Working Class Hero

Today's song, "Working Class Hero", is Lennon's ode to the little guy. It's just John, his voice, and his guitar; the simplicity of the song lends itself well to the mood. You can almost imagine it as a traditional folk song, instead of a song about blue-collar people written by a rich white guy (who, granted, came from working-class Liverpool).

The lyrics have a special, almost Dylan quality to them. They're timeless, and in fact are still quite relevant today. In the Occupy age, the era of the Arab Spring and uprisings around the world, "Working Class Hero" serves as a tale of warning for the people: the rich and powerful need a foil. They need people to make them more rich, more powerful, and to keep them that way--and you're just the one for the job. Thus, "a working class hero is something to be". You're contributing to society when I keep you poor, uneducated, and downtrodden, so keep your chin up! You're a hero! Lennon is here drawing attention to the very idea that caused droves of people to camp out on Wall Street and in cities around the country to demand justice, fairness, equality. I'd say that's pretty timeless.

There was of course a hullabaloo regarding the two expletives in the lyrics; in some countries the song and jacket lyrics were censored, and some stations banned the song outright. The student-run station at Georgetown University, however, decided to play the song uncensored, and ran into a little trouble for it:

In 1973, US Representative Harley Orrin Staggers heard the song — which includes the lines "'Til you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules" and "But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see" — on WGTB and lodged a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The manager of the station, Ken Sleeman, faced a year in prison and a $10,000 fine, but defended his decision to play the song saying, "The People of Washington, DC are sophisticated enough to accept the occasional four-letter word in context, and not become sexually aroused, offended, or upset." The charges were dropped.

That makes me laugh a little--nothing like a verbal smackdown in a legal setting. :P

Overall, good song. It's built upon one of the most basic principles of music: a voice and an instrument; yet the message is universally applicable. I do suspect John would actually be disappointed that people today can still relate so closely to his lyrics. He'd probably wonder why the hell we haven't figured this stuff out already. I wonder that too sometimes.

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