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TL;DR:

  • A John Lennon album expressed the former Beatle’s feelings about God and reality.
  • One of the songs seems to dismiss spirituality of all kinds.
  • John revealed what he had in common with hippies ideologically.

John Lennon wanted one of his albums to make fans question God. In addition, he said he didn’t want people to be too comfortable with their understanding of the world. The album in question was a hit and it produced one of John’s most upsetting singles.

The 1st John Lennon album dismisses God, the Bible, Jesus, tarot cards, and Elvis Presley

The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon includes an interview from 1971. In it, John revealed the intent behind his debut solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. “I’m expressing my own feelings, but then the job of that record, really, is to incite in other people’s minds: ‘Is this about me as well? Does this apply to me?'” he said.

“To put that question mark there — that it’s not as simple as God or myth will save you,” he added. “We have to question ourselves about what our position really is, and don’t be too comfortable about just being long-haired, you know.”

Perhaps the most famous song from the album is “God.” In the tune, John sings he doesn’t believe in God, Jesus, Buddha, the Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, tarot cards, and other spiritual things. He also dismisses many of the important personalities of the era, including Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles themselves. The only things he believes in are himself and Yoko Ono, singing, “That’s reality.”

The album was not designed to give anyone solutions

Just because John had questions doesn’t mean he had answers. “Solutions I don’t know,” he revealed. “I don’t think you give solutions. I think if anybody has solutions to give, it tends to put people in a position of either having to accept it or reject it.

“And that splits people into Marxists or Trotskyists or socialists and all that, which is a problem in a way,” he added. For context, Trotskyists were followers of communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky who were critical of the politics of Joseph Stalin. “The thing that all those people and us and the hippies are formally against is status quo conservatism, which is unreal; it cannot be.”

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How the music-buying public reacted to ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band became a modest hit in the United States. It peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for 34 weeks. Its only single was the intense ballad “Mother.” That tune climbed to No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for six weeks.

The Official Charts Company reports John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band peaked at No. 8 in the United Kingdom and stayed on the chart for 11 weeks. On the other hand, “Mother” did not chart there at all. Perhaps the track was too upsetting to have broad appeal.

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band is a classic album, even if it offers more questions than solutions.

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