John Lennon's voice mesmerized the entire world. But surprisingly, he was a harsh critic of himself.
Much has been written about John Lennon, and how his music revolutionized popular culture during the 20th century. But unfortunately, we still haven't fully understood him. Had we, the world would have been a better place to live in - the kind that he had envisioned and advocated for. So many times we have hummed or jammed to his songs, but have we ever - at least for once - tried to grasp the philosophy in them and implement it in our life? Never! Therefore, no matter how much we celebrate him or his band (The Beatles), the truth is that we have failed him miserably.
“Imagine there's no countries... It isn't hard to do/Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too/Imagine all the people living life in peace/You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one/I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one"
The founder, co-lead vocalist, and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles, John Lennon is widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of all time. He brought forth a cultural revolution with his music, spreading love and hope across the entire world. And even after over four decades since his demise, his work continues to provide us with solace in times of despair.
Are John Lennon and Paul McCartney one of the BEST duets in rock HISTORY? 👇#TheBeatles pic.twitter.com/JNaAKmbV6v
— 🎸 Rock History 🎸 (@historyrock_) August 25, 2023
(Credit: Rock History)
On December 8, 1980 - exactly 44 years ago - Lennon breathed his last. To mark his death anniversary, we share an interesting fact about him that you probably didn't know.
As already mentioned, John Lennon's voice took the entire world by storm - and it's still as legendary as it was during his time. But you would be surprised to know that the late rockstar hated his own voice. And it went to such an extent that he would often ask his music producers and engineers to add sound effects to his recordings to make them sound different.
In his book 'Here, There, and Everywhere', sound engineer Geoff Emerick shared he had often been asked by Lennon to distort or disguise his voice in some way. "He (Lennon) was constantly imploring us to make him sound different. “‘Can you squeeze that up there?’ he would say. Or, ‘Can you make it sound nasally?’ Despite the fact that he was one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll singers of all time, he hated the sound of his own voice."
Notably, with time, Emerick observed that Lennon's insecurities found their way into his songwriting as well. “I always felt that John Lennon hid some of his insecurities behind his vocal disguises and nonsense wordplay.”
The Beatles' producer, George Martin, also spoke about the same in an interview, saying he "had an inborn dislike of his own voice which I could never understand, as it was one of the best voices I’ve heard."
Remembering George Martin on his birthday 🎂 🎈 pic.twitter.com/AaZrH1aiVz
— John Lennon (@johnlennon) January 3, 2023
(Credit: John Lennon)
"He was always saying to me, ‘Do something with my voice! You know, put something on it. Smother it with tomato ketchup or something. Make it different. As long as it wasn’t his natural voice coming through, he was reasonably happy. But he’d always want his voices to get special treatment,” Martin added.
Yes, you read it right! While great artists often tend to hate their own works (that's just a part of greatness), Lennon was too much of a self-critic. For instance, "It’s Only Love" - a celebrated song about love and relationships - which he considered absolutely rubbish. In his words, "That’s the one song I really hate of mine. Terrible lyrics. I always thought it was a lousy song. The lyrics were abysmal. I always hated that song."
The list actually includes many. Songs like "Run For Your Life" and "Twist and Shout" were among his least favorites. As Lennon shared in an interview in Anthology, "’Twist and Shout’ nearly killed me. My voice wasn't the same for a long time after; every time I swallowed, it was like sandpaper. I was always bitterly ashamed of it because I could sing it better than that, but now it doesn't bother me. You can hear that I'm just a frantic guy doing his best. We sang for 12 hours, almost nonstop. We had colds, and we were concerned about how it would affect the record. At the end of the day, all we wanted to do was drink pints of milk."
(Credit: The Beatles)
Rest In Peace, Lennon. Your Music Saved Us!
