Lennon's "Serve Yourself" on Mother's Day

[H2O Man]

You say you found Jesus Christ
He's the only one
You say you've found Buddha
Sittin' in the sun
You say you've found Mohammad
Facin' to the East
You say you've found Kristna
Dancin' in the streets

Well there's somethin' missing in this God Almighty stew
And it's your mother
(your mother, don't forget your other, lad)
You got to serve yourself
Ain't nobody gonna do it for you
You got to serve yourself
Ain't nobody gonna do it for you
Well you may believe in devils and you may believe in laws
But if you don't go out and serve yourself, lad
ain't no room service here

It's still the same old story
A bloody Holy War
A fight for love and glory
Ain't gonna study war no more
A fight for God and country
We're gonna set you free
We'll put you back in the Stone Age
If you won't be like me -- get it?

You got to serve yourself
Ain't nobody gonna do for you
You gotta serve yourself
Ain't nobody gonna do it for you
Well you may believe in devils and you may believe in laws
But Christ, you're gonna have to serve yourself
and that's all there is to it
So get right back here, it's in the bloody 'fridge
God, when I was a kid
Didn't have stuff like this tv-fucking dinners and all that crap
You fucking kids are all the fucking same!
Want a fucking car now .....
Lucky to have a pair of shoes

You tell me you found Jesus Christ
Well that's great and he's the only one
You say you just found Buddha
Sittin' on his ass in the sun
You say you found Mohammad
Kneeling on a bloody carpet facin' the East
You say you found Kristna
With a bald head dancin' in the streets
Well Christ now yer being heard

You got to serve yourself
Ain't nobody gonna do it for you
You got to serve yourself
Ain't nobody gonna do it for you
That's right lad, you better get that straight
Into your fuckin' head
You got to serve yourself
You know that, who else is gonna do it for you
It ain't me, I tell you that
Well you may believe in Jesus
And you may believe in Marx
And you may believe in Marks and Spencer's
And you may believe in bloody Woolworth's
But there's something missing in this whole bloody stew
And it's your mother, your poor bloody mother
She that bore you in the back bedroom
Full of piss and shit and fuckin' midwives
God, you can't forget that awful moment, you know
You should have been in the bloody war, lad
And you would know all about it
Well, I'll tell you something

It's still the same old story
A Holy bloody War, you know
With the pope and all that stuff
A fight for love and glory
Ain't gonna study no more war
A fight for God and country
And the Queen and all that
We're gonna set you free
Bomb you back into the fuckin' Stone Age
If you won't be like me, you know
get down on your knees and pray

Well there's somethin' missing
In this God Almighty stew
And it's your goddamn mother you dirty little git
Now get in there and wash yer ears!

(Note: In 1998, Yoko said that this song "was right after Dylan's song "You've Gotta Serve Someone," you know .... the lord, I suppose, you know. So then (John) was kind of upset about that and it was a dialogue, you know. In that sense, it's fun. I mean, you can hear it was fun. He wasn't seriously against it. He showed his anger in a way, but also his sense of humor.")

Happy Mother's Day!!!

[coeur_de_lion]

1. Yes, Mum. Gonna go wash my ears right now! eom

[Me.]

2. And Use A Flannel To Do It

Hey there lionheart, brilliant to see you.

Thanks H20 for serving this up.

[Wilms]

3. What I love about this place.

Brilliant posters who know about neat stuff and then post it.

That song is hilarious.




r.co.uk/c4976392.html

[H2O Man]

4. It's also on the anthology ....

though when I first heard it on Wonsaponatime, I nearly died laughing.

[Wilms]

5. I still miss him.

[Me.]

6. Ditto n/t

[Zorbuddha]

7. The jab

seems to be at Dylan's somewhat proselytizing tone. And a confirmation that everyone, even those that think they're above it, serve God or not. Warning that one's concepts might be upside down.

Not funny to me. I don't think John thought this was funny, either.

[H2O Man]

8. The recording

clearly has John laughing. You may be right, though .... maybe he was thinking of something else. Then again, you may have missed the point entirely .....

[Zorbuddha]

9. Maybe so.

That's always a possibility, I guess. But it would be extremely out of character for John to be trite with this sort of thing.

[H2O Man]

10. trite: from Webster's Dictionary

hackneyed from much use: stale.

I agree. Much of John's adult life, which most experts agree followed his teens, were spent repenting a single trite lyric that appeared to him in a dream. A subtle proof is found in he and Yoko (Spanish for "the Virgin Olive") often wore black or white outfits, while wandering hairied as a dog for a good bite's sleep.

[Zorbuddha]

11. John had a a playful sense of humor.

And often poked fun at even himself in his word play and even his fashion statements, but he was seldom if ever trite in the content of his message. He was sometimes superficially corny, but never artistically platitudinal. If he lacked anything, it wasn't originality.

[H2O Man]

12. "If he lacked anything, it wasn't originality."

Well, except that first line from "Come Together." The boys never recovered from that. Yet he could not be considered autistically plateresque, not even by the Monkees. If he lacked anything, it was apparently parents.

[Zorbuddha]

13. Everyone has banal moments.

As your 'autistically plateresque' comment attests. Are you just having fun with arcane gibberish, or are you insulting the Monkees or what?

You may not respect my opinion, but I offered it in good faith out of respect to John's legacy. I'll add one last thing and leave you to believe what you wish.

You said:

If (John) lacked anything, it was apparently parents.

Apparently parents is cute wordplay, but I'd venture if John had not apparently lacked parents, we'd almost certainly be lacking the Beatles.

[H2O Man]

14. We'll never know.

Yesterday, today, or tomorrow.