History Music / JohnLennonPlasticOnoBand

''I don't believe in Beatles''\\

[[caption-width-right:300:''"As soon as you're born they make you feel small, by giving you no time instead of it all, till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all."'']]

''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'', released in 1970 through Apple Records, is the fourth studio album by Music/JohnLennon, and his first to be released following his departure from Music/TheBeatles. Compared to his three previous experimental albums -- all collaborations with Music/YokoOno, it has a more conventional songwriting approach but with frank, raw lyrics and a stripped-down sound. It was essentially a showcase for Lennon to exorcise many of his personal demons, spurred on by the primal therapy sessions that he and Ono had attended earlier in 1970. Such topics included the singer's troubled youth, the hypocrisy of religion and belief systems, and his growing disillusionment with stardom and the music industry.

''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'', released in 1970, is the fourth studio album by Music/JohnLennon, and his first to be released following his departure from Music/TheBeatles. Compared to his three previous experimental albums - all collaborations with Music/YokoOno, it has a more conventional songwriting approach but with frank, raw lyrics and a stripped-down sound. It was essentially a showcase for Lennon to exorcise many of his personal demons, spurred on by the primal therapy sessions that he and Ono had attended earlier in 1970. Such topics included the singer's troubled youth, the hypocrisy of religion and belief systems, and his growing disillusionment with stardom and the music industry.

* TheAntiNihilist: Ultimately this seems to be Lennon's philosophy in "God" after he lists all the things he doesn't believe in - the final lines of the song seem to be his acknowledgement that he needs to create his own meaning. Lennon himself said of the song, "If there is a God, we're all it."

* RuleOfTwo: It's a companion piece with Yoko Ono's similarly titled yet more avant-garde ''Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band''. The two have almost identical covers - the only difference being Lennon laying on Ono on his cover and Ono laying on Lennon on her cover - and both records were recorded at the same time with the same musicians and studio personnel (aside from a live song on Yoko's album.) While most contemporary reviewers savaged it (with two major exceptions being critic Lester Bangs and ''Billboard'' magazine, which called it "visionary"), it ultimately ended up VindicatedByHistory and is considered a significant influence on modern female alternative rockers such as Music/SonicYouth's Kim Gordon, Music/TheB52s' Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson, and Hole's Music/CourtneyLove.

* TakeThat: The reference to "Zimmerman" in "God" might be one, as Music/BobDylan [[DoNotCallMePaul doesn't appreciate most people calling him by that name]], and most people have to get his permission to use it in his presence - but maybe not (or at least not as much as it would have been from most people), since he and Lennon were on close terms and significantly influenced each other's music. Lennon's delivery is pretty dismissive, though (plus, its context is a long list of things and people Lennon doesn't believe in).[[note]]Music/DavidBowie also used "Zimmerman" to express disillusionment with Dylan on ''Music/HunkyDory''. Meanwhile, one of the few people known to have Dylan's permission to use the name "Zimmerman" in his presence is President UsefulNotes/BarackObama. Also, Dylan himself sang "You may call me Zimmy" on [[Music/SlowTrainComing "Gotta Serve Somebody"]].[[/note]]

* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: The album is mostly guitar, bass, drums, piano, and vocals. Some songs have only acoustic guitar and voice ("Working Class Hero", "Look at Me", "My Mummy's Dead") or guitar, piano, and voice ("Love"). This is a particularly sparse production by the standards of Music/PhilSpector, who's known for his "wall of sound"–the reason for this being that Spector wasn't present for most of the recording sessions, and Lennon certainly had no intention of allowing Spector to do his usual heavy overdubbage on the final result. Occasionally ZigZagged, though, as while songs generally have simple arrangements, some of them deviate from verse-chorus-bridge format - "God" has three discrete parts with nothing recognisable as a chorus, though its second section repeats a simple melody over a three-chord pattern fifteen times.

