DISGRACELAND – John Lennon (Pt. 1): “John Lennon, I’m going to kill you, you phony bastard.”

Podcast: DISGRACELAND
Host: Jake Brennan (Double Elvis Productions)
Release Date: December 12, 2025

Episode Overview

In this gripping and provocative episode, host Jake Brennan takes listeners deep into the contradictions, chaos, and tragedy behind John Lennon's larger-than-life image. Peeling back the sanitized legends, the narrative explores Lennon's messy humanity: his musical genius, substance abuse, tumultuous personal life, and the shadowy events leading up to his murder by Mark David Chapman. The episode weaves together Lennon’s public persona, private demons, and his post-Beatles years—setting the stage for the violence that would end his life. True to DISGRACELAND's style, sensational anecdotes, biting commentary, and immersive sound design bring the myth and reality of Lennon into sharp, entertaining focus.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Contradictions of John Lennon (03:00–06:45)

• Lennon’s reputation as a peace-loving, creative genius is contrasted with his reality: violence, insecurity, absenteeism, substance abuse, and dependence on his wife, Yoko Ono.
• “John Lennon was a violent, philandering, absentee dad and drug and alcohol abusing, insecure mess of a man whose life he left in the manipulative hands of his Machiavellian witch of a wife, Yoko Ono... a woman he truly loved and who truly loved him back.” (03:08, Jake Brennan)
• Despite publicly deriding materialism, Lennon indulged in wealth and luxury, matching his contradictions in both art and life.
• “He was a walking contradiction, complicated, simple, completely full of shit, and totally true to himself all at the same time.” (06:06, Jake Brennan)

2. Lennon vs. Todd Rundgren & Mark David Chapman’s Obsession (06:45–13:00)

• Mark David Chapman, Lennon’s eventual killer, becomes obsessed with the idea that Lennon is a fraud, fueled by Todd Rundgren’s satirical album “Deface the Music”—which mocks Lennon and the Beatles’ mythos.
• Rundgren and Lennon’s public feud is covered, highlighting how Rundgren’s capable musical mimicry struck at Lennon’s insecurities and inspired Chapman’s downward spiral.
• Mark David Chapman, described as intense but unstable, finds meaning in Rundgren’s critique: “Todd is God...” and begins to focus his self-loathing and anger at Lennon.

3. Chapman’s Mental Breakdown (12:06–17:56)

• Chapman’s private rage spills out during a failed social gathering, leading to an episode of self-harm and psychosis.
• “Mark lost it. The little people in his head erupted into a chorus of disapproval. The voices were nonstop now, deafening...He felt his hands. They were wet with something. Blood.” (14:55, Jake Brennan)
• The mantra that would guide Chapman is revealed in chilling clarity: “John Lennon, I’m going to kill you, you phony bastard.” (17:22, Jake Brennan)

4. John Lennon’s Public Fall from Grace (19:05–27:00)

• A detailed recounting of Lennon’s personal and public controversies:
  • The 1965 “more popular than Jesus” remark and its fallout.
  • The beginning of Lennon’s relationship with Yoko Ono, leading to accusations of betrayal, gold-digging, and ultimately being blamed for the Beatles’ breakup.
  • Drug arrests, notorious interactions with Yoko, and the creation of an insular, somewhat decadent lifestyle.
  • “Yoko Ono was... always around, always copying someone else’s art.” (21:15 quoting Andy Warhol)
  • Lennon’s inability to maintain stability after moving to America, embroiling himself in activist politics, parties, and inconsistent musical projects.

5. The Breakdown of Lennon’s Marriage & “The Lost Weekend” (27:00–end)

• By 1973, the partnership between John and Yoko frays. Yoko arranges for Lennon to have an affair with their assistant, May Pang, hoping to relieve tension in their marriage.
• “Setting a man like John Lennon loose into the wilds of 1973 LA was a bad idea. He needed a minder.” (29:55, Jake Brennan)
• The result is the legendary “Lost Weekend”—a year and a half of substance-fueled excess, violence, and creative chaos, positioning Lennon further away from the myth of the happy, evolved ex-Beatle.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Lennon’s contradictions:
  “He was a walking contradiction, complicated, simple, completely full of shit, and totally true to himself all at the same time.” (06:06, Jake Brennan)

• On Chapman’s psychosis and fixation:
  “Mark closed his eyes and again saw the gun in his hand, felt that warm feeling of happiness and promptly passed out cold on his bathroom floor...” (16:10, Jake Brennan)
  “John Lennon, I’m going to kill you, you phony bastard.” (17:22, Jake Brennan)

• On the Lennon/Yoko relationship:
  “Yoko Ono was... always around, always copying someone else’s art.” (21:15 quoting Andy Warhol)
  “She needed a break. So she decided to send John away... Yoko, the good wife, decided to give her husband John a going away present. A girlfriend, May Pang, the Lennons' 23-year-old assistant...” (28:45, Jake Brennan)

• On Lennon’s post-Beatles decline:
  “The Ono Lennons allowed themselves to get swept up in the hippy dippy madness... donated their time to revolutionaries, partied, took lots of drugs and made music. And eventually... Yoko took control of the finances and John did well whatever the hell he wanted, provided Yoko said it was okay.” (25:05, Jake Brennan)

Key Timestamps

• 03:00–06:45: Breakdown of Lennon’s contradictions, character, and public/private personas
• 06:45–13:00: Chapman’s growing obsession; Rundgren’s satirical attack; setting up Chapman’s delusions
• 12:06–17:56: Chapman’s meltdown; the moment his murderous focus on Lennon is sealed
• 19:05–27:00: Lennon’s cultural and media controversies; impact of Yoko Ono and the public’s anger at the Beatles’ breakup
• 27:00–end: Lennon’s “Lost Weekend” and the deterioration (and reconfiguration) of his relationship with Yoko

Tone & Style

The episode leans into a sharply irreverent, often darkly comic, and provocative storytelling style. The language is vivid, occasionally profane, self-aware, and dripping with pop-culture references. Fictionalized dialogue and dramatic re-imagination accentuate the chaotic, mythic quality of both Lennon and Chapman’s intertwined stories.

Summary Statement

Part one of DISGRACELAND’s John Lennon exposé blasts away the comforting haze of Beatlemania nostalgia, painting a much darker, rawer portrait of Lennon and the fevered mind of his killer. Moving between satire, tragedy, and noir celebrity biography, it’s a gripping set-up for the assassination story to unravel in part two.