<P> Lennon: I hate it . It's better to fade away like an old soldier than to burn out . If he was talking about burning out like Sid Vicious, forget it . I don't appreciate the worship of dead Sid Vicious or of dead James Dean or dead John Wayne . It's the same thing . Making Sid Vicious a hero, Jim Morrison--it's garbage to me . I worship the people who survive--Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo . They're saying John Wayne conquered cancer--he whipped it like a man . You know, I'm sorry that he died and all that--I'm sorry for his family--but he didn't whip cancer . It whipped him . I don't want Sean worshiping John Wayne or Johnny Rotten or Sid Vicious . What do they teach you? Nothing . Death . Sid Vicious died for what? So that we might rock? I mean, it's garbage you know . If Neil Young admires that sentiment so much, why doesn't he do it? Because he sure as hell faded away and came back many times, like all of us . No, thank you . I'll take the living and the healthy . </P> <P> Young would reply two years later when asked to respond to Lennon's comments: </P> <P> The rock'n'roll spirit is not survival . Of course the people who play rock'n'roll should survive . But the essence of the rock'n'roll spirit to me, is that it's better to burn out really bright than to sort of decay off into infinity . Even though if you look at it in a mature way, you'll think, "well, yes...you should decay off into infinity, and keep going along". Rock'n'roll doesn't look that far ahead . Rock'n'roll is right now . What's happening right this second . Is it bright? Or is it dim because it's waiting for tomorrow--that's what people want to know . And that's why I say that . </P> <P> The song also influenced Britpop artists . Oasis covered the song on their 2000 world tour, including it on their live album and DVD Familiar to Millions . Not coincidentally, the band acknowledged Cobain's attachment to the song by dedicating it to him when they played it in Seattle on the sixth anniversary of his death . Scottish band Big Country recorded a version, which can be heard on their Under Covers album, and the remastered edition of their live album Without the Aid of a Safety Net . It is also used as live - intro to System of a Down's "Kill Rock' n Roll" in some live performances . </P>

Who said it is better to burn out than fade away