Walls and Bridges: The Greatest Lennon Album

Walls and Bridges is perhaps one of the most underrated Beatles solo discography albums. At least, that's my opinion. For John Lennon, I regard Walls and Bridges as his most inspired album; Where Plastic Ono Band, one of his most highly regarded albums, is raw and real, the 1974 album Walls and Bridges has a certain juxtaposition against what he created at the start of his solo career. This inspiration could be due to many factors, one of the major ones being that this album was written and recorded during John's "Lost Weekend" era, an era where he and Yoko Ono were separated. The songs on this album sort of reflect the meaning of its title: John going into the connections he has had with the people around him. Even the cover art for the album (which, by the way, looks insanely cool in physical form as a vinyl) reflects John in different aspects through his childhood artwork.

There's a certain interesting dichotomy in John Lennon's music, which can even be deduced from his songs he created while in the Beatles. John was able to create songs that were catchy, and full of fun word play and lyricism that's extremely addictive. On the other hand, he was also able to compose songs that were real, heartfelt, and came right from his deepest insecurities and emotions (such as Jealous Guy). Walls and Bridges is able to touch all sides of John's style in music, culminating in an album that is representative of his sound.

The album starts off with Going Down on Love, which is an incredible album opener in my opinion, setting the precedent for the album: snazzy trumpets and a catchy bass, to bongo drums and then slower, smoother sections. Not only musically does it set the atmosphere for Walls and Bridges, but lyrically it captures John's sound as well and who he was during the Lost Weekend period. The following tracks on the album, Whatever Gets You Thru the Night, Old Dirt Road, and What You Got are almost like pieces of Going Down on Love in a sense. Whatever Gets You Thru the Night is a fun, catchy and upbeat tune featuring Elton John and was the first single released for this album, and it peaked at No. 1 in the United States on multiple charts. Old Dirt Road is almost a filler track, but I wouldn't regard it as bad in any sense. In fact, I think that all of the "filler" tracks on this album are, at worst, just decent! What You Got is also more upbeat in comparison to Old Dirt Road, and, as the chorus implies, you don't know what you got until you lose it. It's a message that I feel like everyone can relate to in any sense.

Bless You follows What You Got, and though both songs are about Yoko Ono, I think that Bless You is the one that I'm more drawn to and the one that catches my eye more through the first side of this album. Bless You has a wonderful melody, with a kind of relaxed feel and dreamy guitars. It's a smooth, soft song, where you can feel the longing in it. I always liked this song because of its more dream-like feel to it.

Scared, the last track on the first side, is likely my least favorite but that fact doesn't say much because I still love this song. I can't lie, I really dig the wolves howling in the intro to the song—and it almost brings me back to the type of sampling that was in Tomorrow Never Knows (the birds!).

Then, of course, the namesake of my fansite and probably the best song on Walls and Bridges: #9 Dream. A song that was quite literally written based off of a dream that John had, which is almost similar to how Paul wrote Let it Be, except that I think #9 Dream is better (sorry, Paul). #9 Dream has instrumentals that feel exactly like what a dream feels like, it goes into different sections, slower and then faster, with these tranquil qualities that make you feel like you're floating in the sky. It almost feels like an upgraded version of Going Down on Love. I fully believe that this song is not only one of John's best through his entire solo discography, but I believe it to be his most inspired, creative and well thought out song, especially considering it came to him through a dream. I hardly see love or appreciation for this album from John fans, but I think in particular this track deserves way more adoration.

Surprise Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradise) is a fun tune, and I think it's up there with What You Got in the vein of just being a nice jam. I love this song more than What You Got, though, because it has some really nice sections and a fun outro (Sweet-sweet, sweet-sweet love!) that just gives it some more bonus points.

Steel and Glass is an incredible song that's a total diss on Allen Klein. I think, between Steel and Glass and How Do You Sleep?, John is not just any hater, but a proper hater. This song also has a sort of lietmotif to How Do You Sleep?, so I only have to assume that John liked to define his hatred through a menacing riff. His lyricism is amazing in Steel and Glass, with deep-cut digs that verge on low blows, but it's all deserved considering the history John had with Klein. I especially like the lyrics such as "Well your mouthpiece squawks as he spreads your lies, but you can't pull the strings if your hands are tied." Really nice punches with some of the best word play coming from John.

Beef Jerky is a weird track, but I can't help but love it for the connection to Paul's music who, despite my Let it Be insult, I actually admire almost as much as John's. There's a certain guitar riff in this mostly-instrumental song that reflects the guitar riff of Paul's song Let Me Roll It. For those unaware, Let Me Roll It was released not too long before Walls and Bridges, and the song itself was said to be inspired by John's work (which is probably why Let Me Roll It is one of my favorite Macca tracks). If you listen to Let Me Roll It, that fact becomes clear by Paul's reverbed vocals and the iconic guitar riff in that song. So, in a way, Beef Jerky is a response to Paul's response to John's music. It's the closest we got to Lennon-McCartney musical reunion post-beatles, anyway.

Following Beef Jerky, we have one of my other favorites from this album: Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out), which is a song that's intense and one of the more emotional tracks in John's discography. The lyrics themselves reflect John's feelings when he had first separated from Yoko and his general dismay towards how his music had been recieved critically through his solo career until that point. The song is very cynical, but it was written at a point where John had felt depressed and quite lonely. I think the section where John sings "Well I get up in the morning and I'm looking in the mirror to see—" is incredible, by cutting himself off with an "oo-wee" reminiscent of a cartoonish way to show despair. But what was he looking in the mirror to see? His reflection, of a self that he loathed, or a self that he wished was treated better, or... And it goes on. There's much to think about with the interpretation of this song, and despite it not technically being the last track on the album, I regard it as the end because of how much it feels like a finale. It contrasts the beginning of the album, whereas Going Down on Love and Whatever Gets You Thru the Night are very upbeat, fun, and lively—this track is more cynical, and depressed, and expresses the core of what John was going through during the Lost Weekend time: Loneliness.

As I stated before, Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out) is not technically the last track on the album. Instead, the last track is a bizarre cover of "Ya Ya" by Lee Dorsey featuring Julian Lennon on drums. It's not really a serious cover, but an interesting way to close out the album.

Walls and Bridges defines John Lennon's sound in a way that I wish he was able to expand on more. Following this album, he would release Rock n' Roll and then go on a five year hiatus from music. Though John would later release Double Fantasy, I think of Walls and Bridges as his last album that was truly John. Though I also love Double Fantasy, it's a different album, and half of the album is Yoko's, so it's hard for me to picture it as solely John's anyhow. In any case, Walls and Bridges remains my favorite album by John with tracks that hit deep and tracks that give you something to dance to. I could go on and on about this album, but I have to get to sleep, and possibly dream for a little while.