At eleven songs, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was quite a short album, but was certainly not short of talent, skill, and emotion. We can see the effects of primal therapy on John's lyrics, which talk about his parents, his thoughts and feelings on various emotional topics, etc. We also see the effects Yoko Ono had on his music, whether it's a love song or he's mentioned her in some way; her influence also goes much deeper than simple lyrical references.
Overall I quite enjoyed the album. I don't think there was a song I straight up disliked--while "Remember" and "God" were awkward in some ways (for me, at least), I still enjoyed them a great deal for other reasons. If the lyrics were strangely or awkwardly delivered, the music was phenomenal; if the music wasn't my favorite, the lyrics more than made up for it. Songs like "Look at Me", and the lyrics of "God", were my favorites and really got into my head. I think that Lennon really delivered with this album, proving he could fly solo with ease and showcasing his prodigious talent.
Tomorrow we'll start the next album, Imagine. See you then!
Friday, July 6, 2012
My Mummy's Dead
"My Mummy's Dead" is the final song on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. It's very short, and set to the tune of "Three Blind Mice", giving it a distinctive childlike atmosphere. It undoubtedly arose from John's primal therapy sessions.
Julia Lennon was hit by a car when Lennon was only 17, an event that traumatized him greatly and served as a catalyst for his entire life. Wikipedia's section on Julia's death and her influence on John is a short but good read, and I recommend clicking through to check it out.
Although it's more of a nursery rhyme than a song, "My Mummy's Dead" strikes a deep chord and John's pain resonates with the listener. We heard his love for her in "Julia", and his anger at her death in "Mother", but this is the one that best shows his pain. Wikipedia states in Julia Lennon's article: "Biographer Ian MacDonald wrote that she was, 'to a great extent... her son's muse.'"
Julia Lennon was hit by a car when Lennon was only 17, an event that traumatized him greatly and served as a catalyst for his entire life. Wikipedia's section on Julia's death and her influence on John is a short but good read, and I recommend clicking through to check it out.
Although it's more of a nursery rhyme than a song, "My Mummy's Dead" strikes a deep chord and John's pain resonates with the listener. We heard his love for her in "Julia", and his anger at her death in "Mother", but this is the one that best shows his pain. Wikipedia states in Julia Lennon's article: "Biographer Ian MacDonald wrote that she was, 'to a great extent... her son's muse.'"
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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 11
Thursday, July 5, 2012
God
Hope you had a restful 4th of July... I relaxed on my day off. :)
Today's song has a pretty heavy title--"God". It's suitable though, really, because this is a heavy song. It feels like the music by itself could serve as a replacement theme for "The Wonder Years", while the lyrics are no doubt still pissing off some fundamentalist Christians somewhere. But before I get too gleeful, let's examine the words verse by verse.
"God is a concept / by which we measure / our pain." That line is so powerful that John decided to "say it again". He wasn't shy about redefining traditional concepts--like taking the Personal Jesus and turning it into a more rational idea, in this case a measure for pain.
The next verse is a list of all the things John Lennon doesn't believe in. I did a bit of a double-take when I heard him sing, "I don't believe in Zimmerman". He was referring to Bob Dylan, but of course I immediately thought of the Trayvon Martin case which is currently shaking things up in this country. Coincidentally I happen to agree with John on both counts--I'm not a huge Dylan fan (maybe I just haven't heard enough of his music), and I'm not a George Zimmerman supporter, either. Lennon's a prophet!
The third and final verse is my favorite. It connects with the last line on his List of Disbelief, "I don't believe in Beatles", and takes it a few steps further.
"Yesterday" and "I Am the Walrus" are of course references to Beatles songs. The line where he says he "was the dream weaver" remind me of songs like "Across the Universe", a song which feels like an ephemeral dream world made into music. Wikipedia adds a note on the repeated line, "The dream is over": "The final line of the song, 'The dream is over' represents Lennon's stance that the myth 'the Beatles were God' had come to an end. 'If there is a God,' Lennon explained, 'we're all it.'"
Overall I would have to say that Lennon, who'd announced during the height of Beatlemania that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus", created a great sequel to that claim in "God".
Today's song has a pretty heavy title--"God". It's suitable though, really, because this is a heavy song. It feels like the music by itself could serve as a replacement theme for "The Wonder Years", while the lyrics are no doubt still pissing off some fundamentalist Christians somewhere. But before I get too gleeful, let's examine the words verse by verse.
"God is a concept / by which we measure / our pain." That line is so powerful that John decided to "say it again". He wasn't shy about redefining traditional concepts--like taking the Personal Jesus and turning it into a more rational idea, in this case a measure for pain.
The next verse is a list of all the things John Lennon doesn't believe in. I did a bit of a double-take when I heard him sing, "I don't believe in Zimmerman". He was referring to Bob Dylan, but of course I immediately thought of the Trayvon Martin case which is currently shaking things up in this country. Coincidentally I happen to agree with John on both counts--I'm not a huge Dylan fan (maybe I just haven't heard enough of his music), and I'm not a George Zimmerman supporter, either. Lennon's a prophet!
The third and final verse is my favorite. It connects with the last line on his List of Disbelief, "I don't believe in Beatles", and takes it a few steps further.
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.
"Yesterday" and "I Am the Walrus" are of course references to Beatles songs. The line where he says he "was the dream weaver" remind me of songs like "Across the Universe", a song which feels like an ephemeral dream world made into music. Wikipedia adds a note on the repeated line, "The dream is over": "The final line of the song, 'The dream is over' represents Lennon's stance that the myth 'the Beatles were God' had come to an end. 'If there is a God,' Lennon explained, 'we're all it.'"
Overall I would have to say that Lennon, who'd announced during the height of Beatlemania that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus", created a great sequel to that claim in "God".
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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 10
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Look at Me
Today's song is "Look at Me", a questioning sort of ballad featuring only John's double-tracked vocals and him on guitar. It was written when The Beatles were still together and creating the White Album. Wikipedia gives us some background on the distinctive picking pattern:
It's a beautiful song. The notes seem to just float around, each one expertly crafted and sent off into the air. The insecure and almost rueful queries that comprise the lyrics don't tell a story, but instead give shape to a mood. There's a lot of feeling in this song and I love it.
The pattern of the song is fairly prominent throughout the song. It was built from a finger-picking technique that Lennon used while with The Beatles, including "Dear Prudence", "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", and "Julia", all of which were also written during the White Album sessions. Lennon learned the song's finger-picking guitar style (known as 'Travis-picking') from the Scottish musician Donovan who was with Lennon at the time at Rishikesh, India.
It's a beautiful song. The notes seem to just float around, each one expertly crafted and sent off into the air. The insecure and almost rueful queries that comprise the lyrics don't tell a story, but instead give shape to a mood. There's a lot of feeling in this song and I love it.
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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 9
Monday, July 2, 2012
Well Well Well
Today I listened to "Well Well Well", which opens with a pretty sick guitar riff, a lot heavier compared to what I've heard so far on this album. The lyrics are interesting, and there's a lot more screaming in the middle than I expected. I like this one a lot.
The neat thing about this song is that it works equally well as a tongue-in-cheek love song ("She looked so beautiful I could eat her"), a call for revolution ("We talked of women's liberation / and how the hell we could get things done"), an enigmatic puzzle ("We both were nervous, feeling guilty / and neither one of us knew just why"), or just a blues-infused rock song. Put all together, it adds up to more than the sum of its parts. Thus far I'd have to say it's my favorite from John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, but the album isn't over yet!
I'm going to count this as one I've heard before--it was in The Departed (2006), so I know for a fact I've heard it, although I don't remember precisely which part of the movie it was in. One of my favorite bands, Cold War Kids, also did a cover which is pretty cool and very faithful to the original.
The neat thing about this song is that it works equally well as a tongue-in-cheek love song ("She looked so beautiful I could eat her"), a call for revolution ("We talked of women's liberation / and how the hell we could get things done"), an enigmatic puzzle ("We both were nervous, feeling guilty / and neither one of us knew just why"), or just a blues-infused rock song. Put all together, it adds up to more than the sum of its parts. Thus far I'd have to say it's my favorite from John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, but the album isn't over yet!
I'm going to count this as one I've heard before--it was in The Departed (2006), so I know for a fact I've heard it, although I don't remember precisely which part of the movie it was in. One of my favorite bands, Cold War Kids, also did a cover which is pretty cool and very faithful to the original.
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Heard It Tally: 1
Songs Completed: 8
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Love
Today's song is a ballad called "Love". It begins very quietly in the original album version, with Phil Spector on piano, and John singing and playing acoustic guitar. It was also re-released on The John Lennon Collection in 1982, two years after his death.
It's another minimalist tune, featuring only two instruments and Lennon's vocals. The lyrics kind of remind me of the cheesy bible verse everyone quotes at weddings (you know the one); however, while they're simple, they aren't simplistic. Lennon delivers a powerful message with only a handful of lines and a nice melody. That's pretty impressive, whichever way you care to look at it, and it was one of his greatest talents--brevity.
