John Lennon -- "Gimme Some Truth" (1971)

I'm sick and tired of hearing things from uptight, shortsighted, narrow-minded hypocritics

All I want is the truth

Just give me some truth

I've had enough of reading things by neurotic, psychotic, pigheaded politicians

All I want is the truth

Just give me some truth

No short-haired, yellow-bellied son of Tricky Dicky's gonna Mother-Hubbard, soft-soap me with just a pocket full of hopes

It's money for dope

Money for rope . . .

I've had enough of watching scenes from schizophrenic, egocentric, paranoid prima donnas

All I want is the truth 

Just give me some truth

As you probably know, John Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman outside the Dakota apartment building in New York City (where Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, lived) 30 years ago today -- on December 8, 1980.  

If he had lived, Lennon would be 70 years old today.  Imagine that.

The Dakota

When police arrived at the scene of the crime, Chapman was sitting calmly on the sidewalk, holding a paperback copy of J. D. Salinger's Catcher In The Rye.  Chapman had written "To Holden Caulfield.  From Holden Caulfield.  This is my statement" on the inside cover of the book.

Here's the picture of John and Yoko than Annie Leibowitz took the day he was murdered (which was later used on the cover of "Rolling Stone" magazine):

And here's a picture of Lennon signing an autograph for Chapman a few hours before he was killed.

It's neither here nor there, but I am not a big fan of John Lennon's solo work -- nor a big fan of either Paul McCartney or George Harrison's solo work.  

The Beatles have never been equalled.  One of the enduring mysteries of my lifetime is how they could produce such brilliant music collectively and such mediocre music as individuals.

I never even thought about buying a Lennon, McCartney, or Harrison solo album -- they each wrote a few songs I liked, but I thought most of what they released was fair to middling at best.

I never liked "Imagine" -- I always thought it was bad music and even worse philosophy.  The sentiments it expressed seemed half-baked to me.  I'm sure many of you disagree vehemently with my opinion.  Perhaps it's an opinion I should have kept to myself until another day. 

I do think that "Gimme Some Truth" is a fantastic song.  I love pissed-off rock-and-roll songs, and this is a very pissed-off song -- but a very intelligently constructed song at the same time.  It foreshadows certain elements of both punk and rap, and sounds like no song that came before it.

In remembrance of John Lennon, here's "Gimme Some Truth":

Here's a video of the Beatles messing around with the song a couple of years before Lennon released it:

Here's a link you can use to buy this song from iTunes:

Here's a link to use if you prefer Amazon: