<p>[John</a> Lennon - Imagine - YouTube](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xB4dbdNSXY]John”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xB4dbdNSXY)</p>
<p>Solo career: [Woman[/url</a>]</p>
<p>With the Beatles: [url=<a href=“The Beatles - In My Life - YouTube”>The Beatles - In My Life - YouTube]In</a> My Life](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>Close for me between In My Life (which was also my first real non-dancing-school, non-relative slow dance, in 7th grade, with the girl who four years later became my first girlfriend, not coincidentally) and If I Fell. Going on the music alone, and stripping out the memory of actually being snuggled by a real live girl for the first time, it would have to be If I Fell. Also, one of our friends and I do a killer job on the harmonies of If I Fell. But the lyrics of In My Life are a lot less creepy. So still a toss-up.</p>
<p>I don’t particularly like Lennon’s solo oeuvre, or indeed much of his late Beatles stuff. Imagine is a nice song, no doubt, but I am always bewildered at how much people who pretty much disagree with everything in the lyrics love it so much.</p>
<p>Booklady how do you like this version ?
[Beatles</a> - In my life - Guitar video](<a href=“Loading...”>Loading...)</p>
<p>JHS, I really prefer the whole Imagine album, and other songs more in the album - plus Norwegian Woods. Hard to pick one favorite!</p>
<p>Yesterday was the 31 anniversary of JL’s death, and I added this late in the day without much thought. I think the Imagine video, with Yoko at the white piano with John, is a classic video.</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing.</p>
<p>You’ve got to hide your life away.</p>
<p>Solo: [Instant</a> Karma](<a href=“Instant Karma - John lennon - YouTube”>Instant Karma - John lennon - YouTube)
Beatles [A</a> Day in the Life](<a href=“The Beatles- A Day in the Life - YouTube”>The Beatles- A Day in the Life - YouTube)
Favorite cover of a JL solo song: [Matisyahu:</a> Watching the Wheels](<a href=“Matisyahu - Watching the wheels (John lennon cover) - YouTube”>Matisyahu - Watching the wheels (John lennon cover) - YouTube)</p>
<h1>9 Dream [Yahoo</a>! Video Detail for John Lennon number 9 dream](<a href=“http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=john%20lennon%20number%209%20dream&tnr=21&vid=1237609677408&l=293&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts1.mm.bing.net%2Fvideos%2Fthumbnail.aspx%3Fq%3D1237609677408%26id%3D82ee24f42bb8dcfed60f51b512db8830%26bid%3DLQJS%252fnEjIB5hUA%26bn%3DThumb%26url%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.youtube.com%252fwatch%253fv%253dnq2aaUp3hYc&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dnq2aaUp3hYc&sigr=11a1a8m0l&newfp=1&tit=John+Lennon+number+9+dream]Yahoo”>http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=john%20lennon%20number%209%20dream&tnr=21&vid=1237609677408&l=293&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts1.mm.bing.net%2Fvideos%2Fthumbnail.aspx%3Fq%3D1237609677408%26id%3D82ee24f42bb8dcfed60f51b512db8830%26bid%3DLQJS%252fnEjIB5hUA%26bn%3DThumb%26url%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.youtube.com%252fwatch%253fv%253dnq2aaUp3hYc&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dnq2aaUp3hYc&sigr=11a1a8m0l&newfp=1&tit=John+Lennon+number+9+dream)</h1>
<p>I like Imagine, but don’t remember whether this is the album that Ono was screaming/singing(or whatever you call it) because that is the part I can’t stand.</p>
<p>SouthJerseyChessMom, wow - what a talented guy!</p>
<p>mathmom, I think you mean You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away (great song!)</p>
<p>Thought you’d like that Booklady!</p>
<p>Solo: Jealous Guy
Beatles: And Your Bird Can Sing</p>
<p>Oops mistyped! Sophomore year, my boyfriend dumped me blues. :)</p>
<p>Help! …</p>
<p>in my life
crippled inside</p>
<p>I think Imagine is wholly overrated as a song, and John Lennon sure didn’t live by the principles espoused in it, that’s for sure - given his horrid treatment of Cynthia and abandonment of Julian after having been abandoned himself, his “How Do You Sleep” nastiness towards Paul (who, for all his own faults, penned both “Dear Friend” and “Here Today”), and his overall self-absorbed and disturbed character, and I routinely despise the canonization of St. John the Lennon that emerges once a year at this time.</p>
<p>Having said that, the man was an absolute musical genius, so I humbly submit:
From the early Beatles:<br>
- All I’ve Got to Do
[Beatles</a> - All I’ve Got To Do (Original) - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Twist & Shout, for a stellar vocal performance (11 pm after a day of recording, John stripped to the waist and suffering a horrible cold and screaming his throat raw – you can hear Paul say “Hey!” at the very end in recognition that they had gotten a great take) - one of the greatest vocal performances of all times, IMO</p></li>
<li><p>If I Fell, mentioned above, for its amazing harmonies </p></li>
</ul>
<p>For later Beatles, I’d have to go with </p>
<ul>
<li>I Want You (She’s So Heavy) </li>
<li>Julia (the pain in hearing him sing about his lost mother is really something)</li>
<li>Because (again, see outstanding harmonies – I wish this song didn’t have the stupid electric harpsichord that makes it all psychedic-sounding. The cover version in the movie American Beauty is worth listening to, as well)</li>
</ul>
<p>For solo work, I am really not all that impressed – I would have to go with Instant Karma, and possibly Working Class Guy or Cold Turkey as interesting (though not world class) submissions, but as indicated above, I can’t get behind the idolization of Imagine.</p>
<p>Audiophile: A Day in the Life is more of a true joint Lennon/McCartney, right? I was pretty certain that the front part (I read the news today, oh boy) was penned by John and the second part (woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head) was penned by Paul. And Paul was behind the avant-garde orchestration that connected the two pieces.</p>
<p>Any Beatles fans who have an interest in music theory will LOVE the Alan Pollack series of articles (he is a musicologist, I believe from Yale IIRC, who analyzed all of the songs). Enjoy.</p>
<p>[The</a> official Beatles’ canon](<a href=“http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/awp-beatles_canon.shtml]The”>The official Beatles' canon)</p>
<p>^^^
pizzagirl: you’re right, of course…but I would say 75:25 John:Paul.</p>
<p>“Working Class Guy”–is that a mash-up of “Working Class Hero” and “Jealous Guy”? :p</p>
<p>Sorry, I meant Working Class Hero! Jealous Guy is pretty decent, but to me it sums up what I don’t like about Lennon - the tendency to just go and say and do some pretty mean things, and then think that if you say you’re sorry, all is forgiven and everyone should just move on. </p>
<p>Like I said, Lennon was a musical genius. While none of the Beatles were immune from serious drug-taking, it’s a shame that Lennon’s particular choices left him really incapable of participating fully in the band and led to McCartney taking more of the lead in the later years. What really good therapy could have done for that man … and I’m being totally serious here.</p>
<p>
I think a lot of people like this song who haven’t listened to the lyrics carefully. They’re actually pretty surprising once you get past the surface.</p>