I’m Looking Through You: Unpleasant Facts About John Lennon

John Lennon kissing himself

Listserve has published such a great article it deserves to be shared on the hallowed pages of SMB. There is no need to elaborate, the author has done a wonderful job here.

A few choice quotes:

As his critics sometimes point out, all you have to do is go straight to his songs. The man who sang “imagine no possessions” lived a millionaire’s life in a posh New York hotel. The man who sang “imagine no religion” was obsessed with every spiritual and New Age fad that came his way, including Hindu meditation, the I-Ching, and astrology of all kinds. The man who sang “all you need is love” was a bitter, violent, and angry man who abused his family and friends. The man who praised having “nothing to kill or die for” helped finance and publicize radical groups who extolled the use of violence.

Lennon was remarkably under-talented. First, he was at best an average guitar player, mostly confined to basic rhythm parts, and his piano playing wasn’t much better. As for his songwriting, yes he did write a handful of truly inspired songs, but as time passes and the nostalgic hype surrounding the Beatles begins to fade, a lot of his works comes off as silly and dated.

Even in the early days when the Beatles were a struggling bar band, he used to extol them by saying they would go “to the topper most of the popper most.” He happily went along with the Beatles’ haircuts, suits, and calculated image; as well as the band’s innumerable media appearances; only denouncing it all as shallow and empty later in life, when he was cultivating an avant-garde reputation.

Kudos Edward Benjamin!

Top 10 Unpleasant Facts About John Lennon

20 thoughts on “I’m Looking Through You: Unpleasant Facts About John Lennon

  1. Nikša Siminiati

    “Working Class Hero”

    As soon as your 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
    Working Class Hero is something to be
    Working Class Hero is something to be

    They hurt you at home and they hit you at school
    They hate you if you’re clever and despise a fool
    Till you’re so fucking crazy you can’t follow their rules
    Working Class Hero is something to be
    Working Class Hero is something to be

    When they’ve tortured and scared you for 20 odd years
    then they expect you to pick a career
    When you can’t really function you’re so full of fear
    Working Class Hero is something to be
    Working Class Hero is something to be

    Keep you doped with religion, sex and T.V.
    and you think you’re so clever and classless and free
    but you’re still fucking peasants as far as I can see
    Working Class Hero is something to be
    Working Class Hero is something to be

    There’s room at the top I’m telling you still
    but first you must learn how to smile as you kill
    if you want to be like the folks on the hill
    Working Class Hero is something to be

    Yes , A Working Class Hero is something to be
    If you want to be a hero well just follow me
    If you want to be a hero well just follow me

    Theme
    The song is a commentary/criticism on the difference between social classes. It tells the story of someone growing up in the working class. According to Lennon in an interview with Jann S. Wenner of Rolling Stone in December 1970, it is about working class individuals being processed into the middle classes, into the machine.
    The refrain of the song is “A working class hero is something to be”.

    Sound
    The song features only Lennon, singing and playing an acoustic guitar as his backing. The chord progression is very simple, and builds on A-minor and G-major, with a short detour to D-major in one of the lines in the chorus. Lennon’s strumming technique includes a riff with a hammer-on pick of the E note on the D string and then an open A string. The tone and style of the song is similar to that of “Masters of War” by Bob Dylan, a known influence of Lennon’s. Both are based on Jean Ritchie’s arrangement of the traditional English folk song, “Nottamun Town.”
    (source: Wikipedia)

    Sorry, I´m vomiting…

  2. Gregoryno6

    Hello again, and it’s good to see you’re still kicking one of the most sacred cows of the Sixties.
    Re # 5 – Remember the release of Lennon singing Free As A Bird back in the mid 90s? No? Well, don’t be embarrassed. Nobody else does, either.
    The posthumous Beatle’s comeback as it were. Radio here hyped the event for weeks in advance. Then the day came…. and the song disappeared like a turd down the S-bend. It was bloody terrible. I heard it once, maybe twice, on the golden oldies station. That was it.

  3. Eatmy Crap

    All you Beatle haters are just jealous because they are one of the most famous people on the planet and you just wish you were as good as them. Do you think they got famous for no reason? If you haven’t noticed they are the most famous people on the planet for 50 years, do you think this site will gain you anything ?? It’ll never be famous or true because this website is a load of crap and jealousy, have any ridiculous comments tell them to the millions of fans for more than 4 decades

  4. Monty Plew

    Oh please, don’t talk such utter shite. Yes, you there, the one playing the jealousy card like a five year old child. I’m jealous of McCartney’s swollen money-for-not-much bank account and that’s about it. They can keep everything else, whether it be the music, the drugs or getting shot by a nutcase.

