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John Lennon - Crippled Inside

John Lennon - Crippled Inside Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Imagine
Released: 1971

Crippled Inside Lyrics

You can shine your shoes and wear a suit
You can comb your hair and look quite cute
You can hide your face behind a smile
One thing you can't hide
Is when you're Crippled Inside

You can wear a mask and paint your face
You can call yourself the human race
You can wear a collar and a tie
One thing you can't hide
Is when you're crippled inside

Well now you know that your
Cat has nine lives
Nine lives to itself
But you only got one
And a dog's life ain't fun
Momma take a look outside

You can go to church and sing a hymn
You can judge me by the color of my skin
You can live a lie until you die
One thing you can't hide
Is when you're crippled inside

Well now you know that your
Cat has nine lives
Nine lives to itself
But you only got one
And a dog's life ain't fun
Momma take a look outside

You can go to church and sing a hymn
Judge me by the color of my skin
You can live a lie until you die
One thing you can't hide
Is when you're crippled inside

One thing you can't hide
Is when you're crippled inside
One thing you can't hide
Is when you're crippled inside

Writer/s: LENNON, JOHN
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Crippled Inside

Lennon wrote this for his 1971 Imagine album. The second track therein, it features Ted Turner of Wishbone Ash on acoustic guitar. Decades later - in a December 2012 trans-Atlantic phone call from Arizona - Turner told Geoff Dorsett of Portsmouth's 93.7 Express FM how this came about.

They had some mutual friends, and one night around 11pm he received a phone call as the band was recording the Pilgrimage album at Apple Studios. It was John Lennon who asked if he would like to play on a session. When?, asked Ted. Right at that moment! Andy Powell received the same invitation, but declined. Ted was picked up in a Rolls with Nicky Hopkins, and at the studio were George and Ringo, but not Paul. He laid down some acoustic rhythm guitar, and as this was the last session, afterwards they played back the entire album for the first time.

John Lennon - Whatever Gets You Thru The Night

John Lennon - Whatever Gets You Thru The Night Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Walls And Bridges
Released: 1974

Whatever Gets You Thru The Night Lyrics

Whatever gets you through the night
It's all right, it's all right
It's your money or your life
It's all right, it's all right
Don't need a sword to cut through' flowers
Oh no, oh no

Whatever gets you through your life
It's all right, it's all right
Do it wrong, or do it right
It's all right, it's all right

Don't need a watch to waste your time
Oh no, oh no

Hold me, darlin', come on, listen to me
I won't do you no harm
Trust me, darlin', come on, listen to me
Come on, listen to me; come on, listen, listen

Whatever gets you to the light
It's all right, it's all right
Out of the blue, or out of sight
It's all right, it's all right
Don't need a gun to blow you mind
Oh no, oh no

Hold me, darlin', come on, listen to me
I won't do you no harm
Trust me, darlin', come on, listen to me
Come on, listen to me, come on, listen, listen

Writer/s: LENNON, JOHN
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Whatever Gets You Thru The Night

Elton John sang backing vocals and also played piano on this. He famously wagered Lennon that this song would become a #1 hit. When it did, Lennon made good on the wager by making a guest appearance at an Elton John concert on Thanksgiving night 1974 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It turned out to be Lennon's last live rock performance.
That night, the duo also sang The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There." Backstage, Yoko Ono reunited with Lennon, ending John's 18-month separation from her, known as his "Lost Weekend."

This hit the top of the US charts, but it fell fast. It spent just 3 weeks in the Top-10 before dropping from 2-16 in November 1974. In 2004 Fantasia broke this record when after 2 weeks in the Top Ten "I Believe" dropped from #6-18.

In December, 2005, John and Yoko's personal assistant May Pang told Radio Times: "At night he (John Lennon) loved to channel-surf, and he would pick up phrases from all the shows. One time, he was watching Reverend Ike, a famous black evangelist, who was saying, "Let me tell you guys, it doesn't matter, it's whatever gets you through the night." John loved it and said, "I've got to write it down or I'll forget it." He always kept a pad and pen by the bed. That was the beginning of Whatever Gets You Thru The Night."

