The improvised lyric John Lennon included as a “good joke”
To those who know him intimately, John Lennon wasn’t just a great musician; he was one of the most sophisticated characters of their generation who knew how to be witty and charismatic in subtle, albeit hard-hitting, ways. One such admirer was David Bowie, who instantly became endeared to Lennon’s unfiltered honesty. As he once said: “Socialist in its true definition, not in a fabricated political sense, a real humanist and he had a really spiteful sense of humour.”
While Lennon’s sense of humour sometimes landed him in hot water, many saw it as a great sign of strength, particularly as someone who hadn’t always had a life so smooth sailing. While the musician’s true calling was always his music, he likely would have endeared himself to anybody in any crowd, regardless of whether he channelled it into art or some other stream of expression.
That said, Lennon’s destiny was always clear-cut. Even as a soloist, he followed only what his heart desired, no matter how it impacted his relationships or reputation. While the source of his overarching legacy will always remain attached to The Beatles, his solo work enabled him to roam freely and write about the things he had held close to his chest without answering to anybody else.
This defined the entirety of Plastic Ono Band, Lennon’s first solo venture into unfiltered musical authenticity. While in the band, Lennon’s bandmates knew he suffered from certain internal challenges, but this record was the first time he laid all his cards out on the table. As George Harrison later reflected: “I think we didn’t really realise the extent to which John was screwed up. For instance, you wouldn’t think he could get bitter because he was so friendly and loving, but he could also be really nasty and scathing.”
With his newfound freedom, Lennon did things he wouldn’t have within the band, like take lyrical or melodic liberties to enhance his themes and messages. One such song, which was incidentally one of Bowie’s favourite Lennon songs ever, was ‘Remember’. Referring to a nursery rhyme to Guy Fawkes’, the song began with an ad-lib before taking on its own meaning.
Although the singer was never against sprinkling ambiguities in his music, he later explained how one particular lyric came to be in Lennon Remembers. “In England, it’s the day they blew up the Houses of Parliament,” he said. “We celebrate it by having bonfires every November the fifth. It was just an ad-lib. It was about the third take, and it begins to sound like Frankie Laine – when you’re singing ‘remember, remember the fifth of November.'”
He added: “I just broke, and it went on for about another seven or eight minutes. I was just ad-libbing and goofing about. But then I cut it there, and it just exploded ’cause it was a good joke.”
Using the well-known phrase as a conduit for his own exploration of memory and internal turmoil, Lennon reflects on the past and the present alongside the reality of confronting difficulties that once defined his life. As with most songs on the record, this one stands out as one of his most confrontational, daring to delve into the complexities of his own mind.
