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9.18am
13 April 2011
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Apologies if you've all done this kind of thing before, (I'm new!) but as I've been asked to give a talk on the life of John Lennon through his music (at my daughter's music school) I'm trying to define a kind of 'essential JL' playlist, possibly avoiding the obvious things (like Imagine), maybe including a few 'obscurities' and covering all his musical activity during his lifetime (and beyond?).
Anyone got any suggestions? Let's make it a JL Top 10..or 15..or 20, whatever you will!
Ta!
1.56pm
8 April 2010
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Hmm… I'm not sure if you can really make an essential John Lennon without Imagine. Other than that, I think Jealous Guy, Girl and In My Life are must haves, as well as Mother. Working Class Hero should be on there, but I'm not sure about the profanities. 
2.07pm
19 September 2010
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Well, God's pretty important, but I will stick to lesser known stuff. Like She Said She Said, Mr, Kite, Beautiful Boy, I'm Only Sleeping and the ever essential In my Life of A Day In The Life.
4.16pm
31 March 2008
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Here are some that give a rounded view of different aspects of his character over the years.
Beatles:
John as rocker: Twist And Shout
John as introspective: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
John as surrealist: I Am The Walrus
John as experimenter: Revolution 9 (really).
Solo: God, Isolation, Gimme Some Truth, Jealous Guy, (Just Like) Starting Over. I also like Angel Baby, Be My Baby, Do The Oz, for no particular reasons.
Love songs: Woman usually gets a mention, but consider Out The Blue or Love instead.
Political/protest songs: Woman Is The Nigger Of The World is the obvious one, but consider Attica State or The Luck Of The Irish instead. Those both have Yoko on too, which is useful if you're trying to present a rounded picture of his life.
Similarly, he could be a bastard. How Do You Sleep pretty much says it all.
If I was doing this, I'd finish with Dear John from Anthology. It's heartbreaking.
Here's a list of Lennon songs: http://www.beatlesbible.com/pe…..non/songs/
4.36pm
15 March 2011
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I agree with all the previous suggestions and I would add 'Instant Karma' and 'Cold Turkey', for me both essential Lennon.
4.50pm
13 April 2011
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Thanks guys for all your ideas. Some good suggestions there. yes, Mother, God, In my Life and others are also my choices, plus Give Peace, Walrus and others.
Joe: I was thinking of doing it chronologically, but working on the different aspects of his character is a nice slant…. I'll have to re-write everything!
I'd never heard that "Dear John" before; sadly, I don't have the Lennon anthology.
8.09pm
19 September 2010
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Joe said:
If I was doing this, I'd finish with Dear John from Anthology. It's heartbreaking. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..8z_WSAAoBk
Oh, I love it. Thanks Joe.
*9*
10.00pm
23 January 2011
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Goodness…Dear John is one of the reasons I can't listen to John all the time. It just hurts my heart. When I listened to the Lost Lennon Tapes, my chest physically hurt when I would listen to songs like Borrowed Time and Real Life/I'm Stepping Out. But then I guess I could skip to something like Tight A$ and let John rock it out, too!
2.07am
26 March 2011
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In My Life
I'm Only Sleeping
Mother
Watching The Wheels
Strawberry Fields Forever
Bless You
Jealous Guy
Crippled Inside
4.01am
1 May 2010
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This Boy is essential because of the energy brought to that performance.
You could do it year by year because John essentially described himself.
If I Fell, In My Life, I'm Only Sleeping, Strawberry Fields, Happiness is a Warm Gun….not sure about '69, maybe Come Together. I'd agree with most of the solo stuff save for Cold Turkey.
My favorite John solo track is Look at Me, the Acoustic version.
8.17am
13 April 2011
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Thanks again ..
for 69 I'd opted for Give Peace a Chance and …. The Ballad of John & Yoko (which doesn't seem to be too popular round here!!)
3.22pm
13 November 2009
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I like them. 
TBoJ&Y is a bit self indulgent, but I like it.
6.37pm
1 May 2010
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I like the song. The chorus was one of the first Beatles lyrics I learned "Christ you know it ain't easy…."
7.57pm
19 September 2010
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The Ballad of J and Y is an essential song, if only because it showcases his feelings.
10.20pm
12 January 2009
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"I Know, I Know" is the ultimate apology.
"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" shows how truly honest (and crass) he could be.
"Beautiful Boy" showed his dedication as a new father. (Is there a song of his about Julian?)
"Nobody Told Me" highlights the philosopher.
Cool project! 
10.48pm
19 September 2010
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toryst said:
"Beautiful Boy" showed his dedication as a new father. (Is there a song of his about Julian?)
Good Night was for Julian.
10.54pm
13 April 2011
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toryst said:
"I Know, I Know" is the ultimate apology.
interesting..can you elaborate?
10.57pm
1 May 2010
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Cry Baby Cry was probably for Julian.
How about Across the Universe for '69? Even though it was technically written in '68, I listened to a part of the Lost Lennon Tapes last night and he talked about that track and how he was "psychologically destroyed" when no one was interested in making the tune any better. Whether he was talking about the Get Back sessions or not is debatable, but his lack of material and input on that album could have just been him "getting back" at the others for not bringing any enthusiasm to Across the Universe.
Sorry. 
11.27pm
4 December 2010
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Sitting on a cornflake said:
toryst said:
"I Know, I Know" is the ultimate apology.
interesting..can you elaborate?
"And I know and I'm sorry (yes I am)
But I never could speak my mind"
You can't go wrong with John really. Very few of his Beatles songs are known by the general public (Ticket to Ride, Help, Come Together, maybe Lucy and Walrus, the early singles he did with Paul), and to be honest it is the same for most of his solo stuff (bar Imagine, Give Peace A Chance, Happy XMas, maybe Instant Karma, maybe Whatever Gets You Thru The Night, maybe Starting Over).
12.54am
12 January 2009
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Sitting on a cornflake said:
toryst said:
"I Know, I Know" is the ultimate apology.
interesting..can you elaborate?
The Walrus got the nugget at the heart of the song. 
If you listen to the lyrics, he is putting himself into the shoes of the people he felt he wronged and is apologizing. I don't believe it is necessarily an apology to any one person…
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