With this song, Lennon became the last of the Beatles to hit #1 US in their respective post-Beatles careers. By this time Paul McCartney had hit #1 three times, and George Harrison and Ringo Starr twice each.

In 1975 Lennon helped out on Elton's John's #1 cover of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds." Lennon played guitar on that track and was credited as "Dr. Winston O'Boogie."

What was it like recording the Walls And Bridges album? When we asked David Thoener, who was an engineer at the sessions, he told us: "It was amazing. Despite all of the personal pain John Lennon was in, (it was during his lost weekend) he was a consummate professional in the studio. Almost as if working kept him sane, through those difficult times. Working with him was quite an experience and something I am very glad to have been part of."

John Lennon - Listen, The Snow Is Falling

John Lennon - Listen, The Snow Is Falling Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: single release only
Released: 1972

Listen, The Snow Is Falling Lyrics

Listen, The Snow Is Falling

This was written by Yoko Ono , was produced by her, John Lennon and Phil Spector, and was released on the Apple label January 21, 1972 as the B Side of "Mind Train."

This was not though the first recording of the song; in his authorized biography of Al Stewart, Neville Judd reveals that it was actually recorded, apparently for the first time, in the basement flat at number 10 Elvaston Place. Al moved there on January 1, 1968, and no, his relationship with Yoko was strictly professional, by that time he had already hooked up with Mandi, the love of his life and the woman who nearly wrecked his head, until he met his future wife at the age of 42.

When Yoko recorded the 45, she sent him a copy.

The song opens with wintry sound effects, and has a Japanese feel to it, though it remains to be seen if this is for the obvious reason, accidental or perhaps even illusory. (thanks, Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2)

John Lennon - Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)

John Lennon - Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Double Fantasy
Released: 1980

Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) Lyrics

Close your eyes
Have no fear
The monster's gone
He's on the run and your daddy's here

[Chorus:]
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy

Before you go to sleep
Say a little prayer
Every day in every way
It's getting better and better

[Chorus]

Out on the ocean sailing away
I can hardly wait
To see you come of age
But I guess we'll both just have to be patient
'Cause it's a long way to go
A hard row to hoe
Yes it's a long way to go
But in the meantime

Before you cross the street
Take my hand
Life is what happens to you
While you're busy making other plans

[Chorus]

Before you go to sleep
Say a little prayer
Every day in every way
It's getting better and better

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful boy
Darling, darling, darling
Darling Sean

Writer/s: Lennon, John
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)

Lennon wrote this for his second son, Sean, who he had with Yoko Ono. Sean was born in 1975. (thanks, Mason - San Antonio, TX)

The line, "Every day and in every way I am getting better and better" is a self-improvement mantra. It was popularized by a French psychologist named Emile Coue, who made his patients repeat it over and over.

Richard Dreyfuss' character, Mr Holland, sings this to his deaf son in the movie Mr. Holland's Opus. In the scene, Mr. Holland is upset over the death of John Lennon. When his son asks him what is wrong, Mr. Holland explains that he wouldn't understand. The deaf son gets upset over this because he is not stupid, so Mr. Holland holds a concert at a school for the deaf and sings this song to his son. (thanks, Andrew - Oklahoma City, OK)

Notice the tribute in the song to Paul McCartney in the lyrics, "Every day, in every way, it's getting better and better." This is from The Beatles' song "Getting Better" - John's contribution to that song at the time was cynical and witty (his lyric was "it can't get no worse") but here he was sending a little message to Paul that Paul was right, life does just get keep getting better and better. (thanks, Leigh - NY, NY)

John Lennon - Instant Karma

John Lennon - Instant Karma Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Very Best Of John Lennon
Released: 1970

Instant Karma Lyrics

Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you right in the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon your gonna be dead

What in the world you thinking of?
Laughing in the face of love
What on Earth you tryna do?
It's up to you, yeah, you

Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you right in the face
You better get yourself together darling
Join the human race

How in the world you gonna see?
Laughing at fools like me
Who on Earth do you think you are?
A superstar? Well, right you are

