July 15 - Working Class Hero

I am no longer sure when I first heard The Beatles - as far as I am concerned, they were always in my life, always around. I didn't always pay attention to their lyrics in the beginning, but they started to come crawling in later. As a matter of fact, there is so much growth in their lyrics that they are worthy of a study from Love Me Do through The End. And what often is regarded as missteps are to me great examples of their sense of humor, which is so apparent when you listen to early interviews.

I think what really got my obsession for The Beatles going was a combination of reading the book The Story of The Beatles, a biography written for young adults. That along with hearing some of their early interviews and radio sessions from BBC on the radio in my childhood really gave me a strong appreciation for them and their music (I hesitate to use the term unhealthy obsession here, because I have people I can compare myself to who make me look like a casual observer). I have my favorite Beatles ranked, of course, from George on the top to John, Paul, and finally Ringo - although I am far from a Ringo hater, I just happen to think he is the least interesting one of them (but his beats are sometimes deceptive in their perceived simplicity). When John Lennon died in 1980, he left a great what if - or what could have been. But we do know what he did.

I think his story is fascinating. From being a prolific solo artist starting while he was still in The Beatles, recording and releasing one album per year (two in 1969) from 1968 to 1975, he retired from music and became a devoted father to Sean Ono Lennon until he unretired in 1980 with the album Double Fantasy. Then, while working on a follow up album, released in 1984, he was shot in 1980 by crazed fan Mark David Chapman. I know I will revisit this in December, so I won't write much about his death today, but man, what a loss.

Working Class Hero is one of his most biting and scathing songs (at least that isn't about a person - Mother might take that one step further) and it is impossible to see it as anything but a description of his own upbringing. The lyrics are heartbreaking and anger inducing - and they describe British society from John Lennon's point of view. You can agree or disagree, but you can't ignore that that is how he feels.