"Bring on the Lucie": Lennon's Last Overtly Political Stand
All it took was one song. A track buried as the fifth song on Mind Games, was the last stand of John Lennon’s political theme sound that he co-opted in the early 1970s. He was moving towards lyrics with a more personal edge. “Bring on the Lucie (Freda People)” was the song that caught my ears, as a naïve 17-year-old, on a college radio Beatles show in San Antonio. From John Lennon’s energetic spoken word introduction, “All right boys, this is it, over the hill!” to the extraordinary wailing guitar-like-sound coming from my Mami’s car speakers. I was hooked. “Lucie” was an illuminating, rebellious and strange song that was new to these virgin ears. Almost instantaneously, after the DJ announced the song, I instructed my Mami to drive me to my favorite used LP store in San Antonio, called, ironically enough, Apple Records. I walked in and asked for the Lennon album that had “Bring on the Lucie”. They handed me Mind Games and my life was changed forever.
I wasn’t the only one changing. “Bring on the Lucie” was the first spark of the evolution of Lennon from activist back to artist. Previous to 1973, Lennon’s political messages were cluttering the songs with preachy vibes that most of his fans rejected. “Bring on the Lucie” was a signal of an end of his lyrical protester. His new raw and vibrant style would lead to even more confessional recordings that would reconnect Lennon with a loyal audience that had abandoned him six months earlier when he released the radically tinged Some Time in New York City.
READ MORE... HERE.
No comments:
Post a Comment