JFK Remembered: What a Lucky Man He Was

John F. Kennedy’s assassination 50 years ago today seemed to bring the hopes of an aspiring generation crashing down. More assassination and war followed that fateful moment on a Dallas street on Nov. 21, 1963.

Kennedy’s life and legacy is perhaps more complex than most men’s. It was admirable and enviable, yet at times questionable, deplorable, reprehensible. He tried to reach for greatness, to inspire people to achieve greatness, and along the way he did some great things.

 

The Peace Corps comes to mind.

I was four years old when Kennedy was assassinated. What I remember is the aftermath, the arguments and debates and sorrows I heard from my parents and their friends over the years. There was a sense that something was lost, perhaps forever.

In 1988, on the 25^th anniversary of JFK’s assassination, I was listening to a rock radio station in Washington D.C. when the disc jockey noted the date, then played Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s 1970 song “Lucky Man."

 

A British progressive rock group, its singer and guitarist, Greg Lake, wrote the song in 1959, when he was 12, according to a 2012 Horizon Press interview with the singer.

 

“I did write “Lucky Man” when I was 12,” Lake said. “My mum bought me a guitar and I was very lucky in that sense, the answer was yes instead of no. There was the first bit of luck because had the answer been no, my life would have probably been totally different.”

To me, the song seemed to capture JFK’s life.
 

 Lucky Man

He had white horses
And ladies by the score
All dressed in satin
And waiting by the door

Ooooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooooh, what a lucky man he was

White lace and feathers
They made up his bed
A gold covered mattress
On which he was laid

Ooooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooooh, what a lucky man he was

He went to fight wars
For his country and his king
Of his honor and his glory
The people would sing

Ooooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooooh, what a lucky man he was

A bullet had found him
His blood ran as he cried
No money could save him
So he laid down and he died

Ooooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooooh, what a lucky man he was