Lennon was given his first guitar by his father at age 11 and formed his first band at age 13 with school friend Justin Clayton, who has since played on each of Lennon’s albums. “Justin and I spent all our time learning the classic rock and roll songs, like ‘Roll Over Beethoven,’ Lennon recalls. “As I got older, I began to listen to the Beatles more carefully and became fascinated by the intelligence that went into their songwriting — the arrangements, melodies, and lyrics, which was great as I began to write my own songs. Crafting a great song is always my final goal.”
Though Lennon was also interested in pursuing acting (and was offered an education through the renowned Royal Shakespeare Company), he decided to stick with music. “I'd fallen madly in love with being able to play three or four chords, and everybody standing up and yelling and screaming,” he says. “The simplicity and ease of it drove me toward a career in music more than anything else.”
In 1983 Lennon, then aged 20, was offered his first record deal and released Valotte the following year. Produced by Phil Ramone, the album was certified platinum and earned Lennon a Grammy Award nomination for “Best New Artist.” It also included two major hits, the title track, which was a fixture on the Billboard Top 40 chart for 12 weeks, peaking at No. 9, followed by Too Late For Goodbyes, which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Noted film director Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch, The Getaway) directed the videos for both singles, the success of which made Lennon an international star, necessitating a global tour of Asia, Europe, the U.S., and Australia. “It was bonkers,” Lennon says. “Coming out of hotels, people would literally trying to rip the clothes off you. I had spent my last year of school in the middle of nowhere in North Wales. To go from that to doing a world tour and having screaming girls after you was crazy.”
Because of his popularity, the record company urged Lennon to make a follow-up album immediately, which he did, releasing The Secret Value of Daydreaming in March 1986. Though Lennon felt he did not have enough time to write or record the album, Daydreaming (also produced by Phil Ramone) went on to gold certification and spawned the hit “Stick Around,” which earned him his first No. 1 on the Billboard Rock chart. (Eighties stars Michael J. Fox and Jami Gertz appear in the song’s video.) After taking a much-needed break, Lennon released the vocally experimental Mr. Jordan in 1989, which featured the rock radio hit Now You’re In Heaven, followed by 1991’s Help Yourself, whose highlights include Saltwater, a plea for environmental responsibility, and Other Side of Town, featuring Blue Nile singer Paul Buchanan.
Lennon decided to take a hiatus following the release of Help Yourself to focus on other creative pursuits, including his interest in acting. In 1993, he was featured as the voice of David Copperfield in an animated NBC special of the Dickens classic. In 1995, film director Mike Figgis asked Lennon to make a cameo in his new film Leaving Las Vegas. “I was told to dress like an ’80s English rock and roll bartender,” Lennon says, “So I rode my Harley to the set wearing clothes I would normally wear and Mike said, ‘That’s great!’” (Nicolas Cage, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his role, orders a beer from Lennon’s bartender character before getting head-butted by another patron and thrown out by Lennon.)
In 1996, Lennon contributed the original composition “Cole’s Song” to the soundtrack to the film Mr. Holland’s Opus, which starred Richard Dreyfuss and featured a score by the late renowned composer Michael Kamen. “I’d met Michael a few times and thought he was an incredible writer and orchestrator,” Lennon says. “I got word that he thought of me for writing this song, not only because of the subject matter, but because two of Dad’s songs were also in the film,” Lennon says. “He thought it would be a nice touch for me to come up with something that would work at the end of the film.” Also that year, Lennon made a cameo in the independent comedy film Cannes Man, directed by Richard Martini and starring Seymour Cassel and Francesco Quinn.
Lennon returned to the music business in 1998 with Photograph Smile.
In 2002, he recorded a version of "When I'm Sixty-Four", from the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, for an Allstate Insurance commercial.
In 2009, Lennon released a tribute song and EP, "Lucy", honouring the memory of Lucy Vodden (née O'Donnell), the little girl who inspired the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
Lennon released his sixth solo album, the self-produced Everything Changes, in the UK on September 26th, 2011, through British independent label Conehead Management Ltd.
The seventh studio album by Lennon, Jude, was released on 9 September 2022. The album's title is a reference to the Beatles 1968 song "Hey Jude", written by Paul McCartney (and credited to Lennon–McCartney) for the then five-year-old Julian.
Space
Julian Lennon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And it feels just like I'm sleeping
You know I can't touch the ground now
Because you'd hear the creaking
[Chorus]
Space is like the heavens
A place of peace and stillness
I can see the planets turning
It's like something that's not true
I'm really sure I must be dreaming
'Cause I'm here from out of the blue
[Chorus x 2]
Julian Lennon's song Space talks about the surreal feeling of floating in space while being aware of it. The song is about the liberating feeling of drifting in the air, and the sense of peace and stillness it brings. The opening lines, "I'm walking in the air, and it feels just like I'm sleeping," signify the gravity-defying sensation that one feels when floating in space. The lyrics further explain that the feeling is so extraordinary that it cannot be expressed in words.
The chorus of the song is a tribute to space as a heavenly place, a world of calmness, serenity, and transcendence, all qualities that the songwriter ascribes to the vastness of space. The lines "Space is my heaven" express the songwriter's deep connection to the cosmos and how he perceives it as his sanctuary.
The verses present a dream-like sequence, describing the confusion and bewilderment upon finding oneself in an entirely new setting. In the line "I'm here from out of the blue," Julian conveys the enigmatic sensation of drifting in space, taking in the beauty and the surreal experience of floating in space.
Overall, the song describes Julian's personal experience of drifting in space, the emotions it evokes, and the sense of otherness and peace it gives, making him contemplate the divine and the heavens.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm walking in the air
I feel weightless and free, as if I am floating through the sky
And it feels just like I'm sleeping
The sensation is so surreal that it feels like a dream
You know I can't touch the ground now
I am so far removed from reality that I cannot feel the physical earth beneath my feet
Because you'd hear the creaking
If I were to touch the ground, the sound it would make would indicate that it's been a long time since anyone was there
Space is like the heavens
The vast expanse of space is reminiscent of the divine realm
A place of peace and stillness
The tranquility of space provides a respite from the chaos of the world
Space is my heaven, woh
For me, space is a personal paradise where I can escape and find solace
I can see the planets turning
From my vantage point, I can observe the dizzying motion and rotation of celestial bodies
It's like something that's not true
The experience is so extraordinary that it almost feels implausible
I'm really sure I must be dreaming
I am convinced that this is all too fantastical to be real
'Cause I'm here from out of the blue
This experience has come out of nowhere and is entirely unexpected
Space is like the heavens
The vast expanse of space is reminiscent of the divine realm
A place of peace and stillness
The tranquility of space provides a respite from the chaos of the world
Space is my heaven, woh
For me, space is a personal paradise where I can escape and find solace
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JULIAN LENNON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind