John Lennon is my favorite singer. He belted some of rock and roll's best vocals ever put to record, while simultaneously delivering some of the most touching, powerful, thought-provoking ballads ever written as well. His music influenced and inspired me and countless others to imagine, love, and give peace a chance. He was an immense talent, taken too soon, that is missed the world over.
420 to 30: A Music Retrospective
Here's 7 of my favorites from John Lennon.
Week 28: JOHN LENNON
#190/420 - John Lennon & Yoko Ono, “The Luck of the Irish”
This is one of the only instances for me where Yoko’s singing actually works, in satire. This is the type of sarcastic dark humor that you didn’t get to see much from John within Beatles compositions. Probably for the best in terms of what was best for the Beatles, but here, it matters not, and he can go all out. And the result is an ironic protest song produced by Phil Spector that uses over-the-top pleasantness and gleeful Irish stereotypes in contrast with over-the-top, but very pointed criticism of the Northern Ireland Conflict within the UK.
John and Yoko switch off on vocals throughout and Yoko’s delivery on her parts really underlines the unknowing protagonist angle the song takes. It just sounds so wonderfully stupid when she sings out things like, “there’ll be shamrock all over the world,” that it just works so well for this song. And even though she sounds shrill, most of the vocals are handled by John, which is good, and important for any song’s listenability.
It’s dark political humor with a point to make at some of its best. John and Yoko were controversial in their spotlight, but certain issues deserve to be confronted at this level in any art form to express what simple explanations of feelings or events alone cannot.
#192/420 - John Lennon, “#9 Dream”
This was my ringtone back in the day for the longest time. From John’s only solo album apart from Yoko during his “lost weekend” phase with girlfriend May Pang, this is one of many great songs on there. It repeats the number 9 in its title, harkening back to the dreamlike “Revolution 9” from his time with The Beatles. This is much more of a “song”, of course, than “Revolution 9” and it’s a very good one at that.
It’s based on a dream of John’s but it’s vague enough (with the exception of when it specifically says “John”) to be anyone’s dream.
Sometimes I wonder as well.
#193/420 - Plastic Ono Band, “Remember”
I couldn’t choose between “Mother”, “God”, or “Working Class Hero”, so I went with spotlighting this one instead for being more subtly profound and captivating. These and more all appear on this excellent album, John’s first after The Beatles, that came on the heels of some deep therapy he and Yoko engaged in. The result was two albums by the newly formed Plastic Ono Band (featuring Ringo on drums), titled John Lennon and Yoko Ono respectively. Of course, the John Lennon one is the more famous and acclaimed and is usually referred to as John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band nowadays though the intention was that Plastic Ono Band is the artist, not the title.
This is a song that has made me stop and think about many things in my life in a way that few songs ever have. As recently as my move to California last month, this one came up in a shuffle at a pivotal moment to frame where I was in that moment in my headspace.
'Bout the way it's gone
Don't you worry
'Bout what you've done
Something I needed to hear. And a verse that connected like… pretty much only the video game Earthbound has elsewise.
How people seemed so tall
Always had their way
Do you remember, your ma and pa
Just wishing for movie stardom
Always, always playing a part
If you ever feel so sad
And the whole world is driving you mad
Remember, remember today
I love how he quotes Sam Cooke in the first verse, I love how he screams “the fifth of November!!” at the end, I love the explosion, the hammering piano, Ringo’s distinct drumming. It’s a great song about the perspective of childhood that adulthood turns on its head and it is a great centerpiece to an incredibly raw and reflective album that I consider my favorite from John Lennon and recommend highly.
Remember. In other words, don't forget.
#194/420 - John Lennon, “(Just Like) Starting Over”
It was John’s first single following a 5 year hiatus, as well as the last single he would release in his lifetime. Bittersweet subtext aside, it’s a very lovely, happy song that imitates many older rock and roll styles from the 50s and 60s with the budding sounds of the 80s echoing in as well. It’s thematically a delightful song as well: put aside the blame, don’t waste time, love is special, celebrate it, don’t let past mistakes dictate the future, it can be just like starting over. I love that mentality. Let’s move forward and remember what means the most to us, that we love each other.