And we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well, we all shine on
Everyone, c'mon

Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you off your feet
Better recognize your brothers
Everyone you meet

Why in the world are we here?
Surely not to live in pain and fear
Why on Earth are you there
When you're everywhere
Gonna get your share

Well, we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah, we all shine on
C'mon and on and on, on, on

Yeah, yeah, alright

Well, we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah, we all shine on
On and on and on, on and on

And we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well, we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun

Yeah, we all shine on
Like the moons and the stars and the sun
Yeah, we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Writer/s: LENNON, JOHN /
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Instant Karma

Karma is the belief that your actions effect your future lives. Good deeds will have a positive effect while bad deeds bring negative consequences. The concept of Karma is popular in the Hindu and Buddhist religions. Lennon's idea of "Instant Karma" refers to a more immediate concept of accountability for your actions. Basically, what comes around, goes around.

John Lennon wrote and recorded this song in one day, which was either January 26 or 27, 1970, depending on the source. It was unusual in the Beatles era for a song to be written and put into tape the same day. Lennon told Rolling Stone in January 1971 about the recording of this song and its quick turnaround: "I wrote it in the morning on the piano. I went to the office and sang it many times. So I said 'Hell, let's do it,' and we booked the studio, and Phil came in, and said, 'How do you want it?' I said, 'You know, 1950's.' He said, 'right,' and boom, I did it in about three goes or something like that. I went in and he played it back and there it was. The only argument was that I said a bit more bass, that's all; and off we went."

In this song, Lennon addresses critics who are not on board with his message of unity and hope ("You better get yourself together..."), but according to Yoko Ono, the song is really an invitation, not a condemnation. "It's like, 'Let's all be together and anybody who's out there who's not in this game, why don't you join us?,'" she told Uncut in 1998. "And to say that 'We all shine on,' it's a beautiful, beautiful thing, instead of saying some people are shining and some people are not. It's a really uplifting song."

A good indication of Lennon's mindset at the time and inspiration for this song can be seen in the statement he and Yoko released on December 31, 1969, declaring 1970 "Year 1 AP (After Peace)." The statement read: "We believe that the last decade was the end of the old machine crumbling to pieces. And we think we can get it together, with your help. We have great hopes for the new year."

George Harrison played guitar on this and Billy Preston played piano on this track. Preston helped out The Beatles with their Let It Be Album.

According to Philip Norman's book John Lennon: The Life, the chorus was made up of Mal Evans, Yoko, and a small group of strangers Lennon rounded up from a West End pub called Hatchetts.

In 2007 U2, Christina Aguilera, R.E.M. and Black Eyed Peas all contributed to an album of John Lennon cover songs called Instant Karma.

This was the first of many recordings by members of the Beatles that Phil Spector produced in 1970. He helmed three albums in the same year for them, which were Let It Be for The Beatles, All Things Must Pass for George Harrison and Plastic Ono Band for John Lennon. According to the BBC book The Record Producers, John Lennon wanted Spector to produce a single before letting him take on Let It Be. "Instant Karma" proved that Spector could work with sparse instrumentation and still produce a hit, and it won over Lennon.

In 1993, "Instant Karma" was used in a Nike commercial directed by David Fincher. Predictably, many of Lennon's fans did not appreciate his music being used to support a major corporation, and Yoko Ono took some heat for allowing the song's use. Yoko explained her decision in an interview with Option, where she said: "Look, even if we have something against big business, big business is going to thrive. It's going to be there. The way I see it is: I've got an access there for millions of people to hear 'Instant Karma'; and I got $800,000, which went to the United Negro College Fund. That's what I got for that song. You have a problem with that? What's the alternative? Big business is going to be there no matter what we do. So if it's going to be there, why don't we use it for positive things. To say this is wrong is the same kind of snobbery as, like, an avant-garde composer saying, 'Ah, we should not do that commercial deal; it's bad.' I don't buy that. I mean, what is sell-out? What does sell-out mean?"

