I was in the Air Force working second shift when a friend told me about it. What a sad day it ended up being.
The subject of the song is actress Mia Farrow’s sister, Prudence Farrow who was present when The Beatles went to India to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.[1]](http://www.nachi.org/forum/#cite_note-FOOTNOTESheff2000198.E2.80.93199-0)
Farrow became so serious about her meditation that she “turned into a near recluse” and “rarely came out” of the cottage she was living in. Someone asked John Lennon to “contact her and make sure she came out more often to socialize”. As a result, Lennon wrote the song Dear Prudence. In the song Lennon asks Farrow to “open up your eyes” and “see the sunny skies” reminding her that she is “part of everything”. The song was said to be “a simple plea to a friend to ‘snap out of it’".[2]](http://www.nachi.org/forum/#cite_note-Here_page_252-1) Lennon said later that “She’d been locked in for three weeks and was trying to reach God quicker than anyone else”.[3]](http://www.nachi.org/forum/#cite_note-The_Dead.E2.80.9D-2) According to Farrow: “I would always rush straight back to my room after lectures and meals so I could meditate. John, George and Paul would all want to sit around jamming and having a good time and I’d be flying into my room. They were all serious about what they were doing, but they just weren’t as fanatical as me”.[4]](http://www.nachi.org/forum/#cite_note-Pop_History-3)
Lennon did not play the song for Farrow while they were in India together. Farrow later said “George was the one who told me about it” as Lennon and Harrison were leaving the ashram. According to Farrow, “I was flattered. It was a beautiful thing to have done”.[2]](http://www.nachi.org/forum/#cite_note-Here_page_252-1) The lyrics of the song are simple and innocent and praise the beauty of nature in the lines: “The sun is up, the sky is blue, it’s beautiful, and so are you”.[5]](http://www.nachi.org/forum/#cite_note-PopHistory-4)
Monday night bowling league
How old were you like 40 or 50 when it happened. :twisted:
WOW Jim this brings back some old, sad memories for sure. I was a senior in HS, watching the game at the time.
LOL. I thought I was an old man that day. I was 26.
Man, I was 29 and I do remember we were flying back to Tinker AFB when it was announced… The crew was definately silent after hearing of it…
I was probably somewhere in the Indian Ocean or South China Sea oblivious to the news.