I Found Out

"I Found Out" is another minimalist tune from John, but similar to "Mother", it's rather more on the negative side ("negative" of course being altogether dependent on the listener's individual viewpoint). Lennon snarls out the words with an impressively caustic vocal style while Ringo kills it on drums. The lyrics mainly speak to John's disenchantment with religion. He singles out several religions in biting attacks, and even goes for the throat when he rips into his former Beatles bandmates, George and Paul. The fourth verse hints at and mocks George Harrison's interest and belief in eastern spirituality:

Old Hare Krishna got nothing on you
Just keep you crazy with nothing to do
Keep you occupied with pie in the sky
There ain't no guru who can see through your eyes.

In the final verse he takes a more direct stab at McCartney, with whom he had shared such a tumultuous bromance in earlier years: "I seen through junkies, I been through it all / I seen religion from Jesus to Paul". Here, Lennon's likening religion to drug addiction (a similarity I can agree with, generally speaking), but he also references Paul. Presumably he's speaking of Paul, the Apostle formerly known asשָׁאוּל . However, it's also a snide reference to Paul the Beatle. John's (possibly) suggesting that everyone who likes Paul McCartney is simply subscribing to another false religion and might as well be just another empty-headed junkie. In this respect, John reminds me of a hipster--he hated Paul before it was cool. It's a really obscure hate, you probably haven't heard of it.

The first verse is my favorite... all that talk about "stay[ing] away from my door / Don't give me that brother, brother, brother, brother". Looks like the Jehovah's Witnesses paid a visit to John Lennon at some point. :P

Despite the obvious sense of disappointment that Lennon conveys through his trenchant lyrics, I actually like the overall message. I happen to agree with the basic idea, and although I can identify somewhat with the anger, it's not a dominant aspect of my own experiences so it's a little more brutal to me. Overall what I enjoy and understand most about this song are the last lines of the fourth and fifth verses, which inform the listener that no religion can replace his/her own life experiences, which are worth more than devotion to any supernatural deity. "There ain't no guru who can see through your eyes", and "No one can harm you, feel your own pain" seem to encourage us to respect our own experience and rely on ourselves to work through hardships. That's a message I can get behind. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heard It Tally: 0

Songs Completed: 3