Weekly Top Five - 9.Dec.10

In  High Fidelity, the characters compare their top fives in a variety of categories. Being big fans of both the film and novel, we here at the What bring you our Weekly Top Five, a feature focused on five fantastic things that you should become familiar with.

John Lennon Songs

 

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the night John Lennon was taken from this world, far sooner than he should have been. Several media outlets acknowledged this sad anniversary with tributes and commemorations, perhaps done best by Pierre Robert at WMMR. With Lennon's catalog far too diverse and impressive to narrow down to a top five list, today we present the top five John Lennon songs we heard yesterday.

5. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - This Beatles track from Rubber Soul was written mostly by John about having an affair. Norwegian Wood refers to the cheap style of pine used in many English flats at the time, which he would've seen plenty of when going home with any number of girls. George Harrison elected to play the sitar for this song, giving it its distinct sound.

4. Watching the Wheels - In the 1970's Lennon was often criticized for not doing anything. People felt he was crazy (or just lazy) for not continuing to capitalize on his success and fame by recording and touring more frequently. His response was to pen this song about how content he was spending time at home being a family man.

3. Instant Karma! - This song was written and recorded on the same day and released just ten days later, a rare speed in the record industry. Though it was released by the Plastic Ono Band, it was prior to the break up of the Beatles and George Harrison actually played electric guitar on the track.

2. A Day in the Life - Considered by many to be the greatest Beatles song ever composed, "A Day in the Life" is the perfect example of the Lennon/McCartney partnership. The haunting delivery of the story of a man who committed suicide by Lennon and the chipper presentation of a man getting ready for work blend together much like Lennon and McCartney did themselves, only to crescendo into a chaotic musical explosion at the end.

1. Imagine - At different times Lennon referred to this as the best thing he ever wrote or just another song. Regardless, its influence is undeniable. It actually projects a v ery strong message, but as Lennon remarked, Imagine is "anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic, but because it's sugar-coated, it's accepted."