P.G Wodehouse said, ’I believe there are two ways of writing novels. One is mine, making a sort of musical comedy without music and ignoring real life altogether; the other is going right deep down into life and not caring a damn...’
Music is not very different. While Wodehouse excelled in ignoring real life altogether, Lennon in this album went right deep down into life and brought out a breathtaking array of songs which grow up on you and leave you awestruck at the genius of the man. This is the first solo Lennon album released in 1971. The Beatles were no more and Lennon had to move on. I must quote here BBC’s music sites comments on this album,
’The release of John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band in January 1971 was a shock to the system for most Beatles fans. This stark ’’primal scream’’ album was recorded following treatment with Dr. Arthur Janov. It is as brilliant as it is disturbing.’
Brilliant yes. Disturbing???? ABSOLUTELY....here’s a sampling of the lyrics:
MOTHER
Mother, you had me, but I never had you
I wanted you, you didn’t want me
So I, I just got to tell you
Goodbye, goodbye
Father, you left me, but I never left you
I needed you, you didn’t need me
So I, I just got to tell you
Goodbye, goodbye
A guy in his thirties grieving for his mother’s loss and begging for his father. Great art has to be disturbing (Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, REM’s Up are good examples), it has to make you sit up in your seat and think and those works which can’t do this just fade away. Lennon expresses his feelings about everything from the Working class (’Working Class Hero’’) to God (’God’) and then there is his tragic personal life that comes to light with songs like ’Isolation’ to ’Look at Me’. Here are some sample lyrics:
Working Class Hero
As soon as you’re born they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
God
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 Dreamweaver
But now I’m reborn
I was the Walrus
But now I’m John
And so dear friends
You’ll just have to carry on
The dream is over
All the songs here are pure gems....this is NOT easy listening...this is Lennon sitting right in front of you in your small matchbox room strumming on his guitar while he tells you his little secrets.
You may find this hard to find here but I did see a copy in Landmark, Chennai. If you do like this album, do try out Lennon’s ’Wonsaponatime’ and ’Imagine’. Here are the sites that I referred to while writing this review
Lyrics@ : https://geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/7821/pob70.html
The BBC site : https://bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/music/muze/index.pl?site=music&action=biography&artist_id=17524