  5. American Ringo

    If the Beatles were so great how come they never had any super hot, sexy chicks on their album covers like Roxy Music???

  6. Dogshit

    They got famous from drug addled retards that follow the media and what they tell them is the shit. Actually, the beatles were the shit, literally.

  7. The Grand Inquisitor

    I return from out of the dark corners of the internet (See SuckMyBeatles archives here, Sep 2009, for my now legendary and much cut & pasted Anti-Beatles Legislative proposal: “2010 A Space Odyssey”) to inform you all of the existence of a book, titled: “How the Beatles Destroyed Rock N Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music” – by Elijah Wald.
    I’ve not read it, nor am I reccomending it, but the title, as is this Lennon article, is both hopeful and inspiring in a way, that only a true Beatle hater could appreciate.

    Here in Oz, we must endure this annoying reptitive “Yoko endorsed” stage show that pops up every few years called “Looking through a glass Onion”, by John Waters, host of “Play School”, or what would be similar to “Romper Room” elsewhere… John Waters, thanks for reminding me of years and years of child abuse at the hands of my Beatle-loving Parents. I had to kill them, whilst looking thorugh a glass gun scope, just to MAKE IT STOP AAARRGH… er…hmm,hmmm…anyway…It is good to see this bullshit, malignant Lennon legacy countered at last, with some pure negativity and vitriolic bile, for which the internet is now famous, that also happens to be true!

    Well done, SuckMy Beatles needs support.
    Every day, a Beatles fan dies and boy, is he sick of it…
    I’m not! 🙂

  8. lmao

    Honestly i am a beatles fan but god is this site entertaining…the ignorance and false information spread by beatle lovers and haters alike is just HILARIOUS so props to you guys. You wanna know something life changing? I’ll tell you then…..EVERYONES ENTITLED TO THEIR OWN FUCKING OPINION, im not enforcing my opinions on you…so why force anyone to dislike the beatles? Its fine that this website is up for people who dont like the beatles to share their opinions, but people spreading biased information and acting like complete idiots? youre just making the civil people who dislike the beatles look stupid

  9. lmao

    Oh and anyone making jokes about getting shot can fuck off too….murder (even that of someone you dislike) is sick and should not be used as the punchline for your stupid joke

  10. Johnny is Right Jr

    That’s why I never discuss things like the Hitler/Lennon sextape, but I do love discussing the theory of relativity with my Nambla members. Can’t wait to see you at the next meeting Johnny! Please bring that delightful little nephew with you again!

  11. Das Post author

    You are correct. Lets get back to discussing the idea that the beatles were an overblown boy-band which paved the way for the music industry to spoon feed this safe, boring, uninspired vanilla music to pre-teens, retirees, and bored, easy listening office backgrounds.
    I guess it’s kind of nice to hear ‘Revolution’ while standing in line at the bank.

  12. ShinyAeon

    I’m not a big John Lennon fan, really…but I think you do him a bit of disservice when you compare the most messed-up parts of his life to the most idealistic parts of his songs. It’s not like he didn’t also write about his bad traits (“I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved…”). He might have had such high ideals not in spite of his own flaws, but because of them. I’ve noticed that (in general) the worse off that a person knows they are, the higher they want to reach. People who aim to inspire others are often trying to inspire themselves, too. Sometimes the inspiration ends up working a lot better on the others…

  13. Clich'e Rebel

    Joanna ( John) Lennon was the first transman rockstar in history ! How dare you privileged cisgenders who
    are likely White classist capitalistic conservative males dare crucify John Lennon !

  14. Clich'e Rebel

    I listen to ” Revolution ” damn near everyday in my parents basement. I fight to keep the ideals of
    the 60’s that my wise college professors taught me alive. I wear Che Guevera t-shirts daily and
    carry Chairman Mao’s little red book. I ” Imagine” to overthrow the oppressive order of Whitey
    each time I wear my Guy Fawkes mask at a ” Black Lives Matter ” protest.

  15. Hann Rowe

    This page makes me laugh, those men achieved more than you ever will and for a small little Liverpool based band to become so iconic makes me super proud to british.

  16. MTAB

    Beatle Lennon is overrated as a songwriter. Few of his songs make any sense lyrically. Norwegian Wood, I am the Walrus, Nowhere Man. These are considered some of his best. What are they about exactly? He just does word play without making sense. Now he got better. Julia and Dear Prudence are very good. And his solo work is good: Working Class Hero, Mother, Jealous Guy. That’s very good stuff. But I think Beatle John is overrated as is Paul. They are not in a class by themselves.

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