Alan White played drums on this song. White was a member of the band Yes, and also worked with George Harrison, Joe Cocker, Ginger Baker and The Ventures. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

The title of the Stephen King novel The Shining, which was later made into a film starring Jack Nicholson, was inspired by the refrain in this song: "We all shine on."

At first, King called his novel The Shine, but when he found out that "Shine" was an archaic, derogatory term used to describe African-Americans (referring to shoe-shiners), he changed it to The Shining.

Instant Karma is also the title of Mark Swartz' 2002 novel.

In their 2009 "Blue Sky" TV commercial, Chase bank used a version of this song sung by Peter Murphy. While the "We all shine on" chorus is a sensible sentiment for a bank looking to attract new customers, invoking "Karma" at a time when large banks like Chase helped trigger a financial meltdown was a questionable call. Also puzzling was the choice of Murphy, who is the former lead singer of the Goth band Bauhaus.

John Lennon - Woman

John Lennon - Woman Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Double Fantasy
Released: 1980

Woman Lyrics

Woman, I can hardly express
My mixed emotions and my thoughtlessness
After all, I'm forever in your debt
And woman, I will try to express my inner feelings and thankfulness
For showing me the meaning of success

Ooh, well, doo doo doo doo doo.
Ooh, well, well, doo doo doo doo doo

Woman, I know you understand the little child inside a man
Please remember, my life is in your hands, and woman
Hold me close to your heart, however distant don't keep us apart
After all it is written in the stars

Ooh, well

Woman, please let me explain
I never meant to cause you sorrow or pain
So let me tell you again and again and again
I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah, now and forever
I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah, now and forever

Writer/s: Lennon, John
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Woman

Lennon wrote this song as an ode to his wife Yoko Ono. He regarded it as the most Beatles-like track on his Double Fantasy album and he called it the '80s update of "Girl," which is a track on Rubber Soul. Speaking with Rolling Stone just days before his death, Lennon said: "'Woman' came about because, one sunny afternoon in Bermuda, it suddenly hit me what women do for us. Not just what my Yoko does for me, although I was thinking in those personal terms... but any truth is universal. What dawned on me was everything I was taking for granted. Women really are the other half of the sky, as I whisper at the beginning of the song. It's a 'we' or it ain't anything."

In many ways, this song is Lennon's apology to Yoko. In 1973, the couple was having problems in their marriage, so Yoko agreed to put their relationship on hold and let John sow his oats. He did, taking up with his assistant May Pang and engaging in some unruly behavior. Lennon referred to this time as his "Lost Weekend" - it lasted about 18 months.

This was released as a single in January 1981, about a month after Lennon was murdered.

In the UK, this replaced Lennon's "Imagine" at #1, which had been reissued following Lennon's death. This was the first time an artist replaced himself at UK #1 since The Beatles did it in 1963 with "She Loves You" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand."

This is the only song title for which Lennon and McCartney wrote separate songs. In 1966 McCartney wrote a song of the same title for Peter & Gordon, using the pseudonym Bernard Webb.

John Lennon - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

John Lennon - Happy Xmas (War Is Over) Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Shaved Fish
Released: 1971

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) Lyrics

(Happy Christmas Kyoko)
(Happy Christmas Julian)

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy new year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy new year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
A new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
We hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy new year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now

Happy Christmas

Writer/s: Ono, Yoko / Lennon, John
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote this in their New York City hotel room and recorded it during the evening of October 28 and into the morning of the 29th, 1971 at the Record Plant in New York. It was released in the US for Christmas, but didn't chart. The next year, it was released in the UK, where it did much better.

John and Yoko spent a lot of time in the late '60s and early '70s working to promote peace. In 1969, they put up billboard advertisements in major cities around the world that said, "War is over! (If you want it)." Two years later this slogan became the basis for this song when Lennon decided to make a Christmas record with an anti-war message. John also claimed another inspiration for writing the song: he said he was "sick of 'White Christmas.'"

The children's voices are the Harlem Community Choir, who were brought in to sing on this track. They are credited on the single along with Yoko and The Plastic Ono Band.

