The Words & Music Of John Lennon
by Ben Urish & Ken Bielen

More words dissecting Lennon’s own write

Most authors, when writing about the music of John Lennon, cannot resist starting from the beginning. This book, however, finishes with The Beatles by page four, freeing the rest of the chronological chapters for detailed analysis of the music that came after. Each section is presented in an objective and concise format that seeks neither to lecture nor patronise its readers. Instead, it’s an informative, highly enjoyable wealth of information about the thought and background of the music, album-by-album and single-by-single. Urush and Bielen don’t take themselves or their subject too seriously, a trap some can fall into when writing about such revered figures. See their account of Wedding Album, where they decide that what sounds like Lennon crunching an apple throughout side one could be a sly comment on Apple records, a continuation of the Garden Of Eden theme on Two Virgins, “or perhaps he was just hungry”. This down-to-earth reasoning shines throughout the pages, letting Lennon’s artistry speak for itself without bias. Though not an intentional biography, nevertheless through Lennon’s music this book perhaps documents the biography Lennon wanted us to hear, and certainly details the legacy he left behind.

ISBN 0275991806

Reviewed by Amanda Carter
<< Back to Issue 342