John Lennon’s 10 best political songs
John Lennon never claimed to beat around the bush when it came to any of his songs. He may have started out as a standard pop songwriter in The Beatles, but halfway through the 1960s, something seemed to switch in his songwriting that made him want to start writing more about himself than the traditional love songs. Everything that he had to play had to come from the heart, and when it came to political angles, Lennon could be particularly vicious when he had a specific target.
Then again, not all of Lennon’s political songs had to sound nasty. As much as someone like Bob Dylan could get caught up in sloganeering on every one of his tunes, Lennon approached his craft as a pop writer first, which meant that some of his best tunes still held a great melody behind them. Even if you didn’t agree with what he had to say, it was impossible to get out of your head after the first listen.
And when he started getting involved in various causes, it didn’t take long for his feelings to be translated to his fingers when it came time to write. Even though his tunes could get to be too preachy for Paul McCartney’s taste in some instances, it’s hard to deny that ‘the Intellectual Beatle’ always wore his heart on his sleeve whenever delivering that one cutting line that shined out above all the rest.
Because that’s really what Lennon was all about. No matter what kind of music he got up to in his Beatle years and beyond, he was always going to say what was on his mind, and it was up to the rest of the world whether they agreed with him or were going to turn their back on him. With one listen to any of these, though, most people were more than willing to go along for the ride.
The 10 best John Lennon political songs:
10. ‘The Luck of the Irish’ – Some Time in New York City
During the rollout for Some Time in New York City, Lennon had to face the one thing he didn’t have to deal with since the early 1960s: failure. While his experimental albums with Yoko Ono were treated as novelties by his fanbase, this was the first time one of his studio albums completely sunk without a trace, especially with the massive turn towards political matters. Although it was hard to get on board with a song that used a racial slur in its title, ‘The Luck of the Irish’ is one of the most earnest songs that he ever wrote regarding the fallout of Bloody Sunday.
The record’s premise was meant to be a slice of life in every song, but while ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ is still a decent tune, hearing Yoko wail away feels like the right amount of energy for the wrong kind of tune. This is supposed to reflect how downtrodden the people on the street were, and hearing Lennon on an acoustic guitar singing about the horrors the Irish had to go through is the more dignified approach to this tune.
It’s a shame that Lennon and Macca couldn’t have at least put their artistic differences aside for a good protest song, but ‘The Luck of the Irish’ is by far the best tune made out of this period of history. After years of trying to crib the same style as Bob Dylan, this is where Lennon actually hits upon the same kind of feeling that Mr Zimmerman could when writing ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’.
9. ‘Bring on the Lucie (Freeda People) – Mind Games
Out of all the albums in Lennon’s solo catalogue, Mind Games is definitely the most desensitised. Whereas his first album had a lot of raw nerves out on display, seeing him abandoned without Yoko for the first time in years felt like watching a man slowly adrift and wondering whether he’d lost the love of his life. There are a lot of apology songs, but he did have one last protest tune up his sleeve on ‘Bring on the Lucie’.
Whereas the first jabs Lennon made were often centred around specific people, something as simple as shouting to free the people is one of the more universal lines he had ever penned about seeing change in the world. Whether it’s those being kept down at work or unable to live out their lives because of different circumstances, Lennon is there in their corner, discussing why people should be tolerant of others’ beliefs.
Although Lennon claims to have written half of the songs on this record within a week, the fact that it was a leftover from Some Time in New York City is one of the biggest missed opportunities in Lennon’s catalogue. Had he had the foresight to look at what he was putting out, maybe this could have helped save his third record rather than the cobbled-together feeling of what we ended up with.
8. ‘I Don’t Want to Be a Soldier Mama’ – Imagine
By the end of the 1960s, the phrase ‘make love not war’ had started to become a bit of a tired cliche. No matter how much hippies were protesting, The Vietnam War was only getting worse, and seeing people coming home in body bags was not a pretty sight for anyone who saw themselves in those hapless soldiers. So if the dignified approach didn’t work, Lennon got a bit more guttural when talking about war on ‘I Don’t Want to Be a Soldier Mama’.