Lennon and Ono produced this with the help of Phil Spector. Spector had worked on some of the later Beatles songs and also produced Lennon's "Instant Karma." It was not Spector's first foray into Christmas music: he and his famous session stars (including a 17-year-old Cher) spent 6 weeks in the summer of 1963 putting together A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector, featuring artists like The Ronettes and Darlene Love. Unfortunately, the album was released on November 22, 1963, which was the same day US president John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and the album sold poorly as America was focused on news of the killing.

This was originally released on clear green vinyl with Yoko Ono's "Listen, The Snow Is Falling" as the B-side.

At the beginning of the song, two whispers can be heard. Yoko whispers: "Happy Christmas, Kyoko" (Kyoko Chan Cox is Yoko's daughter with Anthony Cox) and John whispers: "Happy Christmas, Julian" (John's son with Cynthia). (thanks, Martin - Rostock, Germany)

This being a Phil Spector production, four guitarists were brought in to play acoustic guitars: Hugh McCracken, Chris Osbourne, Stu Scharf and Teddy Irwin. McCracken had recently played on the Paul McCartney album Ram. Jim Keltner played drums and sleigh bells, Nicky Hopkins played chimes and glockenspiel. Keltner and Hopkins were part of Lennon's Plastic Ono Band, and a third member, Klaus Voorman, was supposed to play bass on this track, but got stuck on a flight from Germany. One of the guitarists brought in for the session cover the bass - which one nobody seems to remember.

Lennon was shot and killed less than three weeks before Christmas in 1980. The song was re-released in the UK on December 20th of that year.

This has been covered by The Alarm, The Cranes, The December People, and Melissa Etheridge (in a medley with "Give Peace a Chance"). The Australian artist Delta Goodrem also covered this in 2003. She received special permission from Yoko Ono to record the song. (thanks, Katie - Australia)

This was covered by a group called Street Drum Corps. Bert McCracken, the frontman for rock band The Used, supplied vocals for their cover. It appears on the album Taste Of Christmas, released in the winter of 2005. The album is a compilation of classic and original Christmas songs as done by artists on the Taste Of Chaos tour. (thanks, Chris - Andover, MN)

The chord sand melody borrow heavily from the traditional English folk standard "Skewball," in particular the 1963 version (titled "Stewball") by Peter, Paul and Mary.

When Lennon first played his demo for Phil Spector, the producer remarked that the song's opening line, "So this is Christmas...", was rhythmically identical to the Paris Sisters' 1961 hit "I Love How You Love Me," which he produced.

Though now a Christmas standard, Lennon originally penned this as a protest song about the Vietnam War, and the idea "that we're just as responsible as the man who pushes the button. As long as people imagine that somebody's doing it to them and that they have no control, then they have no control."

John Lennon - Mother

John Lennon - Mother Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band
Released: 1970

Mother Lyrics

Mother, you had me
But I never had you
I wanted you
But you didn't want me
So
I just got to tell you
Goodbye
Goodbye

Father, you left me
But I never left you
I needed you
But you didn't need me
So
I just got to tell
Goodbye
Goodbye

Children, don't do
What I have done
I couldn't walk
And I tried to run
So
I just got to tell you
Goodbye
Goodbye

Mama don't go
Daddy come home
Mama don't go
Daddy come home
Mama don't go
Daddy come home
Mama don't go
Daddy come home
Mama don't go
Daddy come home
Mama don't go
Daddy come home
Mama don't go
Daddy come home
Mama don't go
Daddy come home
Mama don't go
Daddy come home
Mama don't go

Writer/s: LENNON
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Mother

Lennon wrote this while he was undergoing "Primal Scream" therapy, where he was dealing with a lot of issues that were detailed in the lyrics: He lost his mother at a crucial period in his life to a drunk-driving, off-duty policeman who ran her over in a crosswalk, and his aunt Mimi raised him, which explains the line, "Mother you had me, but I never had you." His father, a merchant seaman, left him for the sea and for work. "I wanted you, you didn't need me" explains his feelings about his dad. Lennon's primal screaming on this song expresses the pain of his childhood. (thanks, Bob - Boston, MA)

