Like his 1971 track How Do You Sleep?, this is a bitter song directed at someone Lennon believed had turned against him. While the target of his previous song was Paul McCartney, this time it's Allen Klein, who took over management duties for The Beatles in 1969 and worked with Lennon on his Imagine album. Their relationship turned sour, however, as Lennon sings here: "Your mother left you when you were small, but you're gonna wish you were never born at all." Klein was accused of many unethical acts before his death in 2009, but this lyric is especially harsh, as Klein's mother died when he was young.
Part of what was considered at the time Lennon's first post-Yoko album, Walls and Bridges was recorded during Lennon's "Lost Weekend," when he separated from Yoko Ono. According to David Thoener, who was an engineer at the sessions, Lennon managed to put his personal problems aside for the album. Thoener told us: "It was amazing. Despite all of the personal pain John Lennon was in, he was a consummate professional in the studio. Almost as if working kept him sane, through those difficult times."
See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.
Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.