Popular Culture Review 30.2
spend in New Hampshire with his girlfriend Maxine and her parents , who greet the couple on their first visit to their woodland retreat with these words : “ Welcome to paradise ” ( 152 ). Approaching a cabin situated “ down a long dirt road in the middle of a forest , dense with hemlock and birch ” ( 151 ), Gogol “ sees the lake , a blue a thousand times deeper , more brilliant , than the sky and girded by pines . The mountains rise up behind them ” ( 151 ). Paralleling his idols ( except for Lennon ) in Rishikesh , when they are far from the stress of fame and the bustle of London , Gogol is at peace in this haven , far from the stress of his architectural career and the bustle of New York City . Only in New Hampshire does Gogol “ appreciate being utterly disconnected from the world ” ( 154 ). At 14 , he may not yet be aware that his destiny includes the comfort of nature to mitigate character traits fixed at birth , but “ Mother Nature ’ s Son ” is there to remind him that nature is a source of healing and acceptance .
“ Everybody ’ s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey ,” penned in India by Lennon , takes its cue from the Maharishi ’ s pet phrase “ come on is such a joy .” Since biographer Bruce Spizer divulged this fact in 2003 ( qtd . in Womack 270 ), Gogol in 1982 could not have known about it . On the other hand , the identity of “ Sexy Sadie ” had been revealed 12 years earlier . In 1970 , Lennon told Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner he wrote “ Sexy Sadie ” while leaving Rishikesh in disgust over rumors of the guru ’ s sexual misconduct . The rumors were never substantiated , which is why it is fortunate that , as Lennon said , “ I copped out and I wouldn ’ t write ‘ Maharishi ’” ( 55 ). The first non-Rolling Stone version of this interview came out the following year in a paperback titled Lennon Remembers ; it appeared again in a 1981 collection of Rolling Stone interviews , increasing the likelihood that a Beatles fan would have owned it . Young Gogol loved the
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