Yet though it’s obvious that Friendly Fire is a concept album, that’s not something Lennon is comfortable discussing. When I ask, he clams up. And when he answers, there are long pauses. “The album is totally about love and death, sure. . . . It’s about what that entails . . . and realizing that death is imminent.” He laughs. “That can be expressed by realizing that love can disintegrate. People that love each other can betray each other. It is about the reality of the mortality of everything. And that growth comes as a result of that. Which can be significant and meaningful and I think is an essential part of becoming an adult and coming to terms with yourself and your life. Realizing that everything ends. And then moving beyond that.”
Lennon also has a thing about rabbits. His line drawings of plump little bunnies jump about his Web site and adorn the artwork of Friendly Fire. “I do like rabbits. I was born in the [Chinese] year of the rabbit. I identify with bunnies. I just like them aesthetically. I couldn’t deal with a pet rabbit, but when I retire to a farm when I get older, I will probably have a field of them.”
So there’s a playful side to Sean Lennon, but the soft rock of Friendly Fire is sentimental, cinematic even. It’s more Walls and Bridges than Live Peace in Toronto, 1969, more “Because” than “Cold Turkey.” “This is just one concept,” he replies when I bring up the tone of the album. “If you are filming a movie in black and white, there is no room for color shots. That doesn’t mean that you don’t want to make a color movie. So there is some really heavy shit on Into the Sun. . . ”
And the shadow cast by his father’s legacy? “I don’t see myself that way. I don’t believe I am writing in that shadow. I think everyone else sees me as being swallowed by this shadow. But from my perspective I am very proud and happy that my dad was such a great songwriter and that I am a songwriter too. It just feels good. It feels like I come from a family of artists and I’m carrying on the tradition. Other people see it as me squirming under the shadow of some imposing dad, but to me he is not an imposing figure, he is my dad, and I love his music and I know his music in and out. And I know that what I do is good and I am carrying on the tradition.”
SEAN LENNON | Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston | December 16 | 617.228.6000
