Secret Lennon Files Made Public

According to the Associated Press, FBI files pertaining to John Lennon have finally been made public after a 15-year legal battle. The files were initially requested by University of California, Irvine professor Johnathan M. Weiner who, at the time, was writing a book about the rock icon.

In a settlement with Weiner, the FBI agreed to release all but 10 of its files on Lennon. It also granted him more than $200,000 to pay for his cumulative legal costs.

Nothing in any of the released files implicates Lennon in any illegal act.

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

More Song Stories entries »

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