In each episode of our podcast “Life in Seven Songs,” we ask the world’s brightest minds and leaders: What songs tell the story of your life?
This week’s podcast episode features David Sheff, whose 2009 memoir “Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction” was a New York Times bestseller and became a major film.
As a journalist, Sheff interviewed legends like John Lennon — an encounter that unexpectedly shaped his future as a father. His journey with the former Beatle started when he was an aspiring writer in New York, having persuaded the editor of Playboy to assign him a story.
“As I was leaving his office, [the editor] said, ‘Oh, by the way, do you have any way to get to John Lennon?’” Sheff recounts. “And I didn’t, but I was 24 years old, and I didn’t know any better, I guess — or maybe I did.”
Sheff’s desperate attempts to make it onto Lennon’s radar — phoning everyone he knew in the music industry — made it to Yoko Ono, who asked for his numerological chart. Based on that and his horoscope, she gave him the go-ahead to do the interview, he said. When Sheff met her, she said his numerology number was nine — the same as Lennon’s.
Sheff spent three weeks interviewing Lennon and Ono, who were raising their son Sean and in a better place mentally than they’d been in previous years. The professional acquaintance blossomed into friendship.
Over the course of the interview, Sheff became the couple’s confidant, sharing some of their happiest and most painful moments. Then, on Dec. 8, 1980, months after Sheff’s final interview with the duo, Lennon was fatally shot by a deranged fan. Sheff was devastated. “I flew to New York that night, and there was a gathering in Central Park,” he said. “People were just crying and singing John’s songs, and I joined them.”
He visited Ono just a week later. They cried together. “I think it was really meaningful to her that I had spent those three weeks with her and John at the time of their life when they were happy.”
Just as Sheff showed up for Ono, she helped him through difficult times, from his divorce to his son’s meth addiction.
“It wasn’t just a one-way street,” Sheff said. “She was really supportive of me, too.” (The title of his memoir comes from a song on Lennon and Ono’s final album.)
Sheff details the most memorable moments of his life — from his angsty teen years in Arizona to his feelings of guilt amid his son’s addiction — via the songs that got him through it all.
In this episode of “Life in Seven Songs,” Sheff describes how music brought him joy, then grief — and, ultimately, a way back to his beautiful boy.
Listen to Sheff’s playlist on Spotify, and find a transcript of the podcast episode here. Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at lifeinsevensongs@sfstandard.com.