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John Lennon's first solo album, released in December 1970, is his post-Beatles proclamation that he is no longer one of four – finding his individual voice by writing songs concerning his personal demons, love and politics. Not surprisingly though, there are still traces of the Beatles here besides Lennon’s famous vocals; Klaus Voorman, the artist who created the Revolver cover plays bass and Ringo Starr is on the drums.
The tracks here are mostly an exploration of Lennon’s feelings, for better and for worse. The opening track is “Mother,” one of the most clearly emotional songs on the album. Written about Lennon’s parents, who abandoned him in childhood, it is said that Lennon was inspired to pen the song (as well as “Working Class Hero” and “Isolation”) as a result of a period of practicing primal therapy, which operates under the assumption that a person has several defenses that must be stripped out in order to reveal the true self.
It is clear that the song is Lennon’s attempt at stripping down his anger toward his father Alf Lennon, who abandoned him when he was just an infant, and his mother Julia, who sent him to live with an Aunt in his preteens before she died in a car accident when he was 17. Lines like “Mother you had me/But I never had you,” “Father you left me/But I never left you,” and “I needed you/You didn’t need me,” are indicative of the of Lennon’s anguish at growing up without his parents. The instrumentation only increases the emotional weight of the track – church bells sound in the opening, signifying death, while Lennon screams repeatedly at the close.
“Hold On” is a hopeful tune, bringing the album to a more optimistic tone. Although often remembered for the moment when Lennon screams “Cookie!” in a tone mimicking the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street, this track has a beautiful sentiment. Behind a sparse musical arrangement, Lennon’s voice shines through as he sings, “Hold on World/World hold on/It’s gonna be alright/You’re gonna see the light.”
The following track, “I Found Out,” is a tongue-in-cheek expression of Lennon’s ecstasy at “finding himself” and a more centered existence. He sings, “Now that I showed you what I been through/Don't take nobody's word what you can do/There ain't no Jesus gonna come from the sky/Now that I found out I know I can cry.” This heavy, groovy and upbeat track is about having your own life experience – knowing that no one can walk in your shoes, see through your eyes or feel you pain.
The next track is one of the most well-known of the set. “Working Class Hero” has become an anthem for the everyman, working class individuals, fighting against the government machine. The opening lines put the listener straight into a gray world as Lennon sings, “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.” The song continues in this vein, chronicling the pain of the average man, and his oppression at the hands of society. Lennon himself once said that he saw this song as a modern answer to revolution for workers songs such as “We Shall Overcome.”
“Isolation” is a piano-heavy song about the fear of being alone and the heaviness of the world on the backs of “Just a boy and a little girl/trying to change the whole wide world.” This songs melds perfectly with its following track, “Remember,” which is more up-tempo but deals with equally weighty issues like Lennon’s conflict with family and authority figures. He sings, “Remember how the man/Used to leave you empty handed/Always, always let you down/If you ever change your mind/About leaving it all behind/Remember, remember, today.”
Emotions are not simple, and by virtue, neither is this album. Lennon goes from ripping through anger and political views, to a simple song like “Love,” in which Lennon softly intones, “Love is real, real is love/Love is feeling, feeling love/Love is wanting to be loved.” This sweet track is also notable for its re-released remixed version, which came out two years after Lennon’s death, and whose cover featured a photo of him taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz on December 8, 1980 – the day Lennon was murdered.
After singing the melodic “Love,” Lennon jumps into the hard rock “Well, Well, Well,” arguably the loudest and heaviest moment on the album, which ranges from sequences of soft guitar and a bluesy style, to a straight-up screamed chorus behind a quickened beat. The song reflects on Lennon’s and Yoko Ono’s position in society as “two liberals in the sun.” The song is styled in an almost protest manner, discussing revolution, women’s liberation and liberal ideals.
Again Lennon makes a swift change, returning to the soft strumming of a guitar and internal questioning in “Look at Me.” The ex-Beatle seems to be confused with his place in the world, only finding assurance through his wife, Ono, singing, “What am I supposed to be?/Look at me/Oh my love, oh my love.”
This sentiment is amplified in the controversial track “God.” As Lennon plays the piano he denounces everything from God (God is a concept/By which we can measure/Our pain) to Hitler to JFK and Elvis, the idol that fueled the early years of his career.
The most outstanding line of the song comes when Lennon screams “I don’t believe in Beatles!” The song goes silent for a beat, forcing the line to resonate with the listener, as he concludes, “I just believe in me/Yoko and me/And that's reality.”
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