John Lennon song by song album by album thread.

Apparently, this was the version John knew & was inspired by.

 

"Crippled Inside"- Great bar room piano and vibe. Sounds like I just walked into a tavern in the old west. I think I'll stay and have a shot and a beer. 3.5/5

 

Geez...that's more of a pinch that He's So Fine imo.

Bern

 

Crippled Inside
Another good track. I always thought the line about "looking real cute.." was a more clever dig at Paul than anything in "How Do You Sleep". Anyway musically "Crippled Inside" has a nice groove. Not as groundbreaking and memorable as the very best songs in IMAGINE, but still a fine song.
4/5

 

Crippled Inside is another so I don't dislike but don't particularly like. 2/5

 

It is public domain so it is not a legal issue, but he should have credited it as a traditional melody with lyrics by John Lennon.

He pulled this cribbing a traditional song as his own thing twice in 1971

 

He knew what was fair game when it came to song-writing pinches.

 

Crippled Inside is one of my favorite songs on the album. Revealing but humorous and I like the almost ragtime feel of it. Nice change of pace after the long feeling Imagine

4/5

 

4/5 for being less ballad-y than most of the album. It's okay to steal from public domain songs.

 

Rolling Stone gave ' Imagine ' a less than stellar review back in the day. They slammed a number of the songs including ' Crippled Inside ' , ' How Do You Sleep ' , ' Oh Yoko '...

 

I love hearing John having fun with his music and reminds me of the early Beatles when the would all joke around. Great line up assembled for this. 5/5

 

It is OK legally (that is, it is not copyright infringement) but it is still considered plagiarism to do so without giving proper credit.

 

When I think of the Imagine (album) tracklist, I don’t know why but this is the song I’ll think of last. I quite like it actually. Crippled Inside gets a 3/5.

 

Having just read "You never give me your money", which I don't recall addressing this, I come away with a picture of all the individual members of the Beatles being pretty greedy, and often times to extremes. Pure speculation on my part, but I'd be very surprised to find out a royalty went to members of the Plastic Ono Band. With no individual members listed in the credit, dollars to donuts none received anything other than salary. I do recall mention in the book of members being paid a retainer type salary, during periods of inactivity, until being cut off for their services not being needed and Lennon money issues.
Crippled inside....5/5

Some country influence maybe, but no more country than say "I'll cry instead" or "I'm a loser", which are more on the Perkins rockabilly side as derivatives. Had George been into Perkins more so than his Hawaiian slide style at the time, Crippled Inside might of had a different flavor. It fits better in with the genre of bluegrass IMO, being Lennon I'll just call it a variation of Rock n Roll.
I consider Imagine a great album, and only one song will have less than a 5 rating from me.
I feel no particular need to reach toward criticism, even if the game is playing a critics role.

 

Agreed. At most it's C&W, with heavy emphasis on the "W."

 

Crippled Inside 5/5 I just love this song.

 

Doesn't really fit in with the album for me, which, other than this track has a pretty steady vibe of gauzy ballads or seething blues-rockers. This is neither and it's track two so it sticks out for me.

And it's the most country John ever go (or at least since 1964), so it feels like a b-side, to me. It's OK. John is really enjoying himself, and that saves things.

3/5

 

Actually I'm leaning more toward Appalachian on the blue grass side of things.
Unrelated, for the songs topic it's kind of weirdly upbeat, but it makes sense in the context of the writer coming to terms with being Crippled Inside, and that's how I take it.

 

"Crippled Inside" - 4/5. Never was a favorite of mine, but it's got a unique sound and interesting lyrics, nothing quite like anything else in his catalog. I've read that it was a swipe at Paul, but I don't see that.

 

“Imagine” comment....

John proclaims global unity is within reach. During John’s 1975 final live performance (Sir Lew Grade television show), John updates ‘Imagine’ lyrics on several key lines:

1. Imagine no possessions, I wonder if “we can”.
2. Brotherhood and Sisterhood of man’ (stress equality)
3. And elimination of geographical borders (‘And No Immigration Too’)

'Crippled Inside' reminds me of "San Francisco Bay Blues” a 'one-man-band' composition by Jesse (LoneCat) Fuller from Oakland, California. Jesse Fuller was an important West Coast blues artist who also gave guitar lessons to several young Bay Area musicians.

"San Francisco Bay Blues” was performed by John in 1971 during the ‘Imagine’ LP sessions, possibly as a 'warmup' or possible inspiration for 'Crippled Inside’, which has the simiar Key of “C” Ragtime chord structure.



