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How the hell is John Lennon considered such a great song writer?  His stuff with the Beatles was good but his solo stuff kind of sucks.  Take this song for instance.

Woman is the nigger of the world
Yes she is...think about it
Woman is the nigger of the world
Think about it...do something about it

We make her paint her face and dance
If she won’t be slave ,we say that she don’t love us
If she’s real, we say she’s trying to be a man
While putting her down we pretend that she is above us
Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don’t belive me take a look to the one you’re with
Woman is the slaves of the slaves
Ah yeah...better scream about it
We make her bear and raise our children
And then we leave her flat for being a fat old mother hen
We tell her home is the only place she would be
Then we complain that she’s too unworldly to be our friend
Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don’t belive me take a look to the one you’re with
Woman is the slaves of the slaves
Yeah (think about it)

We insult her everyday on TV And wonder why she has no
guts or confidence When she’s young we kill her
will to be free While telling her not to be so
smart we put her down for being so dumb
Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don’t belive me take a look to the one you’re with
Woman is the slaves of the slaves
Yes she is...if you belive me,
you better scream about it.

Repeat:
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance

How old is that song?  Maybe if he wrote that song on a new album sure, but give it the era to which it was meant for.

However, he’s no Bob Dylan… timeless.

Not sure where your displeasure lies here.  Is it with the content or the rhythm? 

As far as content goes, I think he’s right on.  I don’t know when he wrote this but, considering he’s been dead for over 26 years, I’d say the subject matter is relative and, I fear, timeless.  As an example, the Eritrean government (a small country in Africa) has only recently banned female genital mutilation (a.k.a female circumcision).  “FGM involves the cutting and/or removal of the clitoris and other vaginal tissue, often under unsanitary conditions. It is practised in at least 28 countries globally. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that up to 140 million girls and women around the world have undergone some form of FGM.” (Source:  http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/61e45cc5004611bd68b2c078e9ea87b4.htm)

I won’t critique the actual rhythm (or whatever you call it).  Clearly, I’m not qualified cuz I don’t know them words and such that is used to critify poemz.

I just never got the WOW factor of Lennon.  Sure Imagine is ok and Woman is pretty good but most of his other stuff is crap. 

“Woman is the nigger of the world
Yes she is...think about it “

“think about it”...after making such a bold statement the best he can come up with “think about it”.

I don’t think you’ve thought about it.

Think about it.

I agree with the lyrics of the song; that women are treated as non-equal, but the way he presents it does nothing for me.

The funny thing is that I fancy myself a decent Lennon fan but I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song.  However I don’t think this example is enough to warrant saying he sucks. ;)

This song appears to merely be about the plight of women all around the world.  That regardless of how much of a pushforward we make on minority rights that women will always be viewed by the weaker sex and oppressed within every race and every culture in the world.  Not every song Lennon wrote was clear--some even bordered on repetitious or too artsy--but they were usually interesting, regardless.

john lennon is classic and is really talented at writing his own songs.  Its sad that people think hes not a big deal when he is in real life.