John Lennon’s Son Once Made a Music Video Inspired by a Cult Leader

John Lennon‘s son, Sean Ono Lennon, makes psychedelic rock songs with his girlfriend, Charlotte Kemp Muhl. Muhl said they made a music video based on an infamous cult leader. Subsequently, she revealed why they chose to make a music video.

John Lennon’s son wrote a song that felt ‘like a puzzle to him’

Sean started a band called The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger with Muhl. The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger make psychedelic songs. During a 2014 interview with the Dallas Observer, Sean discussed The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger’s song “Animals.”

“I love that song because it feels like a puzzle to me,” he said. “There’s a trick to it where there’s an odd number of chords and I find that compelling.” In one of the lyrics of the song, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger sing about religious people seeing messages from Jesus Christ on grilled cheese sandwiches.

Sean discussed his feelings on religion. “I’m not against religion, because I think it serves a purpose in our society and it can be helpful to certain groups of people,” he revealed. “But, for me, religion is mythology.” He said religion is closer to children’s fairy tales than it is to science. Furthermore, he thinks it’s ridiculous when religious people see spiritual messages on food.

John Lennon’s son and his girlfriend were inspired by a ‘rock ‘n’ roll cult’

The music video for “Animals” features a New Age group. During a 2014 interview with GQ, Sean said the music video was inspired by The Source Family, a cult run by a guru named Father Yod. Muhl discussed The Source Family. “They’re this rock ‘n’ roll cult,” she said. “They kind of invented the vegetarian craze in the ’60s.”

Muhl elaborated on The Source Family. “They had this chain of health food restaurants in Los Angeles,” she said. “They were really eccentric, they had bow and arrows and were this polygamous hippy cult.”

Sean started showing the interview pictures of Yod and his followers. “That’s him being fawned over by beautiful women on a Rolls Royce,” Muhl said. “He’s basically just a crazy character. We liked his fashion sense mainly: it was mainly an excuse to dress in capes and have a load of naked women and pentagrams around.”

The way listeners in the United States reacted to the song’s parent album

“Animals” appeared on The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger’s album Midnight Sun. Midnight Sun hit No. 7 on Billboard’s Americana/Folk Albums chart. It stayed on the chart for five weeks.

Midnight Sun was a more modest hit on the Billboard 200. It hit No. 182 for a single week. Midnight Sun is The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger’s only album to hit the chart.

“Animals” wasn’t a chart juggernaut but it’s an interesting connection between Sean and Father Yod.