{"id":341287,"date":"2025-12-29T16:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T16:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/341287\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T16:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T16:59:08","slug":"the-best-rock-n-roll-song-ever-said-john-lennon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/341287\/","title":{"rendered":"“The best rock \u2018n\u2019 roll” song ever, said John Lennon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"John<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ Tony Barnard \/ Los Angeles Times \/ UCLA Library)<\/p>\n

Mon 29 December 2025 14:26, UK <\/p>\n

John Lennon<\/a> was never one to sit on the fence, whether he was being positive or negative about any given subject. If Lennon felt strongly, everybody would know about it.<\/p>\n

As much as he had a reputation for being his own harshest critic, Lennon was also more than happy to give himself a pat on the back if he felt that it was deserved. The ultimate contrarian\u2019s contrarian could throw his most beloved material under the bus, but he would never utter words of contempt for the work of Yoko Ono<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following the demise of The Beatles, Lennon did eventually become somewhat calmer and reserved. However, during those initial years, before the dust had settled, he had a bee in his bonnet and wanted people to take notice of the art he was creating with Yoko, who he felt was unfairly treated in the music industry. Working alongside Ono in The Plastic Ono Band was a fresh experience that he truly relished and gave him a new lease of artistic life that was the perfect tonic to leaving the Fab Four.<\/p>\n

As much as their debut album, John Lennon\/Plastic Ono Band, was eventually lauded as a masterpiece, it didn\u2019t top the charts upon release, and Lennon felt one song from this era, particularly, had been overlooked.<\/p>\n

A vital reason why this song, which Lennon attested to love so dearly, didn\u2019t get the credit it deserved was due to being released as a B-side. The track in question is \u2018Don\u2019t Worry, Kyoko\u2019, which The Plastic Ono Band<\/a> placed on the other side of their \u2018Cold Turkey\u2019 single. It\u2019s a slick, blues-infused track on which Ono\u2019s raw emotion is laid bare, and is duly one of her finest musical moments, even if it flew under the radar at the time.<\/p>\n

Sentimentally, for Ono, it\u2019s an incredibly personal song written about her daughter, whom she had lost custody of and lived with her ex-husband, Anthony Cox. Heartbreakingly, they remained out of contact until Kyoko reappeared in Yoko\u2019s life in 1994, but thankfully, they have stayed in close touch ever since.<\/p>\n

In 1970, Lennon applauded the track and told Rolling Stone that he believed it\u2019s as good as anything that had come before, stating, \u201cDon\u2019t get the therapy confused with the music. Yoko\u2019s whole thing was that scream. \u2018Don\u2019t Worry, Kyoko\u2019 was one of the fuckin\u2019 best rock and roll records ever made. Listen to it, and play \u2018Tutti Fruitti\u2019. Listen to \u2018Don\u2019t Worry, Kyoko\u2019 on the other side of \u2018Cold Turkey\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lennon believed Ono didn\u2019t get the praise that her work deserved compared to other artists, including The Beatles, and for him, she operated in a league of her own. While she didn\u2019t sell as many records as the Fab Four, Lennon believed Ono\u2019s barrier-pushing methods were equally vital in progressing popular music into new territory.<\/p>\n

He elaborated: \u201cI\u2019m digressing from mine, but if somebody with a rock-oriented mind could possibly hear her stuff, you\u2019ll see what she\u2019s doing. It\u2019s fantastic, you know. It\u2019s as important as anything we ever did, and it is as important as anything the Stones or Townshend ever did. Listen to it, and you\u2019ll hear what she is putting down. On \u2018Cold Turkey\u2019 I\u2019m getting towards it. I\u2019m influenced by her music 1000 per cent more than I ever was by anybody or anything. She makes music like you\u2019ve never heard on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yoko was a relentlessly inventive creative, and \u2018Don\u2019t Worry, Kyoko\u2019 is a prime example of her forward-thinking approach. However, due to Lennon being the star name in the group, \u2018Cold Turkey\u2019 was chosen as the A-side despite his own admission that he prefers \u2018Don\u2019t Worry, Kyoko\u2019. As a result, and due to the song\u2019s experimental nature, it was unlikely to be picked up by the radio to make the world view it as Lennon did.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credits: Far Out \/ Tony Barnard \/ Los Angeles Times \/ UCLA Library) Mon 29 December 2025 14:26,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,25396,128,56,54,55,33432],"class_list":{"0":"post-341287","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-john-lennon","10":"tag-music","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom","14":"tag-yoko-ono"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}