Why Yoko Ono Felt John Lennon’s Songs Weren’t as Popular as The Beatles’ Songs
TL;DR:
- Yoko Ono felt John Lennon’s songs were less popular than The Beatles’ songs.
- She felt the same thing about George Harrison’s songs.
- Yoko said listeners should be more “mature.”
Yoko Ono named two of John Lennon‘s songs that dealt with real-world issues. She said these songs were less popular than The Beatles’ songs because they weren’t optimistic. In addition, Yoko discussed what she thought about George Harrison’s songs.
Yoko Ono contrasted the lyrics of John Lennon’s songs and The Beatles’ songs
The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon includes an interview from 1972. In it, Yoko said the album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was a masterpiece. The album contains the songs “Working Class Hero” and “God.”
“And then the other one, which is Imagine,” she added. “Obviously Imagine was more popular, because it has a little sort of sugarcoat on it, as John puts it.”
Subsequently, Yoko discussed The Beatles’ appeal. “You see, The Beatles’ popularity was … the main thing was they were just saying, ‘OK, OK,’ to people,” she said. “‘It’s gonna be OK.’ And then suddenly John comes out with this Plastic Ono album, ‘Working Class Hero’ and whatnot, ‘God’ and all that, saying, ‘It’s not OK — there are these problems.'”
What Yoko Ono said about George Harrison’s songs and the public’s musical taste
Yoko felt the subject matter of John’s songs affected their popularity. “Obviously, that makes him less popular because people don’t want to know about that,” she opined. “People want somebody to always tell them it’s OK.
“And so maybe George Harrison, John, all of them, now pointing out these problems, it’s gonna be a little bit less popular or whatever, I don’t know,” she continued. “But it shouldn’t be if the world gets more mature. They should understand that that’s more important somehow.”
How John Lennon’s ‘Working Class Hero’ and ‘God’ performed on the pop charts in the United States and the United Kingdom
“Working Class Hero” was a single but it never charted on the Billboard Hot 100. “God” didn’t chart because it was never a single. Both tracks appeared on the album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 34 weeks. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was John’s first album without The Beatles to reach the top 10 of the chart.
According to The Official Charts Company, “Working Class Hero” and “God” did not chart in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band reached No. 8 and remained on the chart for 11 weeks.
“Working Class Hero” and “God” were not sunny Beatles songs but they are still classics in their own right.
