Working Class Hero

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For the compilation album, see Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon.

"Working Class Hero" is a song from John Lennon's first post-Beatles solo album, 1970's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. Regarded as one of Lennon's most caustic and overtly political songs, it explores themes of alienation and social status from childhood to adulthood. It was controversial in that it was one of the first popular songs to include the word "fucking" (twice). In contrast to the usual censorship laws, the record label printed the word clearly^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Covers

Marianne Faithfull covered "Working Class Hero" on her 1979 album Broken English. David Bowie's band Tin Machine recorded a version of the song on their 1989 debut album. Marilyn Manson covered it on his 2000 single "Disposable Teens." In 2005, the ex Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne recorded a version for his collection Under Covers. It was covered by Mark Lanegan on the tribute album also titled Working Class Hero. Roger Taylor of Queen also covered this song on his 1998 album Electric Fire. Elbow covered the song in 2005.