The church bell heard at the start of this track was actually faster and higher-pitched initially, and John actually slowed it down to make it sound spookier and more haunting. His intention was to sound the death knell for his old life with The Beatles.(thanks, Noel - Barrow-In-Furness, England)

This features Klaus Voormann on bass and Ringo Starr on drums. In addition to his work in music, Voorman is an artist, and designed the cover of The Beatles album Revolver. He also played bass with Manfred Mann. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

On many of his early solo recordings such as this one, Lennon's arrangements are more simpler and sparser than on the Beatles songs. In the January 1971 edition of Rolling Stone, he explained this was because, "I've always liked simple rock." The former Beatle added: "I was influenced by acid and got psychedelic, like the whole generation, but really, I like rock and roll and I express myself best in rock. I had a few ideas to do this with 'Mother' and that with 'Mother' but when you just hear, the piano does it all for you, your mind can do the rest. I think the backings on mine are as complicated as the backings on any record you've ever heard, if you've got an ear.

Anybody knows that. Any musician will tell you, just play a note on a piano, it's got harmonics in it. It got to that. What the hell, I didn't need anything else."

Producer John Leckie explained to Uncut magazine August 2010 that the screams heard on this track were actually edited into the song once the rest of the vocal had been recorded. Lennon would attempt the screaming finale every night, careful never to try it in the daytime in case it destroyed his voice. "The screams were double-tracked," Leckie pointed out. "John didn't like the raw sound of his own voice. He always wanted lots of stuff on it. Spector's contribution, really, was to be generous with reverb and echo."

This is one of three songs which Lennon wrote for his mother, along with "Julia" and "My Mummy's Dead".

The psychologist Arthur Janov created primal scream therapy, which he detailed in his book The Primal Scream. Folks were always sending Lennon books, and a copy of Janov's book found him. Lennon was intrigued because the therapy reminded him of the screaming Yoko would often do in her works, but then he looked into it as a way of helping him resolve issues from his childhood. John and Yoko invited Janov to England, where they met with him to vet his practice. They liked what they heard and decided to try some sessions when they went to Los Angeles. For Lennon, it was a breakthrough, and led to this song.

"It's just a matter of breaking the wall that's there in yourself and come out and let it all hang out to the point that you start crying," Yoko said in describing the therapy (Uncut, 1998). She added: "He was going back to the days of when he wanted to scream, 'Mother.' He was able to go back to that childhood, that memory."

John Lennon - How Do You Sleep?

John Lennon - How Do You Sleep? Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Imagine
Released: 1971

How Do You Sleep? Lyrics

So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise
You better through that mother's eyes
Those freaks was right when they said you was dead
The one mistake you made was in your head
How Do You Sleep?
Ah how do you sleep at night?

You live with straights who tell you you was king
Jump when your mamma tell you any thing
The only thing you did was yesterday
And since your gone you're just another day
How do you sleep?
Ah how do you sleep at night?

A pretty face may last a year or two
But pretty soon they'll see what you can do
The sound you make is muzak to my ears
You must have learnt something all those years
How do you sleep?
Ah how do you sleep at night?

Writer/s: LENNON, JOHN
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

How Do You Sleep?

Lennon wrote this at the height of his feud with Paul McCartney after The Beatles broke up. Each line of the song is an attack on some aspect of McCartney's life or music at the time. For instance, the line "Everything you done was yesterday. Since you gone you're just another day" refers to Paul's song "Yesterday" with The Beatles and his first solo single "Another Day." John felt that Paul's greatest work was behind him.

When the Imagine album was originally released, it contained a postcard of John holding the ears of a large pig. This was making fun of Paul's 1971 album cover for Ram, released before Imagine, where Paul is pictured holding the horns of a ram. On the back of the Ram album, Paul included a picture of two beetles 'screwing,' or saying to John 'screw' you from one Beatle to another.

