‘Bring On The Lucie (Freeda Peeple)’ was a protest song begun by John Lennon in 1971, and recorded for Mind Games two years later.

Lennon taped an early version of the song towards the end of 1971, at which time it had the title ‘Free The People’. He was entering the political phase which would culminate with the following year’s Some Time In New York City, and anthems for the people were very much the order of the day.

‘Free The People’ was performed with three chords on a dobro guitar. Lennon then either forgot about it or decided to wait before continuing work on the composition, for it was more than a year later before he revived it.

The words ‘bring on the lucie’ are only heard at the very end of the song, during the fade-out. Despite the novelty title, ‘Bring On The Lucie (Freeda Peeple)’ was a more eloquent protest song compared to much of Some Time In New York City’s crude preaching:

Well you were caught with your hands in the kill
And you still got to swallow your pill
As you slip and you slide down the hill
On the blood of the people you killed
Stop the killing now!
‘Bring On The Lucie (Freeda Peeple)’

Lennon turned in a spirited vocal performance, although the repetitive groove by the hired New York session musicians lacks much of the fire demanded by the lyrics.

A studio outtake of ‘Bring On The Lucie’ from the Mind Games sessions was included on the 1998 box set John Lennon Anthology.


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