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Even before the official breakup of the Beatles, John embarked on his solo career, recording three essential singles in his discography (released under the name of Plastic Ono Band): the epochal anthem Give Peace A Chance, the heartbreaking Cold Turkey which spoke of his drug addiction, and Instant Karma!, a brilliant track that began the collaboration between Lennon and Phil Spector.
After the breakup of the Fab Four, he began work on his first album. Influenced by the American psychiatrist Arthur Janov, he gave vent to his suffering with songs with a raw, lamenting sound. John, in fact, only collaborated with Ringo on drums and his friend Klaus Vormann on bass.
Plastic Ono Band opens with Mother, introduced by rather macabre sounding bells; the opening track is nothing more than a scream toward his parents who were the cause of his unhappiness.
The following track Hold On, certainly more positive but less impactful, urges the couple (John & Yoko) to hold on because everything will turn out well. However, the positive aura soon fades with the angry I Found Out, an indictment against hippies, drugs, sex, religion, that is, everything that distracted him from the search for himself.
Working Class Hero is a song composed of two chords that speaks of the molding of the working class, despite Lennon having never been part of this social class, the song sounds inspired and pleasant despite the monotony.
Isolation, a modest track, speaks of his vulnerability while in Remember he puts together some flashbacks. The delicate and perhaps too silent piano introduction by producer Spector introduces Love, a song rightly very dear to John, which simply speaks of love...
Well Well Well is another angry song (reminiscent of I Found Out). Look At Me, written in 1968, is a sweet little tune not to be forgotten.
But we come to the best track, God. Opened by the moving piano notes of Billy Preston (already a Beatles collaborator), in the first part it speaks precisely of God, then lists a series of concepts and people he claims not to believe in, from magic to Kennedy to the Beatles.
In the last part, the most melancholic, he bids farewell to the Beatles and "greets" his old friends.
Plastic Ono Band concludes with a very simple and chilling track, a distorted voice sings a childish nursery rhyme: My Mummy’s Dead.
In POB, Lennon gains spiritual independence and writes about his world, his life, distancing himself from his typical Beatles songs. This perhaps makes POB Lennon's best solo album, raw but also melodic. Sincere.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Mother (05:36)
Mother, you had me, but I never had you
I wanted you, you didn't want me
So I, I just got to tell you
Goodbye, goodbye
Father, you left me, but I never left you
I needed you, you didn't need me
So I, I just got to tell you
Goodbye, goodbye
Children, don't do what I have done
I couldn't walk and I tried to run
So I, I just got to tell you
Goodbye, goodbye
Mama don't go
Daddy come home
(repeat 9 more times)
02 Hold On (01:53)
Hold on John, John hold on
It's gonna be alright
You gonna win the fight
Hold on Yoko, Yoko hold on
It's gonna be alright
You gonna make the flight
When you're by yourself
And there's no-one else
You just tell yourself
to hold on
Hold on world, world hold on
It's gonna be alright
You gonna see the light
When you're one
Really one
You get things done
Like they never been done
So hold on
Hold on
03 I Found Out (03:37)
I told you before, stay away from my door
Don't give me that brother, brother, brother, brother
The freaks on the phone, won't leave me alone
So don't give me that brother, brother, brother, brother No!
I found out!
I found out!
Now that I showed you what I been through,
Don't take nobody's word what you can do,
There ain't no Jesus gonna come from the sky
Now that I found out I know I can cry
I - I found out!
I - I found out!
Some of you sitting there with your cock in your hand
Don't get you nowhere don't make you a man
I heard something 'bout my ma and pa
They didn't want me so they made me a star
I - I found out!
I - I found out!
Old Hare Krishna got nothing on you
Just keep you crazy with nothing to do
Keep you occupied with pie in the sky
There ain't no Guru who can see through your eyes
I - I found out!
I - I found out!
I seen through junkies I been through it all
I seen religion from Jesus to Paul
Don't let them fool you with dope and cocaine
Can't do you no harm to feel your own pain
I - I found out!
I - I found this out!
I - I found out...
04 Working Class Hero (03:50)
As soon as you're 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
A working class hero is something to be
A 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 they despise a fool
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career
When you can't really function you're so full of fear
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and classless and free
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
There's room at the top they are 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
A working class hero is something to be
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
05 Isolation (02:53)
People say we got it made
Don't they know we're so afraid?
Isolation
We're afraid to be alone
Everybody got to have a home
Isolation
Just a boy and a little girl
Trying to change the whole wide world
Isolation
The world is just a little town
Everybody trying to put us down
Isolation
I don't expect you to understand
After you've caused so much pain
But then again, you're not to blame
You're just a human, a victim of the insane
We're afraid of everyone
Afraid of the sun
Isolation
The sun will never disappear
But the world may not have many years
Isolation
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Other reviews
By Mr_Iko
John Lennon was the greatest philosopher of the twentieth century.
This album narrates the black death of the soul.
By SydBarrett96
John Lennon’s voice is very direct and clear, almost resigned to the events. I can describe it as a sort of primal scream, a desperate cry.
The final line 'The dream is over' represents for the author the end of the Liverpool quartet’s myth.
