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7.12pm
8 August 2012
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“Children, dont do.. what I have done. I couldnt walk, and I tried to run”
Was this a reference to him leaving Julian?
7.24pm
3 May 2012
Offline I think there’s a lot of things that happened in John’s life that this could be applied to, but I never thought about Julian specifically.
Moving along in our God given ways, safety is sat by the fire/Sanctuary from these feverish smiles, left with a mark on the door.
(Passover - I. Curtis)
7.28pm
8 August 2012
Offline fabfouremily said
I think there’s a lot of things that happened in John’s life that this could be applied to, but I never thought about Julian specifically.
I mean, the song is about his mother and father leaving him… HOW could he sing a song about that when he himself left his own son? I have always thought it was a mega-hypocritical song of John to write, even though it’s an extremely good song + the lyrics. So maybe he put in those two lines as a “I know Im not any better, please dont do the mistakes I have done and leave your child.”
7.32pm
3 May 2012
Offline Oh, I see… sorry, misunderstood what you meant. Yeah, I suppose you might be right there.
Moving along in our God given ways, safety is sat by the fire/Sanctuary from these feverish smiles, left with a mark on the door.
(Passover - I. Curtis)
7.42pm
9 January 2014
Offline tkj said
fabfouremily said
I think there’s a lot of things that happened in John’s life that this could be applied to, but I never thought about Julian specifically.I mean, the song is about his mother and father leaving him… HOW could he sing a song about that when he himself left his own son? I have always thought it was a mega-hypocritical song of John to write, even though it’s an extremely good song + the lyrics. So maybe he put in those two lines as a “I know Im not any better, please dont do the mistakes I have done and leave your child.”
While that all may be true, I don’t think that’s what the line means. “Run before you walk” is a well known idiom which essentially means that you try to do something complicated before you learn the basics. Now this could mean many things but I basically think that he means that he was a guy who barely had himself figured out before he became one of the most important popular figures in the world. In other words, he seems to be suggesting that he was psychologically damaged by his youth and rather than get that figured out he instead heaped an enormous pressure on himself by being a Beatle, which probably compounded his problems. I think here, as elsewhere in his life, Julian simply didn’t occur to him.
8.09pm
1 August 2013
Offline I feel this is probably the most insightful and genuine of john’s admissions of his shortcomings. Most of his others feel like macho grandstanding to me in a weird, almost bragging, blame-shifting way — “Look at how honest and tortured I am! Admire and pity me!”
9.11pm
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20 August 2013
Offline acmac said
I feel this is probably the most insightful and genuine of john’s admissions of his shortcomings. Most of his others feel like macho grandstanding to me in a weird, almost bragging, blame-shifting way — “Look at how honest and tortured I am! Admire and pity me!”
A brash exterior to hide the hurt inside? or am I being too generous to him, acmac?
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9.23pm
16 September 2013
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Ahhh Girl said
A brash exterior to hide the hurt inside?…
To quote John “Hey, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away .” But this contradiction occurred to me recently: Lennon had such a wide range of emotions, that he wrote these two songs: “I’m A Loser ,” and “I’m The Greatest.”
12.01am
8 November 2012
Offline Bungalow Bob said
To quote John “Hey, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away .” But this contradiction occurred to me recently: Lennon had such a wide range of emotions, that he wrote these two songs: “I’m A Loser ,” and “I’m The Greatest.”
But the latter was written with tongue so firmly in cheek that I don’t see a contradiction.
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10.38am
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20 August 2013
Offline When people opened their copy of the John Lennon /Plastic Ono Band album in 1970 and put the needle down on the first side and heard Mother , would they have know about John’s early life already? In other words, how much information about his early life was out there in 1970?
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11.12am
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17 December 2012
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Hunter Davies’ Authorised Biography came out in autumn 1968, and provided a reasonably accurate look at their childhoods, @Ahhh Girl.
John was always pretty honest that his was a disrupted childhood, never covering up that he was largely brought up by Mimi, nor the premature death of Julia , while Freddie reappeared in 1964 and wasn’t a stranger to the press.
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11.49am
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20 August 2013
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Thanks, RN. If someone hadn’t read that book before they listened to that song, I bet it blew their mind.
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12.29am
14 June 2016
Offline He sang about Julia on the White Album , but Mother is still an eye opening song because it’s such a raw contrast. It hits you he was hurting under the surface all that time as a Beatle. Not just wistful longing, but real pain.
In an interview John said he didn’t like being a performing flea and smiling when he didn’t want to smile. A solo career allowed him to really unchain all of that baggage, and he didn’t have any obligations to make something ‘Beatley’ if he didn’t want to.
I love the stripped down, vocal centric songs on Plastic Ono. I think they’re John at his best. I wish he did more of them afterwards. But I guess he got a lot off his chest already. I’m glad he did something like #9 Dream though. It different to Strawberry Fields Forever or I Am The Walrus , but it’s the same type dream/experimental concept I admire.
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4.48pm
15 November 2018
Offline I’m currently listening to Mother , and it is just wow. Definitely John’s most emotional song… I’m not sure I’ve ever listened to it all the way through without tearing up a little. For sure one of my favorite John songs. It’s a masterpiece.
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10.59am
14 June 2016
Offline 50yearslate said
I’m currently listening to Mother , and it is just wow. Definitely John’s most emotional song… I’m not sure I’ve ever listened to it all the way through without tearing up a little. For sure one of my favorite John songs. It’s a masterpiece.
It’s great because it’s a vulnerable song delivered in such a strong manner.
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6.42am
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17 December 2012
Offline The “Ultimate Mix” of Mother has appeared on Spotify.
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12.21pm
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1 May 2011
Offline Ron Nasty said
The “Ultimate Mix” of Mother has appeared on Spotify.https://open.spotify.com/embed…..Q7ERw1qksm
Would have sworn that ‘Mother ‘ was on the ‘Gimme Some Truth ‘ box.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
7.57am
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17 December 2012
Offline The 2003 “Lennon Legend” video for this has had a 4K remaster, and the audio is now the 2021 “Ultimate Mix”:
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5.07pm
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17 December 2012
Offline Always one of John’s greatest vocals, the Elements Mix, just John’s pleading, bleeding voice without instrumentation or effects, is absolutely devastating.
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