The John Lennon Lyric That Asks Questions and Gives No Answers
John Lennon never pretended to have all the answers. While he put himself in the limelight at times for his political views, it was generally in the guise of someone who was posing opinions and beliefs that questioned the status quo, not as someone with definitive solutions.
He also displayed inquisitiveness when it came to his own life. From his 1971 album Imagine, the song “How?” finds him practically paralyzed by questions about his potential path forward that he can’t seem to answer.
If you just listened to the sound alone of John Lennon’s first two solo albums, you might think he’d undergone a drastic change in attitude in the year that separated their releases. But the different musical tone of the records had more to do with what Lennon wanted out of those two records.
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, which he released in 1970, was extremely stark from a musical standpoint. He recorded most of the songs with a trio, and he often screamed out the lyrics. This was in response to the “primal scream” therapy he was undergoing at the time.
By contrast, Imagine, released in 1971, arrived sounding much lusher and more produced. The record was also full of sweet melodies. But that benign feel didn’t often translate to the lyrics. Songs like “Crippled Inside” and “Jealous Guy” were quite catchy, but the sentiment of the lyrics was often just as raw as what appeared on the first record.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com