John Lennon, for all his ideas of peace and love and social change, was by no means a perfect family man, and I’ve inferred that he was immature towards his first wife and first child and not the father he should have been. He had many cruxes. He was flawed. I do see evidence of change and a serious effort to turn a page and correct past mistakes in the last five years of his life in particular. This song seems to be a celebration of those revelations and the happiness that years away from the spotlight provided in terms of taking care of and being with his family.
Family and love are the most important things and this song as well as many others featured on the album Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey are emblematic of this.
It is impossible to always know what is behind the curtain with public peoples whose works we admire, but the joy and happiness and introspection that Lennon’s music has brought me is perhaps second to none.
#195/420 - John Lennon, “Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)”
One of several great politically charged singles of the Plastic Ono Band era along with “Give Peace a Chance”, “Power to the People”, and “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”, this is my favorite of them. Another John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Phil Spector production, it was written, produced, and released in the span of only 10 days, and features George Harrison, Billy Preston, and the unknown Beatle, Mal Evans, among others.
I enjoy the heavy, raw quality of the recording and instrumentation here that come with the quick turnaround. It is one of the Lennon/Spector songs to really have that big Spector sound behind it too, this being the first such collaboration which led to Spector working on Let It Be as well as other Lennon and Harrison works.
The idea behind the song is a provocative one as well. Be a part of it all, you get what you give, you are everlasting.
In my Chicago apartment during college, I had a large drawing on my wall of John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison with “We All Shine On” written beneath it. It is interesting indeed how that is so.
#196/420 - John Lennon, “Imagine”
A song that finds its way onto many greatest of all time lists for good reason, this is one of the most calming and thoughtful songs out there to grace pop culture. Its message is a very intriguing one, to imagine if society were structured differently out of peace and love and sharing. It’s of course a message that can be taken and even misconstrued in many ways, but at its heart, it is a difficult message to totally corrupt and has always been one of my personal favorite songs.
Some have and will continue to criticize John Lennon and Yoko Ono for their wealth and how that it is a bit hypocritical to write this song and still live in a New York penthouse, but I have never viewed the Lennons, or any artists for that matter, as oppressive or prohibitory to the freedom or ability to give of others.
It’s fair to imagine such things no matter who you are or where you are in life. Some change takes a great deal of time and thought to happen, and it is a testament to his legacy that this song remains on our collective minds close to 40 years after his death.
#197/420 - John Lennon, “Grow Old with Me”
One of the saddest, most touching, beautiful, tragic songs I have ever heard. It is my favorite from John Lennon because it is the closest to my heart.
Hearing the words “grow old with me” and “the best is yet to be” sung by someone to the woman he loves, just before his assassination is almost beyond description.
This is an ultimate reminder of how precious and fleeting every moment is. And it is the very sad, but loving conclusion to an inspiring career from one of the most thoughtful and convention-challenging and defying voices of a generation.
Last night I was at a bar in Monterey, California and I offered to sing any song by John Lennon to the band performing there. They chose "Jealous Guy" and my tradition of singing John Lennon in bars with random awesome bands continues. Thanks for the music.
Next week, while 1980 lost one of its biggest outspoken voices in music with John Lennon, there was not silence to follow. The 80s birthed many new outspoken voices, and two of the loudest and most controversial were Chuck D’s and Flavor Flav’s as members of now legendary hip hop group, Public Enemy.
420 to 30: A Music Retrospective
Week 2: The Jackson 5/The Jacksons
Week 3: A Tribe Called Quest
Week 4: Weezer
Week 5: Bob Dylan
Week 6: Led Zeppelin
Week 7: 2Pac/Makaveli
Week 8: Billy Joel
Week 9: Electric Light Orchestra
Week 10: Elvis Presley
Week 11: Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band
Week 12: The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Week 13: Nirvana
Week 14: The Doors
Week 15: The Rolling Stones
Week 16: Gnarls Barkley
Week 17: Gábor Szabó
Week 18: Galaxie 500
Week 19: Simon & Garfunkel
Week 20: Gorillaz
Week 21: Ennio Morricone
Week 22: The Moody Blues
Week 23: Koji Kondo
Week 24: Rob Zombie/White Zombie
Week 25: Paul McCartney/Wings
Week 26: George Harrison
Week 27: Phil Spector
View the full list of "420 Songs" here: https://tinyurl.com/y8fboudu (Google spreadsheet link)