"San Francisco Bay Blues” became a blues standard in the early 1960’s Greenwich Village folk scene, recorded by Bob Dylan, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, The Weavers, Richie Havens on his landmark LP ‘Mixed Bag'. Also recorded by Peter, Paul & Mary, Phoebe Snow, Hot Tuna, Janis Joplin and Eric Clapton on his landmark ‘Unplugged’ record in 1992.

Paul Macca also covered "San Francisco Bay Blues” on his Unplugged CD; one of the few songs that both John and Paul covered during their solo years.

 

Love things like this!

 

It occurred to me when writing but, you know, KISS rule and all.

 

Imagine is a great LP. It's not the masterpiece Plastic Ono Band was because the quality of songs varies more and the performances are much sloppier and actually a bit slap-dash at times, but just like Plastic Ono Band this one creates its own mood and sustains it. Most of the songs are very strong. It's still quite uncompromising for an LP that's often thought of as John's most commercial (I would argue that his 1980 tracks are way more commercial than anything here).

Imagine
Timeless classic. If I were being picky, I might say the reverb could be turned down a tad. I like how John insisted on playing piano on it. One of the greatest compositions by any Beatle, group or solo, ever.

Crippled Inside
Another great one, though an unoriginal melody. Pretty hard-hitting lyrics juxtaposed with the jauntiest tune John ever did, maybe. (Sounds like it was recorded really hurriedly, like a "one-and-done" vocal.)

Jealous Guy
Another great track! (Re-write from the tune of 'I'm Just a Child of Nature', of course.) I don't like this one as much as some do, but I recognize its quality. I do find, when listening to it, that the last verse is a bit excessive. Could have been a minute shorter.

It's So Hard
Another winner! I love the tune of this; it's built on really solid chords and has that nice change ("but when it's good..."). The horns (added in New York, I think, without John being present) really added a lot to this one. This is maybe the last instance of horns really improving a Lennon track! (They would detract from a lot of future ones....)

I Don't Want To Be A Soldier
Although perhaps the weakest "song" on the album, it's still rather good and has a lot to chew on. Harrison's guitar obviously adds a great deal to the track, which is kind of blues trance-rock. In the CD era it seems overly long, at 6:05, because we aren't waiting for the first side of the vinyl to end. So, it's a bit too long, but otherwise a worthy, ballsy track (in fact, the second such in a row).

Gimme Some Truth
A 'Get Back/Let It Be' era song tidied up. I think it's a great song and enjoy this a lot, but the recording sounds terrible, like it was mastered by an amateur or something. Muted sound.

Oh My Love
Beautiful! Love this one, it's just perfect. (It's kind of a slightly more mainstream-friendly 'Look At Me' from the previous album.)

How Do You Sleep?
The great Paul-bash. This track is great musically; the orchestration is fabulous, and John's vocal here is better than on most tracks on the album. Some real, tough groove here, and it's catchy too. So, it's a strong track, but the lyrics are so over-the-top that they can't be taken seriously. A fascinating snapshot of his post-Beatle mindset in early summer 1971, though.

How?
Yeah, I like this one, too. It's certainly wimpy, but the melody is lovely and the sparse instrumentation works very well. The lyrics make the song's point clear. I really love the ending, with the slightly cheesy hanging note to end it, ala 'She Loves You'.

Oh Yoko!
This was supposed to be the single, wasn't it? It is a very catchy and toe-tapping track, with those lovely choruses. What makes this one for me is the pair of harmonica runs, which are really cool. The verses in the lyrics are almost defiantly simple, but I guess they make their point. Still, some more interesting lyrics might have pushed this from very, very good to classic. Ah, well.


Great album.

A couple of odd things about Imagine:
-- There are 3 rockin', tougher songs... and they're all right in the center. (In the vinyl era, one kicked off Side 2, which makes more sense, but in the CD era it flows oddly.)
-- The last three tracks all have punctuation at the end of the titles.

 

Imagine - impossible to rate really, huge song that's been over exposed and lost it's meaning. Still a 5
Crippled Inside 3/5 fun song and good tune

 

Fats Domino released in 1963 "When I'm walking (Let me walk)" on "Here comes Fats Domino" LP, credited to A.Domino jr. / Anatole Music, Inc. The chords and melody are almost identical to "Crippled inside", the chromatic riff is also included. Only the ending of the verse is different. So there could have been a copyright issue with this. Traditional origin or not, but it was under a copyright.