Song Lyric Sunday: Understanding Reality – ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’

This week, Jim is seeking a song based on true events. Of course, there are plenty to choose from, but this particular one popped into my head quite quickly. A few days in the life of a Beatle…

(Until I pulled up the lyrics, I’d never noticed that truly clunky rhyming of ‘Seine’ with ‘Gibraltar, near Spain’. Thanks, Peter: most of us, on this side of the pond at least, know where Gibraltar is…

Standing in the dock at Southampton
Trying to get to Holland or France
The man in the mac said, “You’ve got to go back”
You know they didn’t even give us a chance

Christ you know it ain’t easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They’re going to crucify me

Finally made the plane into Paris
Honeymooning down by the Seine
Peter Brown called to say
“You can make it OK
You can get married in Gibraltar, near Spain”

Christ you know it ain’t easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They’re going to crucify me

Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton
Talking in our beds for a week
The newspapers said, “Say what you doing in bed?”
I said, “We’re only trying to get us some peace”

Christ you know it ain’t easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They’re going to crucify me

Saving up your money for a rainy day
Giving all your clothes to charity
Last night the wife said
“Poor boy, when you’re dead
You don’t take nothing with you
But your soul, think!”

Made a lightning trip to Vienna
Eating chocolate cake in a bag
The newspapers said, “She’s gone to his head
They look just like two gurus in drag”

Christ you know it ain’t easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They’re going to crucify me

Caught an early plane back to London
Fifty acorns tied in a sack
The men from the press said, “We wish you success
It’s good to have the both of you back”