The feud between Lennon and McCartney originated after The Beatles manager Brian Epstein passed away. Paul wanted his new father-in-law to manage the group while the other Beatles wanted the notorious Allen Klein. Lennon and McCartney maintained a frosty relationship after the band broke up. By most accounts, McCartney contacted Lennon periodically, but was often rebuffed. The last time they saw each other was two years before Lennon's death when they shared dinner in New York. In a 2008 interview with The Times of London, McCartney said: "The answer to John was well - I was sleeping very well at the time. Before John died I got back a good relationship with him. That was very special. The arguments we had didn't matter. We were able to just take the piss about all those songs; they weren't that harsh. In fact, I have been thanked by Yoko and everyone else for saving the Beatles from Allen Klein. Everything comes round in the end."

This appears in John and Yoko's film Imagine. (thanks, Mike - Little Falls, NJ, for above 4)

Some of Lennon's lyrics refer to McCartney's "Too Many People" from his album Ram (Hence the pig postcard). The lyrics from "Too Many People" that referred to Lennon: "Too many people preaching practices" and "You took your lucky break and broke it in two." (thanks, John - Watertown, WI)

Nicky Hopkins, an Apple records protégé who Paul McCartney produced on his song "Those Are The Days My Friend," played piano on this.

George Harrison played lead guitar on this track, and Klaus Voorrman played the bass. Voorman, an old friend from The Beatles Hamburg days, did the cover collage for The Beatles album Revolver. The fact that others who were close to McCartney also played on this track made it even more painful for the former Beatle. (thanks, Chet - Saratoga Springs, NY, for above 2)

Lennon discussed this song in an interview with BBC Radio 1 DJ Andy Peebles on December 6, 1980, four days before his death. He recalled: "I used my resentment against Paul, that I have as a kind of sibling rivalry resentment from youth, to write a song. It was a creative rivalry… It was not a vicious vendetta… but I felt resentment, so I used that situation the same as I used withdrawing from heroin to write Cold Turkey; I used my resentment and withdrawing from Paul and the Beatles to write How Do You Sleep?" (Source Q magazine November 2010)

John Lennon - Cold Turkey

John Lennon - Cold Turkey Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Lennon Boxed Set
Released: 1969

Cold Turkey Lyrics

Temperature's rising
Fever is high
Can't see no future
Can't see no sky

My feet are so heavy
So is my head
I wish I was a baby
I wish I was dead

Cold Turkey has got me on the run
My body is aching
Goose-pimple bone
Can't see no body
Leave me alone

My eyes are wide open
Can't get to sleep
One thing I'm sure of
I'm at the deep freeze

Cold turkey has got me on the run
Cold turkey has got me on the run

Thirty-six hours
Rolling in pain
Praying to someone
Free me again

Oh I'll be a good boy
Please make me well
I promise you anything
Get me out of this hell

Cold turkey has got me on the run

Writer/s: LENNON, JOHN
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Cold Turkey Song Chart

This song is about drug withdrawal. Quitting "Cold Turkey" means abruptly stopping drug use, and wreaks havoc on the body because it has to suddenly adjust to not getting drugs. John Lennon quit cold turkey because he wanted to get off drugs and start a family with Yoko (who also quit with him). He wrote this song about that experience.

Lennon wanted to record this with The Beatles for their Abbey Road album, but the other Beatles rejected it. Lennon recorded it with a group of musicians he called The Plastic Ono Band and released it as a single. It was not available on an album.

Lennon's second single away from The Beatles. "Give Peace A Chance" was released a few months earlier.

Lennon performed this in September, 1969 at "The Toronto Rock and Revival Show," featuring Eric Clapton on guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass, and Alan White on drums. The set was released as a live album.

Eric Clapton played some of the guitar on this. Lennon asked Clapton to join The Plastic Ono Band, but Eric declined.

Lennon wrote and recorded this song before attending Arthur Janov's Primal Scream therapy workshop, which played a part in his song "Mother." The screams he used in "Cold Turkey," he was actually emulating Yoko singing.

