On John Lennon's 79th birth anniversary, a playlist of his best songs, from Working Class Hero to Julia

John Lennon has been one of the most popular yet controversial musicians to walk on Earth. Ninth October marks his 79th birth anniversary. Lennon with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison in tow, as The Beatles, created a revolution in the music industry. Lennon even went so far to claim The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” He was not wrong because the success and craze around this group was never seen again. [caption id=“attachment_7471551” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] John Lennon. Image from Twitter[/caption] Post the band’s split, Lennon went on to release his solo work, and formed the Plastic Ono Band with wife Yoko On. The experimental pieces often made it to top of music charts. He was also heavily involved in political activism, using the medium of music to spread his message of peace and unity. In honour of this musical legend’s birthday, below are some of his most memorable songs. ’Working Class Hero’ from John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

‘Working Class Hero’ is from his first album after The Beatles broke up. It is his criticism of the class divide in society, a reality that burdens people from birth. The song features just Lennon’s vocals, backed by a guitar, which brings to mind the musical style of Bob Dylan. ‘Working Class Hero’ has been covered by many, from David Bowie’s band Tin Machine to Marilyn Manson. ‘Julia’ from The Beatles (The White Album)

Lennon wrote ‘Julia’ alongside McCartney for his deceased mother and Ono. Many sources on the report that the lyric, ‘Ocean Child Calls Me’ was written for Ono, whose name in Japanese means “child of the sea.” ‘Stand by Me’ from Rock ’n’ Roll

Originally recorded by Ben E King in the ’60s, ‘Stand by Me’ is one of the many oldies that Lennon covered for Rock n Roll, with the production taken up a notch by Phil Spector. ‘Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)’ from Double Fantasy

‘Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)’ is a lullaby of sorts for Lennon and Ono’s only child, Sean. While ‘Julia’ chronicles the distance he feels from his mother after her death, ‘Beautiful Boy’ is full of positivity, and his new bond with his son. ‘Imagine’

‘Imagine’ is probably one of his most popular singles of all times, and usually the only one most people know all the words to. Here, he tries to envision a world without boundaries and fences, a Utopian idea. The song was released when resistance against US’ intervention in the Vietnam War was at its peak. In 2018, Ono released a reworked version of the classic track. ’#9 Dream’ from Walls and Bridges

The second single from Walls and Bridges features the voice of May Pang calling out to him. The song does not have any complicated explanation to it. It is just a fun number with Lennon chanting “Ah! böwakawa poussé, poussé” in the chorus.