"Working Class Hero" is a song from John Lennon's first post-Beatles solo album, 1970's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.
Released 11 December 1970
Recorded 26 September -- 9 October 1970
Genre Folk blues
Length 3:48
Label Apple/EMI
Writer John Lennon
Producer John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector
Theme
The song is a take on the class split of the 1940s and 1950s, and of the 1960s in which he was famous. The song appears to tell the story of someone growing up in the working class. According to Lennon in an interview with Jann S. Wenner of Rolling Stone in December 1970, it is about working class individuals being processed into the middle classes, into the machine.
The refrain of the song is "A working class hero is something to be".
Sound
The song features only Lennon and an acoustic guitar playing basic chords as his backing. The chord progression is very simple, and builds on A-minor and G-major, with a short detour to D-major in one of the lines in the chorus. Lennon's strumming technique includes a riff with a hammer-on pick of the E note on the D string and then a loose A string. The tone and style of the song is similar to that of Masters of War by Bob Dylan, a known influence of Lennon's.
i wish i could follow john into strawberry feilds:(
ryandeakin5878 1 month ago
1.46 julia lennons grave
ryandeakin5878 1 month ago
Superb ;0)
virtualwill 2 months ago
one of my favourite songs by john lennon. amazing!
manudanann 4 months ago
I love it! <3
jelly2004 5 months ago
That's beautiful :)
Ami483 5 months ago