10 Great Lennon (Solo) Songs You Never Think About — But Should
Take A Magical Mystery Tour of Forgotten Songs From John Lennon’s Solo Song Catalog On His Birthday
To be blunt, if John Lennon wasn’t killed by a nutjob, he’d be celebrating — his health willing — an 80th birthday today, Oct. 9, 2020.
And, we’d all be celebrating with Lennon (1940–1980), one of the most properly celebrated music — and don’t forget pop culture and change — icons in our lifetime. From Liverpool to London to NYC to the world, from the Hollywood Bowl and Shea Stadium to the final Beatles public concert in Candlestick Park, Lennon triumphantly and unapologetically led his Fab threesome of friends/brothers Paul, George and Ringo from Liverpool scruffs to global cultural deities. The Beatles.
The world has now officially spent half of Lennon’s birthdays with him, and the other half without him.
Nazi bombs were dismantling Liverpool and the U.K., and only the cries of a newborn John Winston Lennon could be heard above the noise on October 9, 1940. To commemorate his birth and life, I turn to the music. It would be easy to pick a dozen or so “favorite” Beatles tunes Lennon wrote, or co-wrote with Paul McCartney. Actually, that would be too easy.
So, I am intrepid in my journey to highlight a different side of John, and a different period of time.
Lennon: The Solo Years
For those too young to remember, “Imagine” wasn’t a Beatles song. It was a John Lennon song from his ‘solo’ career, a career intertwined forever in time with his second wife, Yoko Ono. “Give Peace a Chance” is another song, forever improperly tied to the credo of peace and freedom shouted from the mountain tops (sometimes screamed —hear: “Revolution”, the single) by John, Paul, George and Ringo. It also is a Lennon song without the Beatles.
John even included the lyric “I don’t believe in Beatles” (in his tortured-soul song “God”.) I believe in Beatles. I believe in the musical legacy that will survive like Brahms and Beethoven, until the end of time.
I also believe John’s post-Beatles life is worth celebrating, so put on a birthday hat and make some noise and enjoy the journey with me highlighting John Lennon as John Lennon, his solo career. Not his best songs, that’s too easy.
10 Great Lennon (Solo) Songs You Never Think About — But Should
[Note: These are not ranked in any particular order — like John’s lyrics, written on note paper, napkins, match packets and whatever was handy to him at the time. These lesser known Lennon songs are listed in vibrant, multi-color stream-of-consciousness fashion. I submit, herein…]
10. Bless You — From ‘Walls and Bridges’ (1974): Haven’t heard of it? Not surprised. Even when you hear it, you may not immediately think ‘this is John Lennon.’ Well, it is. And, it’s an incredible ode to his — at that time separated from, by time zones — Yoko, at her decree to give their relationship some ‘space’ when he recorded the album. The song is slow, soulful (even jazzy) and heartfelt. Lyrically brilliant in its simplicity and directness. It doesn’t necessarily ‘fit’ the rest of the album ‘Walls & Bridges’. It doesn’t necessarily fit a typical Lennon song. But, it fits perfectly on a list of 10 Great Lennon (Solo) Songs You Never Think About.
9. Isolation — From ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’ (1970): A great, great album that never delivered a single “hit” single or song in any way. Also, it didn’t make the airwaves much. Some consider the entire album his best work, ever — even compared to Beatles albums. I consider this song, not only perfect for its time, but perfect to listen to in 2020, where we isolate due to social distancing. We isolate because we’re given stay-at-home orders, or through a dangerous world that has forced us into our homes. We isolate because, like Lennon in 1970, we’re scared. What also elevates this song to the a ‘Songs You Never Think About — But Should’ list, is the perfect pairing of a naked Lennon vocal, with simple, plaintive piano accompaniment.
8. Mind Games — title track from ‘Mind Games’ (1973): OK, so just three songs in, I give in and pick a (moderate) “hit” single from John. But, does anybody besides me really think about this song? Hum it? Do we share its always appropriate “make love not war; I know you’ve heard it before” lyric? Unlike “Isolation,” this song is a big arrangement and production. Soaring strings, a multi-tracked Lennon vocal, and his early 1970’s new take on “All You Need is Love.”