''I just believe in me''\\

!! Working Class Tropes:

''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'', released in 1970, is the fourth studio album by Music/JohnLennon, and his first to be released following his departure from Music/TheBeatles. Compared to his three previous experimental albums - all collaborations with Music/YokoOno, the more conventional songwriting approach of this one had a much better commercial and critical reception and is considered to be one of his finest albums (often his very finest). It's best remembered for "Mother", "Working Class Hero", "Love", and "God".

Notorious for its frank, raw lyrics and stripped-down sound, the album was essentially a showcase for Lennon to exorcise many of his personal demons, spurred on by the primal therapy sessions that he and Ono had attended earlier in 1970. Such topics included the singer's troubled youth, the hypocrisy of religion and belief systems, and his growing disillusionment with stardom and the music industry.

* LostInCharacter: The concluding section of "God" is essentially Lennon's admission that a form of this had occurred to him while he was in the Beatles, and also double as his very public attempt to reconstruct his own identity. It also borders very closely on ThatManIsDead, but doesn't quite get there. Lennon said the song was his attempt to break down the myth that "the Beatles were God" - again, see TheAntiNihilist above.
* LyricalDissonance: "Mother", as mentioned above under IronicNurseryTune.

* ParentalAbandonment: "Mother", despite its title, partially deals with Lennon's efforts to work through the emotional effects of having been abandoned by ''both'' his parents. It's also a GriefSong for his mother, as mentioned above.

** "Remember" ends with the lines "Remember, remember/The Fifth of November", followed by an explosion. This is a reference to Guy Fawkes Night, a British holiday.[[note]]More specifically, they're the first two lines of a rhyme frequently associated with the holiday: "Remember, remember/The fifth of November/The gunpowder treason and plot/I know of no reason/Why the gunpowder treason/Should ever be forgot." While grammatically incorrect in modern English, this rhyme dates back to the seventeenth century, when "forgot" was indeed the past participle of "forgotten."[[/note]]
*** "If you ever change your mind/About leaving it all behind" from the same song is a close paraphrase of a lyric in Music/SamCooke's "Bring It On Home".

** The Music/{{U2}} album ''Music/RattleAndHum'' had a follow-up to "God" called "God, Part II".
** Creator/ShigesatoItoi named his acclaimed series of video games ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' after the first song from this album. (The second of these games is better known in English-speaking markets as ''VideoGame/EarthBound''.) Itoi noted being moved to tears by Lennon's song because he related to its themes of [[DisappearedDad growing up without a father]] so much.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Runs the gamut. Songs like "Love" and "Well Well Well" are deeply idealistic, while songs like "Working Class Hero" and "I Found Out" are deeply cynical. "God", meanwhile, essentially serves as Lennon's attempt to {{reconstruct|ion}} ''his own'' idealism: he lists all the things he ''doesn't'' believe in, and concludes the song with, first, an affirmation of his belief in himself and in Yoko, and secondly, his affirmation of his need to rebuild his own life after having come to terms with his identity. (See also LostInCharacter above.)

* SpecialGuest: Music/RingoStarr.

* TheMan: "Working Class Hero" is specifically about how working class people get turned into middle class people, first of all by being scared into submission, then by being persuaded that they're "clever and classless and free", and finally by being taught to "smile as you kill", the point being that a working class hero has the potential to change things, but the process the song describes is how a working class hero gets turned into The Man, who wants things to stay as they are.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* PrecisionFStrike: "Working Class Hero".

* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: The album is mostly guitar, bass, drums, piano, and vocals. Some songs have only acoustic guitar and voice ("Working Class Hero", "Look at Me", "My Mummy's Dead") or guitar, piano, and voice ("Love"). This is a particularly sparse production by the standards of Music/PhilSpector, who's known for his "wall of sound". Occasionally ZigZagged, though, as while songs generally have simple arrangements, some of them deviate from verse-chorus-bridge format - "God" has three discrete parts with nothing recognisable as a chorus, though its second section repeats a simple melody over a three-chord pattern fifteen times.

Notorious for its frank, raw lyrics and stripped-down sound, the album was essentially a showcase for Lennon to exorcise many of his personal demons, spurred on by the primal therapy sessions that he and Ono had attended earlier in 1970. Such topics included the singer's troubled youth, the hyprocrisy of religion and belief systems, and his growing disillusionment with stardom and the music industry.

