Top Ten Songs by John Lennon

Singularly Lennon’s most popular – -and his signature – -song, this is also the title for his second post-Beatles album released in 1971. The lyrics are a powerful entreaty to peace, part of Lennon’s growing political activism during the period. This was composed on Lennon’s famous white piano, which was sold to British musician George Michael for a record $2.1M in 2000.

Give Peace A Chance

This was recorded in 1969, composed and recorded on the spot in Lennon and Yoko’s famous bed-in for peace in room 902 at the Amsterdam Hilton in Canada, with the rhythm section consisting of journalists and purveyors stomping on the floor of the room and chanting the mantra ‘give peace a chance’, while Lennon furiously strummed his guitar as he led the pack. This became the anthem of the anti-war movement that Lennon was so staunch a proponent of, eventually culminating with his deportation from the United States in 1972 at the height of the Vietnam War.

Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

One of the most popular Lennon-Yoko collaborations, it was written and recorded together by the couple in 1971, with the Harlem Community Choir as the chorus. The inspiration for this song came two years earlier when John and Yoko set up a billboard campaign with the message ‘War Is Over! (If You Want It) Happy Christmas from John and Yoko’ in eleven cities around the world as part of their protest against the Vietnam war.

Working Class Hero

John Lennon was – -as much as a revolutionary musician – -the working class hero of his generation. At least he worked hard to be identified as such. More than for its rockabilly appeal, this song is more of a philosophical gem from the Liverpool lad, delving into themes such as alienation and the struggles of the working class. It was said though, that the three other Beatles – -who grew up in working class households in Liverpool – -resented John for having written this song, having spent a quite comfortable upper-middle-class childhood with his Aunt Mimi.

Jealous Guy

Originally written during the Beatles’ meditative period with the Maharishi, at about the same time that Paul wrote Mother Nature’s Son (which appeared in the White Album), John called the song Child Of Nature. It was never released during this time, though, and later he reworked the lyrics and included it in his 1971 album Imagine. The song is John’s personal affront to his jealous nature when it came to his women. Yoko once remarked that “(The song) said it all! … After we got together he made me write out a list of all the men I’d slept with before we met. I started to do it quite casually – then I realized how serious it was to John. He didn’t even like me speaking Japanese because that was a part of my mind that shut him out.”

Oh My Love

This is a touchingly simple, spare, heartfelt ballad that rightly displays John’s tender, melodic side.

Mind Games

Off the album of the same title, this was released at the beginning of Lennon’s ‘Lost Weekend’ – -the period of his separation from Yoko Ono and the end of his political activism. It’s another addition to John’s catalog of songs espousing peace, echoing the line ‘love is the answer’.

Whatever Gets You Through The Night

This song was done in collaboration with Elton John on piano and backing vocals, reaching number one on the American charts. It was said that while recording the song, Elton John put out a bet with Lennon, that came to an agreement that if the song did reach number one, Lennon would guest in one of his stage performances. It did, and the end of 1974 saw a surprise appearance by Lennon in Elton John’s concert at the Madison Square Garden, which was to be his last concert appearance.

#9 Dream

Lennon has long held a personal association, a special connection, with the number nine all the way from his Beatles days, as in his avant-garde piece Revolution 9, with the eerily reverberating ‘number nineâÂ?¦number nineâÂ?¦number nineâÂ?¦’. John Ono Lennon and Yoko Ono Lennon together also contain nine o’s. Here is another song that expresses John’s peculiar penchant for the number nine, but nothing eerie about it. At the end of the day, #9 Dream is just another fantastic pop song by John, with the strange foreign-sounding chorus “ah, bÃ?¶wakawa poussÃ?©, poussÃ?©” that came to him in a dream. It was released in the album Walls and Bridges, which incidentally, is John’s ninth solo album release.

(Just Like) Starting Over

This song rocketed to number one on the charts, more so after John’s assassination in December of 1980. The first single off Double Fantasy, his comeback album after nearly five years of self-imposed musical retirement, John was back full swing and bursting with creative energy and clearly feeling refreshed. His last album contained some other poignant moments in classic tracks like Woman and Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) where he sings lovingly of his family. In many ways, the world has never mourned more earnestly for the renewed spirit and powerful expression that Lennon brought along in his music.