One last interesting fact is from Wikipedia: "The picture on the sleeve for 1982 release of 'Love' was taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz on 8 December 1980—the very day of Lennon's murder."
It's another minimalist tune, featuring only two instruments and Lennon's vocals. The lyrics kind of remind me of the cheesy bible verse everyone quotes at weddings (you know the one); however, while they're simple, they aren't simplistic. Lennon delivers a powerful message with only a handful of lines and a nice melody. That's pretty impressive, whichever way you care to look at it, and it was one of his greatest talents--brevity.
One last interesting fact is from Wikipedia: "The picture on the sleeve for 1982 release of 'Love' was taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz on 8 December 1980—the very day of Lennon's murder."
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Heard It Tally: 0
Songs Completed: 7
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Remember
Today's jam is "Remember". This one has a little more going on than what we've heard already, and is based on John's experiences in primal therapy (as I've mentioned previously). While the beat is quicker, the vocals are slower to arrive, creating a kind of dissonance within the song. It even induced a little anxiety in me while I was listening to it, because I had to wait for John to sing the next couple of words each time. Maybe I'm just impatient?
In the song, Lennon references the Fifth of November, a British holiday also known as Guy Fawkes Day or Bonfire Night. Some people (myself included, at one point) assume that the purpose of the often-raucous holiday, celebrated with fireworks and huge bonfires, is to praise Fawkes as a hero, for nearly blowing up the House of Lords in 1605. However, people often burn effigies of Fawkes (and the Pope, in the past) as part of the event--the actual celebration is the fact that the king, James I, escaped the Gunpowder Plot with his life, and Fawkes was caught and hanged as a traitor to the crown. Unfortunately the holiday has been used in the past to persecute Catholics, a tradition that has luckily all but discontinued, but which still leaves its mark on many places in England.
Now, what all this has to do with the point of the song... that's beyond me. The only similarity I can see is the refrain, "Remember, remember", which are the first two words of the poem commemorating the night of the original attempted crime. The words sometimes vary here and there, but the version from V for Vendetta is essentially the same and possibly even slightly more poetic:
It's kind of a lot of explanation for what amounts to a passing reference at the end of the song, but it's an interesting historical tidbit nonetheless. Overall I'm neutral toward the song; I enjoy the beat and the music, but the delivery of the lyrics is somewhat taxing, and the lyrics themselves make a little less sense than I normally enjoy. It seems to be a general encouragement towards the listener to remember the past, but not get hung up on it.
In the end, I'm actually much more bothered by the fact Lennon got the second line wrong. The past tense of hang, as in "to hang a person" rather than to hang, say, a picture, is hanged. The person was hanged; the picture was hung. Grammar, people!
In the song, Lennon references the Fifth of November, a British holiday also known as Guy Fawkes Day or Bonfire Night. Some people (myself included, at one point) assume that the purpose of the often-raucous holiday, celebrated with fireworks and huge bonfires, is to praise Fawkes as a hero, for nearly blowing up the House of Lords in 1605. However, people often burn effigies of Fawkes (and the Pope, in the past) as part of the event--the actual celebration is the fact that the king, James I, escaped the Gunpowder Plot with his life, and Fawkes was caught and hanged as a traitor to the crown. Unfortunately the holiday has been used in the past to persecute Catholics, a tradition that has luckily all but discontinued, but which still leaves its mark on many places in England.
Now, what all this has to do with the point of the song... that's beyond me. The only similarity I can see is the refrain, "Remember, remember", which are the first two words of the poem commemorating the night of the original attempted crime. The words sometimes vary here and there, but the version from V for Vendetta is essentially the same and possibly even slightly more poetic:
Remember, remember, the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot.
I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
It's kind of a lot of explanation for what amounts to a passing reference at the end of the song, but it's an interesting historical tidbit nonetheless. Overall I'm neutral toward the song; I enjoy the beat and the music, but the delivery of the lyrics is somewhat taxing, and the lyrics themselves make a little less sense than I normally enjoy. It seems to be a general encouragement towards the listener to remember the past, but not get hung up on it.
In the end, I'm actually much more bothered by the fact Lennon got the second line wrong. The past tense of hang, as in "to hang a person" rather than to hang, say, a picture, is hanged. The person was hanged; the picture was hung. Grammar, people!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heard It Tally: 0
Songs Completed: 6
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