7. Well Well Well — ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’ (1970): Back to a very stripped down Lennon song, which is as much a jam as it is a song, he goes back to the birth of the blues and channels his best Big Bill Broonzy (1893–1958) and Muddy Waters (1913–1983) with some of his best guitar playing on any record — pre or post-Beatles — and a screaming vocal. Add Ringo on equally screaming drums (if hi-hats could scream) and Klaus Voorman more than keeping up with a strings-vibrating bass, and you have all you need.
6. Nobody Told Me — ‘Milk & Honey’ (1984): “Nobody told me there’d be days like these. Strange days, indeed. Most peculiar Momma. Roll.” That lyric alone, the perfect reason to listen to this in the pandemic world of 2020. A posthumously released single, for what was to be the follow up to ‘Double Fantasy,’ Lennon never got to completely finish this song, but what’s there is pure Lennon and well worth another listen, particularly in these times.
5. Crippled Inside — ‘Imagine’ (1971): Also perfect for a 2020 re-listen is this country funk-ified gem from the classic ‘Imagine’ album. Well known and not terribly overlooked by Beatles/Lennon fans, but quite unlike any other song, not only on that album but in his entire solo career. All of us, at some point in our existence, will be crippled inside. Lennon expresses that feeling like no other. And former bandmate George Harrison brings it home with a howling slide guitar, not to mention (but I will) a prickly honky tonk piano played by venerable Beatles’ and supergroups sideman Nicky Hopkins.
4. The Luck of the Irish — ‘Sometime in New York City’ (1972): Throwing a curveball here, there is not a lot on ‘Sometime in New York City’ worth re-visiting decades later. Yet, Lennon went back to the Irish part of his ancestry to create this tuneful Irish ditty. It’s so tuneful, you’ll be singing along not realizing it’s a very serious protest song: “If you had the Luck of the Irish, you’d be sorry and wish you were dead; if you had the Luck of the Irish, you’d wish you was English instead” sings Lennon, harkening back to his Liverpool Teddy Boy teenage days with “wish you wuz.”
3. Cleanup Time — ‘Double Fantasy’ (1980): Assuredly not the first song one thinks about from Lennon’s last album to be released when he was with us, but every song tells a story and this song describes something very important to Lennon: his househusband years. Knowing now what we didn’t know then, this song becomes all the more important and treasured. Sample lyric: “The queen (Yoko) is in the counting house, counting out the money; the king (John) is in the kitchen, making bread and honey.” Not exactly the lyrics for world peace but John, fortunately, was at peace in his NYC home at the Dakota, in what turned out to be his final years. Teddy Boy turns Dad. Great Lennon vocal on this as well, with more than able rock/blues accompaniment from a stellar studio band.
2. Grow Old With Me — ‘Milk & Honey’ (1984): Lennon envisioned this as a song people would play at weddings. Released posthumously, and in a very demo-like state, its simplicity of tune and piano backing make this song fragile, and more sad than was intended. Though agnostic, Lennon had an ability to create ballads based on a church hymn-like structure and progression. His former bandmates and blood brothers Paul and Ringo revisited the tune on Ringo Starr’s most recent album.
And finally…
- #9 Dream — ‘Walls and Bridges’ (1974): “So long ago, was it in a dream? Was it just a dream?” a wisp of a Lennon vocal asks in a song that is more like a dream than a pop/rock song. Whispers, backwards vocals, glories given to Hare Krishna, this song is both familiar and unlike any other Lennon song in the solo years. Part ‘Sgt. Pepper’ and part ‘Mind Games’ it’s the pop song as a picture and words collage, combining to create a multi-layered listening environment, particularly on headphones (grab a great pair, not ear buds). It’s also a song that despite its age, never grows old.
From the Ed Sullivan Show to Candlestick Park, Lennon lived the dream as the unquestioned leader, and thereby founder of the most fabulous Fab group of all time: The Beatles.
But lest not we forget, without Lennon’s post-Beatles catalog of work, there is no “Imagine.” No “Power to the People”. No “Working Class Hero.” No “Starting Over.” And no 10 Great Lennon (Solo) Songs You Never Think About — But Should.
What’s your list of 10?
Richard Borden
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Medium: Richard Borden
Twitter: @RealRichBorden
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