John Lennon song by song album by album thread.

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Snoddywilko, May 4, 2020.

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  1. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    O.k, so a few people got to talking about a John Lennon Song by song, album by album thread (over on a thread discussing Paul’s solo output) & the idea instantly excited me, so here I am. :)

    I simply can’t recall a time in my life when I didn’t love The Beatles, & John was always my favourite. I have immersed myself in his solo career way more than any of the other ex-Beatles’; hunting down every out-take, home demo, unreleased recording I could find, & reading every book.

    I did a quick search on here & was shocked that this type of thread doesn’t appear to have been done on here before.

    I’m open to suggestions, but my personal feeling is that John’s solo career begins with Give Peace A Chance, & doesn't include the 3 Unfinished Music albums that he made with yoko.

    Also, I don’t feel that we should include Yoko’s songs from single b-sides, or the albums Sometime in New York City, Double Fantasy, or Milk & Honey.

    Anyway, let’s begin!
     
  2. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Give Peace A Chance.


    Single: released 4th July 1969.


    Written & recorded during the newly-married couples second bed-in for peace in Montreal, Canada, on the 1st July 1969, live from their bed, singing with a room full of friends & guests, accompanied only by a few acoustic guitars & a thumping back beat.


    It’s simple & honest & the message is the key. The gibberish lyrics of the verses are little more than a bridge to keep returning us to the chorus.


    Give Peace A Chance was designed to be a new anthem for peace, & it achieved its goal. One of John’s proudest moments was when a half a million people sang it as they marched on Washington D.C in protest of the Vietnam War, on 15 November 1969.


    Decades later, when Macca was asked by Mojo magazine to name his favourite song of Johns, he chose this; & I can see why: it’s a unique piece in Lennon’s catalogue.


    A simple 5/5 from me.

     
  3. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    The live version from Toronto, Canada, 13 Sep 1969.



    Not the best version but just look how elated Yoko is to be centre-stage ‘headlining’ over the true rock & roll greats, such as Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley etc. :)
     
  4. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Another, slightly bizarre live version, Madison Square Garden, NYC, August 30th 1972.



    Just look at the kids faces in the audience; you can see they’re all thinking: Why is John wearing a stupid plastic helmet & when is Yoko going to stop talking over the song?

    I call this the live Hitler mega-mix. :)
     
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  5. Greg Smith

    Greg Smith Forum Resident

    Not a particularly great song, but like Imagine and All You Need Is Love is a timeless iconic message that will last forever.....The live performances in New York and Toronto were a bit shambolic mind.

    Lennon solo gets a bit of a bad rap nowadays, but Plastic Ono Band is a masterpiece, Imagine is a classic and his half of Double Fantasy was a good comeback. Personal fave is Walls, but looking forward to discussing that when we get to it.
     
  6. Edgard Varese

    Edgard Varese Royale with Cheese

    Location:
    Te Wai Pounamu
    Just found this thread... coincidentally I've got Plastic Ono Band on right now!
     
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  7. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Hi guys,

    welcome to the thread.

    Could people please rate each song out of 5? I’ll be keeping a tally so we can see how all of Johns songs & albums rank once we’re done.

    Thanks!

    :)
     
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  8. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
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    You’re clearly a man with refined taste. ;-)
     
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  9. Edgard Varese

    Edgard Varese Royale with Cheese

    Location:
    Te Wai Pounamu
    "Give Peace a Chance", 5/5.
     
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  10. BDC

    BDC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tacoma
    A song of and for the people, no peace rally could be complete without it. War is usually a choice, Peace should be too.
     
  11. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Thanks for your post.

    Your score out of 5?

    :)
     
  12. Greg Smith

    Greg Smith Forum Resident

    4/5 for GPAC
     
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  13. BDC

    BDC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tacoma
    OK--guess that's the rules...
    As a radio song 1 out of 5.......but that's not what it's about,
    The song has endured as a fixture for peace movements and will continue to do so.
    Based on that, my actual rating.
    5/5
     
  14. Mother

    Mother Forum Resident

    Location:
    Melbourne
    GPaC 2/5
    Decent "Lennon/McCartney" song
     
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  15. BillyBudapest'sPajamas

    BillyBudapest'sPajamas Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ireland
    The imagery that goes along with Give Peace A Chance is obviously very iconic, but as a song it’s too simplistic to give a perfect score. 3/5
     
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  16. Gila

    Gila Forum Resident

    I don't really like it and I'd rate it as 2/5. Using only a minute of it live by Paul McCartney a few times was very nice though.
     
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  17. Rfreeman

    Rfreeman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lawrenceville, NJ
    GPAC 2/5 - it's got a memorable chorus that works as a war protest chant but he was lazy as F not bothering to write verses beyond some stream of consciousness mumbo jumbo.
     
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  18. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Thanks for your post & rating.

    John purposefully wrote the verses as mumbo jumbo because he didn’t want them to distract from the main message of the chorus.

    :)
     
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  19. Bemagnus

    Bemagnus Music is fun

    As a song I would not give GPAC more tha 2/5 and that’s high
    As an anthem and plea for peace I would give it 5/5
    :)
     
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  20. Snoddywilko

    Snoddywilko Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    So, does your rating average out to 3.5/5? :)
     
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  21. gja586

    gja586 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gogledd Cymru
    Snoddywilko, thanks very much for starting this thread. I hope it'll be as informative and fun as the McCartney one. I'm really interested to see what everyone else thinks about these songs.

    Give Peace a Chance - I appreciate the significance of the song and that it was very much of its time. Plus, the chorus is catchy - I expect it's pretty much hardwired into the brains of all of us reading this thread. However, there's little in the way of melody and/or interesting instrumental arrangements or sounds, which is what I generally listen for in music. So, purely as a listening experience, I'll give it a miserly 1.5/5. :hide:
     
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  22. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    Crowds to sing the song at goal-less football matches:
    "All we are saaaaying, is give us a gooooal"
     
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  23. Choba b CCCP

    Choba b CCCP Forum Resident

    Location:
    Russia
    Everything you need to know about the real meaning of Strawberry Fields Forever, All You Need Is Love, Give Peace A Chance and Come Together lyrics are there in their respectful titles. The rest of the lyrics could be about anything, no-one bothers.
     
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  24. Maseman66

    Maseman66 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Westchester, NY
    While very poignant at the time, Give Peace A Chance is not one of my favorites by John. 2.5/5
     
  25. omikron

    omikron Avid contributor to Paul McCartney's bank account

    Location:
    Lexington, KY
    Give Peace A Chance: 4/5

    As a vehicle to further John and Yoko’s activism, it is highly effective. As an anthem it is highly effective if not a little sparse. Therefore it deserves a great score. It’s also stood the test of time well. In the moment, it was a fresh and eye-opening experience for the world for a Beatle to use his status as a platform. It was also early on and before all the John/Yoko antics on stage became a cliché.
     
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