Although this is far from the most lyrically diverse political song he made, what makes it move is the same reason why people should give credit to ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’. Since half of the lyrics are based around a handful of lines, that leaves the music to take over, including some of the tastiest grooves that Klaus Voorman ever laid down on the bass for any solo Beatles track.
It only vamps on two chords throughout its duration, but considering what the song is about, the primary goal should be based on how hypnotic the song can be. This tune is meant to chronicle the horrors of war, and the minute that the breakdown starts, Lennon practically throws the listener onto the battlefield.
7. ‘Gimme Some Truth’ – Imagine
As much as Lennon could be cut-throat, being that blunt wouldn’t get him anywhere. He could mouth off in interviews about how what he was doing was for the greater good, but what’s the use in saying that if every song seems so downtrodden? It was time for him to get some sweetness back into his sound, but the more catchy the tune was, the more likely it would have lyrics that hit everyone in the face.
Considering how many politicians were lying through their teeth, Lennon ached for someone to be honest with him about the problems. Even though the verses are mellow by his standards, the chorus is where he really gets to say his piece, including namechecking Richard Nixon directly when it comes to people spoon-feeding citizens information with no real meaning behind it.
And since Lennon would ultimately have his phone tapped in New York City and people breaking down his door trying to deport him, it’s no wonder he had so many concerns about what the future held for him. It’s one thing to write something that perfectly encapsulates the frustration that comes with politics, but what’s even more sad is that if maybe two words were changed, this could easily apply to today.
6. ‘Working Class Hero’ – Plastic Ono Band
There’s a certain irony in someone like Lennon talking about his roots as a working-class kid. By the time he reached the 1970s, he had seen more money than most would ever see in their lives, and yet here he was in a soldier’s jacket, trying to be considered as one of the true voices of the everyman. That’s not an easy tightrope for anyone to walk, but when he broke out the acoustic guitar for ‘Working Class Hero’, most people knew he was speaking their language.
Since nothing is happening except for a guitar and Lennon’s voice, the lyrics float to the top as he sings about how corrupt big businesses can be. Outside of being raised in an environment where creativity must be stamped on, each verse feels like walking into a dystopian atmosphere, where everyone has to learn how to smile while they kill if they want to impress the head honchos at the top of the heap.
Most fans would get miffed by Lennon making such bold claims as a multi-millionaire rockstar, but he wasn’t looking at it from the perspective of a pampered Beatle. This was one man who saw what the horrors were like at the higher end of living and was now trying to warn everyone of what could happen if they got too big of an ego about themselves.
5. ‘Power to the People’ – single
Right as Lennon left The Beatles, his political career was only getting started. Some groundwork had been laid during his Fab days, but if ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ was a document of their peace practices, his solo career was his one opportunity to bring his music and activist beliefs together for the first time. And if he wanted to give a voice to the people, he would need to give them the platform for the first time.
Compared to the other chant-along tunes in his catalogue like ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)’, ‘Power to the People’ is one of the most energetic that he ever wrote. Other artists like Dylan or even Neil Young around this time were writing protest tunes, but none of them managed to groove this much, almost sounding like a modern R&B song that happened to have activists on the microphone instead of soulful balladeers.
Whereas George Harrison was getting more in tune with his higher power and Paul McCartney was keeping his head down low, ‘Power to the People’ was Lennon using his status as a rock and roll star to push his message as far as it would go. Marvin Gaye made us see what was happening in ‘What’s Going On’, but Lennon helped take it one step further by turning up the heat on unjust politicians to give a voice to everyone, no matter what creed, colour, or gender they might be.
