TL;DR:
- John Lennon said he didn’t want to create any illusions with the Plastic Ono Band’s songs.
- He said “I just want to say direct whatever I am trying to say.”
- The former Beatle was critical of fans who wanted The Beatles to reform.
John Lennon was trying to do something simple with the Plastic Ono Band’s songs. It’s debatable whether he did what he intended. In addition, he said fans who wanted The Beatles to return should just go and make music themselves.
John Lennon said the Plastic Ono Band’ songs were ‘simple and straight’
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, John noted listeners incorrectly believed “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” was about LSD. The interviewer said John’s post-Beatles songs were more straightforward. “I’m not interested in creating illusion,” he said. “Plastic Ono was simple and straight.
“I am always trying to do that,” he added. “I just want to say direct whatever I am trying to say. I’m not interested in poetry with a capital ‘P.’ To me, the best poetry is haiku. All the best paintings are Zen. The less said, the better.”
John Lennon said he was looking for ‘clarity of expression’
John liked the idea of making instrumental music, but he felt he needed to use lyrics. “I’m just — just verbal,” he said. “Somehow it is clarity that I am looking for, clarity of expression. Painting wallpaper or making Muzak is not what I want to do, although I have nothing against it. I’m just trying to put a clear moment on canvas.”
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John was unconcerned with fan reaction to his new music. “If people don’t like it, well … It’s the same as wanting the Beatles back,” he said. “You want music from me, you’ll get it. But don’t tell me which music to make or suggest how I do it.” John said his fans should make music for themselves instead of putting expectations onto him.
Not all of the Plastic Ono Band songs John Lennon wrote were straightforward
John’s statement that the Plastic Ono Band was straightforward is unusual. Certainly, the Plastic Ono Band released some lyrically simple songs like “Power to the People.” However, the group could be very abstract at times. Their album track “God” opens with the line “God is a concept by which we measure our pain.” That line is so strange and philosophical that someone could write a long college essay about it.
Furthermore, the Plastic Band Ono didn’t just get strange on their experimental album tracks. The group’s first single to hit the Billboard Hot 100 was “Give Peace a Chance.” That song features a bunch of grabbled nonsense in the verses, including references to nonexistent things like “ragism,” “tagism,” and “fishops.” The only part of the song that’s easy to understand is the titular line. If the Plastic Ono Band only made simple music, they would have been far less interesting.
The Plastic Ono Band were a great band even if they weren’t always straightforward.
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