunchbacks, grotesque poses, and ghastly leers.”
Who was John Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia Lennon?
Lennon was a songwriter and vocalist for the Beatles, appearing alongside Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. He’s also a published author who would write notes for his college girlfriend.
That was Cynthia Lennon, who began dating Lennon while both enrolled at Liverpool College of Art, which is now a part of Liverpool John Moores University. The two eventually married in 1962.
John Lennon wrote ‘lewd’ letters to Cynthia Powell during the Beatles’ performances in Germany
At the same time as his budding success, Lennon began a relationship with his college classmate Cynthia Lennon (then Cynthia Powell.) With their six-week gig in Germany as the Beatles, Cynthia Lennon described her time away from her then-boyfriend in the 2005 memoir, John.
“I was madly in love and when John’s letters began to arrive, I was reassured that he still felt the same about me,” she said. “He wrote to me almost every day, letters that were 10 pages long, covered with kisses, cartoons, and declarations of love.”
“Even the envelopes bore poems, kisses, and messages like ‘Postman, Postman, don’t be slow, I’m in love with Cyn so go, man, go,’” Lennon continued. “His letters could be as lewd as they were passionate: he made me blush with references to the ‘massive throbber’ he had when he thought of me.“
After sending pictures of herself to John, Cynthia Lennon asked for a photograph in return. She mentioned that “plenty arrived, but nothing I could display publicly or even look at without laughing.”
John Lennon sent her drawings of “insanely grinning hunchbacks, grotesque poses, and ghastly leers.” Years later, Lennon became known for his doodles, with Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys noting McCartney drew when he arranged music.
Yoko Ono commented on John Lennon’s writing
John Lennon wrote letters to most people in his life, according to his second wife — artist and activist Yoko Ono. Lennon even wrote the short story, Skywriting by Word of Mouth, complete with doodles from the Beatles member.
“John wrote very quickly,” Ono said in the foreword. “Words flowed from his pen like sparkling spring water; he never had to stop to think. In the next decade or so, I became immensely spoiled.”
“He would write me little notes and long letters,” she continued, “I would find them in a book I was reading or on the kitchen table or next to my toothbrush — something to make me laugh, something to make me feel good, or bad, depending on his mood at that time.”