4. ‘All You Need is Love’ – single
From day one of The Beatles, they were encouraged to stay out of politics. No matter how much people seemed to be unified over one certain belief, it was always best for the Fab Four to keep their signature tunes about love rather than have someone turned off by their personal beliefs. Years after Lennon already got in trouble with his “bigger than Jesus” line, though, he figured that he was safe bringing everyone together under the banner of love.
While ‘All You Need is Love’ isn’t political in the traditional sense, its impact on the world heading into the Summer of Love can’t be overstated. Since the Vietnam War was still raging on, hearing them come together for the Our World broadcast using this as their slogan helped remind everyone that everything could be solved if they managed to do everything in the name of love rather than put their walls up.
Despite Lennon’s claim that it’s easy, though, the road to making that feeling of love and unity across the world is the kind of Herculean task that no one can do on their own. With a tune like this getting the ball rolling, though, Lennon proved that while it may be difficult to come together for love, it wasn’t impossible, either.
3. ‘Revolution’ – single
Once the Beatles built their own imprint with Apple, they were running free for the very first time. Although they had started everything under Brian Epstein, his death cast a dark shadow that would ultimately break them up when Allen Klein started turning everyone against each other. Now that they didn’t have anyone looking over their shoulder, though, Lennon thought now was as good a time as any to turn their voice up as loud as he could.
While many different versions of ‘Revolution’ exist now on The White Album, the single version is a prime candidate for one of the greatest Beatles songs ever made. Right from the opening guitar lick, Lennon is unapologetically shouting his beliefs for the future, whether that means not turning to ways of destruction or wondering what the hell will happen when revolutionaries tear everything down.
Despite Lennon later gaining the reputation of being the most radical Beatle, this is him having a level-headed look at how the world might play out if revolutionists aren’t careful, especially in ‘Revolution 9’, where he shows the audio equivalent of what his version of a revolution actually sounds like. See, now you have a reason not to bypass the tune when listening to The White Album again.
2. ‘Give Peace a Chance’ – single
For all his life, Lennon always had a hard struggle between his love and peace self and the anger that lived inside him. Half of the reason why Plastic Ono Band sounded like it did was because of how much he had to exorcise from his childhood trauma, and when all that was over, he was able to finally fall back down to Earth. Before he completely broke from The Beatles, though, the bed-ins with Yoko Ono did produce one brilliant tune in ‘Give Peace a Chance’.
Since the entire premise of war was starting to overtake the mainstream, Lennon used this tune as a commercial for peace, only using a few chords to get the job done. Although he credited McCartney on the sleeve, this is Lennon through and through, especially when he starts name-checking different types of beliefs that run rampant across the world and how none of them matter if peace isn’t a part of it.
While the verses can date the tune a little bit on repeated listens, they’re all a lead-in to that bulletproof chorus, which eventually became a rallying cry for peaceful protestors who marched in Washington, DC, at the height of the carnage half a world away. Lennon always had an eye for slogans in his music, and the minute he created this tune, he made his own answer to ‘We Shall Overcome’.
1. ‘Imagine’ – Imagine
There’s always been a certain debate that coats the song ‘Imagine’ from the day it was released. As much as people can respect Lennon as a creative, hearing him sing a song about having no possessions and talking about basic platitudes of what a better world looks like is hard for some to take in. But, frankly, if you’re going into it with that kind of cynical mindset, you’re negating what Lennon was trying to do with this tune.
Yes, it is a bit ridiculous seeing Lennon talk about not needing anything as he plays on his pristine white piano in his cushy mansion, but it’s not telling people what they should be doing. It’s only an invitation to see what this kind of utopia could be like if every one of us looked inward a bit more and tried our best to live for love and peace rather than catering to our own needs.
And that’s what makes a great political song in the first place. Most people think that the best way to protest is to make every song feel like a call to arms, but if someone only uses the power of suggestion and lets their audience fill in the gaps for them, they’ve hit on something truly powerful. Because at this point, ‘Imagine’ isn’t only for Beatles fans. It’s a song for the world.
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