Crippled Inside
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| “Crippled Inside” | |||||
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| Song by John Lennon | |||||
| Album | Imagine | ||||
| Released | September 9, 1971 (US) October 8, 1971 (UK) |
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| Recorded | 1971 | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 3:47 | ||||
| Label | Apple/EMI | ||||
| Writer | John Lennon | ||||
| Producer | John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Phil Spector | ||||
| Imagine track listing | |||||
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"Crippled Inside" is a song written and performed by John Lennon from his 1971 album Imagine.
The song's lyrics detail examples of false pretenses in human behavior, as well as common hypocrisy. Lennon especially attacks religion, which he did not believe in, as a prime source of hypocrisy, saying, "You can go to church and sing a hymn" and that "You can live a lie until you die, but one thing you can't hide, is when you're crippled inside."
Lennon also incorporates the myth about a cat having nine lives into the song, and compares it to a dog's one: "Well now you know that your cat has nine lives, babe, nine lives to itself, but you only got one, and a dog's life ain't fun." This could be interpreted as a veiled criticism of reincarnation, advising listeners to instead focus on the one life that they do have.
The song combines the bleak lyrical content of Lennon's prior solo recording, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, with the more upbeat musical arrangements typical to the rest of Imagine. Lennon would later express his displeasure with the more commercial sound of the album, even going so far as to say that the title track was "an anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic song, but because it's sugar-coated, it's accepted."[1] The song is also noticeably influenced by country music, becoming Lennon's own spin on country rock, which he dabbled in both as a Beatle and later in his solo career.
[edit] Trivia
- While still with The Beatles, John Lennon recorded a song, now a bootleg called "Long Lost John", in which he jams with the rest of the band. At about 5:45 into the track, the song they play sounds the same as "Crippled Inside" but has different lyrics. Paul McCarntey sings harmony vocals on the song, George Harrison adds some words, and Ringo Starr is on drums. At The very end of the track they play a slow version of Run For Your Life.
- John Lennon's fellow former Beatle George Harrison plays dobro on the song, with Klaus Voormann (a longtime friend of the Beatles and designer of the cover for their Revolver album) on upright bass.
- Jam Band Widespread Panic covered the song a number of times during their Summer 2007 Tour, with the band contributing a version to the benefit album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.
[edit] References
- ^ Lennon Lives Forever: John Lennon, Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
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