''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'', released in 1970, is the fourth studio album by Music/JohnLennon, and his first to be released following his departure from Music/TheBeatles. Compared to his three previous experimental albums - all collaborations with Music/YokoOno, this one had a much better commercial and critical reception and is considered to be one of his finest albums (often his very finest). It's best remembered for "Mother", "Working Class Hero", "Love", and "God".

Magazine/TimeMagazine included the album in their [[TimeAllTime100Albums 2006 list of 100 timeless and essential albums.]] A documentary about the creative process behind the making of this album can be seen in the ''Series/ClassicAlbums'' TV documentary series. It was also listed at #23 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]].

[[AC: Side One]]

[[AC: Side Two]]

Notorious for its' frank, raw lyrics and stripped-down sound, the album was essentially a showcase for Lennon to exorcise many of his personal demons, spurred on by the primal therapy sessions that he and Ono had attended earlier in 1970. Such topics included the singer's troubled youth, the hyprocrisy of religion and belief systems, and his growing disillusionment with stardom and the music industry.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: A large theme on the album.

* BreatherEpisode: "Hold On" and "Love" provide respites from the overall bleakness of the album.

* IAmAHumanitarian: "Well Well Well" has the line "she looked so beautiful I could eat her".

* TakeThat: The reference to "Zimmerman" in "God" might be one, as Music/BobDylan [[DoNotCallMePaul doesn't appreciate most people calling him by that name]], and most people have to get his permission to use it in his presence - but maybe not (or at least not as much as it would have been from most people), since he and Lennon were on close terms and significantly influenced each other's music. Lennon's delivery is pretty dismissive, though (plus, its context is a long list of things and people Lennon doesn't believe in).[[note]]Music/DavidBowie also used "Zimmerman" to express disillusionment with Dylan on ''Music/HunkyDory''. Meanwhile, one of the few people known to have Dylan's permission to use the name "Zimmerman" in his presence is President UsefulNotes/BarackObama.[[/note]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** "God" and "I Found Out" have blasphemous messages. (See TheAntiNihilist above.)
** Arguably not as tracked on the radar as things like "She looked so beautiful I could eat her" at the time.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Runs the gamut. Songs like "Love" and "Well Well Well" are deeply idealistic, while songs like "Working Class Hero" and "I Found Out" are deeply cynical. "God", meanwhile, essentially serves as Lennon's attempt to {{reconstruct}} ''his own'' idealism: he lists all the things he ''doesn't'' believe in, and concludes the song with, first, an affirmation of his belief in himself and in Yoko, and secondly, his affirmation of his need to rebuild his own life after having come to terms with his identity. (See also LostInCharacter above.)

[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/john_lennon_plastic_ono_band.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:325:''"As soon as you're born they make you feel small, by giving you no time instead of it all, till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all."'']]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "God" and "I Found Out" have blasphemous messages. (See TheAntiNihilist above.)

* ListSong: "God" lists all the things Lennon doesn't believe in, including [[MagicAndPowers magic]], [[UsefulNotes/BaGua I Ching]], UsefulNotes/JesusChrist, UsefulNotes/TheBible, [[UsefulNotes/TarotCards tarot]], UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, UsefulNotes/{{Buddha}}, mantra, Gita, yoga, kings, Music/ElvisPresley, [[Music/BobDylan Zimmerman]] and Music/TheBeatles. He concludes he just believes in himself and Ono.

--> ''I was [[Music/MagicalMysteryTour the Walrus]], but now I'm John.''

* {{Bookends}}: ''Plastic Ono Band'' opens with "Mother" and ends with "My Mummy's Dead".

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/plastic-ono-band_26.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:"As soon as you're born they make you feel small, by giving you no time instead of it all, till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all."]]

--> '''John Lennon''', ''Rolling Stone'' interview, 1970

[[caption-width-right:250:''"As soon as you're born they make you feel small, by giving you no time instead of it all, till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all."]]