1992
Search results
- Happiness Is A Warm Gun (1968) It was a close and hard-fought race. A Day In The Life might have been voted the greatest Beatles song, but votes for it were discounted on the basis of it being very much a group effort with McCartney penning the middle section.
- Imagine (Imagine, 1971) Dozens of songs become anthems, but only a hallowed few are elevated to the status of worldwide treasures. John Lennon’s elegant and spellbinding plea for a planet in which all people “can live as one” tops the latter category - and will remain there for as long as this thing called music exists.
- Strawberry Fields Forever (Magical Mystery Tour, 1967) If Hey Jude/Revolution might be pop's greatest ever single, we're going to go out on a limb and say that Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever is absolutely, categorically the high watermark for the pop single as art.
- I Am The Walrus (Magical Mystery Tour, 1967) Recorded just four years after the release of Please Please Me, popular music's most original song drags the listener through the looking glass into a lysergic wonderland.
- Michael Gallucci
- "Imagine" From: 'Imagine' (1971) Lennon acknowledges upfront that 'Imagine,' his bestselling and most popular solo song, is a bit naive: "You may say I'm a dreamer," he sings.
- "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" Single (1970) Like in his Beatles days, Lennon released a bunch of singles that never appeared on an album (see Nos. 4 and 6 on our list of the Top 10 John Lennon Songs).
- "Mother" From: 'John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band' (1970) Lennon steered his first solo album (we don't count the three experimental LPs he made with Ono) as a reflection on his troubled childhood, particularly his relationship with his parents.
- "Give Peace a Chance" Single (1969) Lennon was still a Beatle when he released his debut solo single, which was originally credited as a Lennon-McCartney co-write.
Dec 8, 2023 · His songs, both with the Beatles and as a solo artist, could be as frank and revealing, as angry and emotional and as sharply self-critical as any in the history of rock. Not every verse plumbed...
- Rip It Up & Ready Teddy
- Ain’T That A Shame
- Give Peace A Chance
- Instant Karma
- Working Class Hero
- God
- Imagine
- Jealous Guy
- Happy Christmas
- Mind Games & Out of The Blue
- GeneratedCaptionsTabForHeroSec
The same week in July 1957, Little Richard’s “Lucille” was in the British charts; it was the seventh record that the singer from Macon, Georgia had placed on the UK charts in just six months. The first Richard’s hit was “Rip It Up” in December 1956, with a b-side called “Ready Teddy.” So when John came to record his Rock “N’ Rollalbum, he covered b...
Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That A Shame” was the New Orleans pianist’s third hit in Britain in early 1957. That track, and the others featured on Rock “N’ Roll, were the songs that John Lennon grew up on, the music that stayed with him for the rest of his life.
John’s first solo single was the anthemic “Give Peace a Chance,” recorded in Montreal on June 1, 1969 during John and Yoko’s second bed-in for peace. The song made No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No.2 on the British singles chart. But more important than its chart success, “Give Peace a Chance” became an American anti-war movement theme song th...
“Instant Karma” was recorded on January 27 at Abbey Road and released a little over a week later in the UK, and two weeks after that in America. It was credited to Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band and has the distinction of being the first Beatles’ solo record to sell a million. With the song’s “We All Shine On’ chorus, this Phil Spector-produc...
John Lennon’s debut solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Bandwas recorded over a month-long period from the end of September 1970 at Abbey Road. “Working Class Hero” is typical of many of the songs on the album. Honest and open, it’s resonated with many in the intervening years, covered by David Bowie, Roger Taylor, Elbow, and Ozzy Osbourne among ma...
“God” from John Lennon/Plastic Ono Bandis one of John Lennon’s most controversial songs. But should it be? It’s essentially a list of things that Lennon didn’t believe in: Jesus, Buddha, Elvis, Dylan, and Gita all make the cut. Lennon brings this all up to eventually come around to something more inclusive and all-encompassing: “If there is a God, ...
Any list of John Lennon’s best songs would be complete without this one. But what can be said about “Imagine” at this point? As Jamie Atkins wrote in 2019 on this website, the song “was both an aspirational prayer and challenge to authority that remains one of the most unashamedly plain-speaking songs to enter popular consciousness.”
“Jealous Guy,” also from the Imagine album, has its origins in a visit to India when the Beatles visited the Maharishi at Rishikesh. In its original form, with different lyrics, it almost made the final cut for the Beatles’ White Album.
John and Yoko’s “Happy Christmas (War is Over)” was recorded with the Harlem Community Choir, and came out in America near Christmas in 1971 and a year later in the UK. The couple’s concerns with global issues and, in particular, peace are evident throughout John’s solo work and his recordings with Yoko. In this beautiful song John’s hopes for a wo...
Lennon’s “Mind Games” started during the sessions for the Beatles’ Let It Be. At first, it was called “Make Love, Not War.” The lyrics advocate love and peace, and also include “yes is the answer” – a reference to Yoko’s art that originally brought the couple together. “Out Of The Blue,” meanwhile, is a reference to John and Yoko becoming a couple....
Explore 20 of the best John Lennon solo songs, from his rock 'n' roll covers to his peace anthems. Learn about the stories behind the songs, from "Give Peace a Chance" to "Imagine".
- Tom Eames
- 'Instant Karma!' Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) - Lennon/Ono with The Plastic Ono Band. This one-off single was released in 1970, and was written, recorded and released within a period of ten days, making it one of the fastest-released songs in pop music history.
- '(Just Like) Starting Over' (Just Like) Starting Over - John Lennon. This was the first single released from Lennon's final album Double Fantasy, and the first new recording since 1975.
- 'Stand by Me' Stand By Me - John Lennon. Already a soul classic by Ben E King, John Lennon recorded a cover version for his 1975 album Rock n Roll. It was released as the lead single from the album, which also featured covers of Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly songs among others.
- 'Give Peace a Chance' Give Peace A Chance - Plastic Ono Band. This was John Lennon's first solo single, and was released while The Beatles were still together in 1969.
Oct 8, 2023 · The emphasis is on diversity: You’ll find big hits and deep cuts, rockers and ballads, selections from Lennon’s solo career and from his years with The Beatles. Taken together, these songs make a convincing case for Lennon being one of our greatest songwriters. Happy Birthday, John.
People also ask
What are the best John Lennon songs?
Which John Lennon songs did not appear on an album?
Was John Lennon revealing himself through music?
What song did John Lennon record?
Oct 5, 2020 · Below, we are bringing you 20 of the best songs John Winston Lennon ever created, throughout his time with The Beatles and the all-too-short time after too. It shows an artist incapable of doing anything but sharing himself with his work and his audience.