Lennon discussed this song in an interview with BBC Radio 1 DJ Andy Peebles on December 6, 1980, four days before his death. He recalled: "Cold Turkey was banned. They thought it was a pro-drugs song. But I've always expressed what I've been feeling or thinking at the time. So I was just writing the experience I'd had of withdrawing from heroin. To some it was a rock 'n' roll version of The Man With The Golden Arm because it showed Frank Sinatra suffering from drug withdrawal." (Source Q magazine November 2010)

When John Lennon decided to return his MBE (Member of the British Empire) award on November 25, 1969, he sent it to Queen Elizabeth II with a note explaining, "I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against 'Cold Turkey' slipping down the charts."

John Lennon - God

John Lennon - God Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band
Released: 1970

God Lyrics

God is a concept
By which we measure
Our pain
I'll say it again
God is a concept
By which we measure
Our pain

I don't believe in magic
I don't believe in I-Ching
I don't believe in Bible
I don't believe in tarot
I don't believe in Hitler
I don't believe in Jesus
I don't believe in Kennedy
I don't believe in Buddha
I don't believe in mantra
I don't believe in Gita
I don't believe in yoga
I don't believe in kings
I don't believe in Elvis
I don't believe in Zimmerman
I don't believe in Beatles
I just believe in me
Yoko and me
And that's reality

The dream is over
What can I say?
The dream is over
Yesterday
I was the dream weaver
But now I'm reborn
I was the Walrus
But now I'm John
And so dear friends
You just have to carry on
The dream is over

Writer/s: LENNON
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

God Song Chart

Lennon wrote this about the worship of false idols. He felt organized religion did more harm than good. In "Imagine," he sang about a better world where there was "no religion."

Lennon was not an atheist, but believed that god was something different to everyone. He also believed that people focus too much on the teacher (God) rather than what is supposed to be taught. In songs like this and "Imagine," Lennon's was trying to send the message that we should not let religion and other things get in the way of how we think life should be lived. In "Imagine," "Living for today" means to live as if there is no afterlife or god and to do the best you can. In this song, "I just believe in me" states his belief in his life regardless of anything else. (thanks, Justin - washington, DC)

Before recording this album, John and Yoko began "Primal Scream therapy," which was a very emotional time for them. Lennon was dealing with the breakup of The Beatles and the death of his mother.

At the time, Lennon had some hard feelings toward The Beatles, especially Paul McCartney. He made a statement that he was moving on with the line, "I don't believe in Beatles."

Billy Preston played piano. He played on some of The Beatles songs, including "Get Back."

Ringo Starr played drums. He and Lennon had a good relationship even after The Beatles broke up.

This contains the classic line, "The Dream Is Over." This summed up the feelings of many who felt their idealistic goals of the '60s were not going to come true.

In the January 1971 edition of Rolling Stone, Lennon said that this, "was put together from three songs almost." He went on to the explain that the words for this "just came out of me mouth." The former Beatle continued: "I had the idea that 'God is the concept by which we measure pain,' so that when you have a word like that, you just sit down and sing the first tune that comes into your head and the tune is simple, because I like that kind of music and then I just rolled into it. It was just going on in my head and I got by the first three or four, the rest just came out. Whatever came out."

Among the list of idols in this song, which Lennon said he didn't believe in was The Beatles. Lennon explained why to Rolling Stone: "I was going to leave a gap, and just fill in your own words: whoever you don't believe in. It had just got out of hand, and Beatles was the final thing because I no longer believe in myth, and Beatles is another myth. I don't believe in it. The dream is over. I'm not just talking about the Beatles, I'm talking about the generation thing. It's over, and we gotta - I have to personally - get down to so-called reality."

Lennon starts this song with the line, "God is a concept by which we measure our pain." He explained to Rolling Stone that, "pain is the pain we go through all the time," Then added: "You're born in pain. Pain is what we are in most of the time, and I think that the bigger the pain, the more God you look for."

When Lennon was recording this stark denunciation of Christianity at Abbey Road studios, George Harrison was next door completing work on All Things Must Pass. "I was in one room singing 'My Sweet Lord'," said Harrison, "and John was in another room singing 'I don't believe in Jesus, I don't believe in nothing'."

John Lennon - Imagine

Hip Hop, ,
John Lennon - Imagine Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Imagine
Released: 1971

Imagine Lyrics

Imagine Song Chart
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Writer/s: LENNON
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

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