Remember (John Lennon song)
| "Remember" | |
|---|---|
| Song by John Lennon | |
| from the album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band | |
| Released | 1970 |
| Recorded | October – November 1970 |
| Genre | Rock |
| Length | 4:36 |
| Label | Apple/EMI |
| Songwriter(s) | John Lennon |
| Producer(s) | John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector |
| John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band track listing | |
|
11 tracks
|
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"Remember" is a 1970 song appearing on John Lennon's first official solo album release, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.
The song was influenced by Lennon's primal therapy sessions with Dr Arthur Janov, and the lyrics reflect things typically remembered in therapy. The memories described are unpleasant ones, of conflict with family, authority and peers. Lennon employs his wit, mentioning how "the hero was never hung, always got away", and parents "wishin' for movie stardom, always playin' a part," instead of being honest and open.
At the end of the song, Lennon sings an excerpt from the poem Remember, Remember, The Fifth of November, then an explosion is heard. This is a reference to Guy Fawkes Night, a holiday in Britain celebrated with fireworks. In an interview with Jann Wenner, Lennon said this was part of a lengthy ad-lib and that he later decided this line ought to be the culmination of the song. This ad-lib may refer to the nursery rhyme "Remember Remember", also linked to Guy Fawkes Night:
Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot;
I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
"Remember" is one of several songs on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band that regards "a litany of letdowns." Music critic Wilfrid Mellers regards the theme of "Remember" to be the debunking of parents' dreams for their children as being as phony as television or movie scripts. Music critic Johnny Rogan raises similar issues, stating that the song addresses childhood years when morality is black and white and heroes and villains fit into their predefined roles with inevitable results. According to Mellers, the song "literally" blows up the past with the Guy Fawkes Day explosion. Rogan believes that the quicker tempo and more prominent piano and drum playing leading up to the conclusion increase the drama and humour of the Guy Fawkes explosion. Rogan's interprets the explosion as being Lennon dramatizing an alternate history in which the radical Fawkes succeeds. Authors Ken Bielen and Ben Urish consider the explosion "a stark ending to a surprisingly poignant song,. the rupture of childhood trauma echoing in the adult in the form of half-recalled nursery rhymes."
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Wikipedia