John Lennon song by song album by album thread.

I loved Crippled Inside as a kid -- my snarky teenage self adored Lennon's skewering of hypocrisy. I still like it, though I know it's not quite top-tier Lennon -- and definitely still love Nicky Hopkins' honky-tonk piano.

 

I guess the exception to Humor Free would be the silly verses to Give Peace a Chance

 

He was just a big softie

 

Brain Surgery is the only thing he can't do (he can do every other kind of surgery, just not Brain Surgery)

 

At least he can't do it on himself.

 

Imagine is John's Yesterday

 

Never heard that one before. I'm reminded of something I read from Lennon ; he said he didn't like to throw anything away and always kept the bits and pieces and liked to help himself to scraps from others.

 

This episode is why WKRP was a great show. Imagine having the guts to critisize a powwrful and dangerous political movement in prime time

 

It's easy to put Imagine down, but JL managed to sneak a radical socialist song into the mainstream media and schoolkids sing it and most of them don't hear the anticapitalist message BUT SOME OF THEM DO

 

Crippled Inside (3/5)

Not a big fan of country music, but there's nothing really to dislike here. The lyrics are simple but effective, and I enjoy both instrumental breaks. Good song and recording, but I still think it's one of the lesser tracks of the album.

 

Crippled Inside comes across a bit silly, but John makes it work. 3/5

 

Re: Crippled Inside

My mother liked this song and she never liked anything. She wasn't fond of "Mother" for some reason

I think it is OK allaround but nothing you need to wake the kids up for

George on Dobro makes it all worthwhile

 

Crippled Inside - Love it! 4/5 (and it's near 5/5)

 

Crippled Inside

A nice country song with good vocals, melody and solos.

Sleeve notes:

Crippled Inside (3:52)
John Lennon: vocals, electric guitar
George Harrison: dobro
Nicky Hopkins: piano
Ted Turner: acoustic guitar
Rod Linton: acoustic guitar
John Tout: acoustic guitar
Klaus Voormann: bass guitar
Steve Brendell: upright bass
Alan White: drums
Written by John Lennon
Produced by John Lennon & Yoko Ono, and Phil Spector

About the song:

From https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/john-lennon/songs/crippled-inside/

"Crippled Inside was recorded at Ascot Sound Studios, the eight-track facility Lennon had installed at his English home, Tittenhurst Park. The version on the Imagine album was take 17.

Lennon recorded a guide vocal along with the rhythm track, which helped give Crippled Inside a suitably live feel. He later described the sound as “very corny country and western”.

Key to the song’s sound were Nicky Hopkins’ jaunty piano work and George Harrison’s dobro. Klaus Voormann played a bass guitar, and the rock ‘n’ roll spirit was further enhanced by an upright bass part by Steve Brendell."

Promo Film:

 

What was the idea behind using that Hitler piece?

 

It is a folk song so the bit he was recycling (basically all the music of at least his chorus) wasn't original.

 

Crippled Inside: 5/5. Might be my favorite John song.

 

More about Crippled Inside...

From Imagine The Film documentary:

 

Crippled Inside - I Love 4.25/5

 

More about Crippled Inside...

Inspiration (?):

 

Oh ! I thought it was a Carl Perkins thing.

 

More about Crippled Inside...

Behind The Music - 'Crippled Inside'



John: Songwriting is like getting the demon out of me. It’s like being possessed. You try to go to sleep, but the song won’t let you. So you have to get up and make it into something, and then you’re allowed to sleep. It’s always in the middle of the bloody night or when you’re half awake or tired, when your critical faculties are switched off.

‘Crippled Inside’ is a social comment. It talks about people having false fronts in society and really underneath there’s something else. Satire. There was one review of that song that said, ‘Oh, that kind of song has been done before…’ but I wasn’t even thinking about it. I was sitting down and this little riff came into me head, like an old Twenties song: ‘One thing you can’t hide is when you’re crippled inside.’ It just came to me, you know, like that, and I just finished it off.

 

More about Crippled Inside...

Finally,

A cover by Annie Reiner:

 

This version from 64 was probably the best known one at the time, and lists it as traditional

 

Yes, see above.