Anton Smith 2/13/2012 Professor Knippling English 102H

Working Class Hero John Lennon acted as a powerful pop culture icon during and after his time in the Beatles, up until his assassination in 1980. He created many songs that spoke to the growing counter culture, including Working Class Hero. Released in 1970, it vaguely tells a story of a working class family being processed into the middle class (and therefore into the machine), and is also Lennons first postBeatles release. Lennons fame greatly influenced his ability to create such inflammatory songs as Working Class Hero without excessive backlash. During his time in the Beatles, his anti-establishment tendencies were suppressed by the groups more pop-centered songs. By using catchy lyrics and beats, he managed to create a niche for himself in the music industry and release songs with a more politically active message. For instance, in Working Class Hero, it is clear that Lennon had a purpose in writing and distributing a song, mainly to comment on the social and economic gap that was so prominent during the 1950s and 60s. The style of Working Class Hero is peculiar, using only two chords (G and Am) on guitar. This rift is very effective as folk progressions go, but is very simple for an artist like Lennon. Such a simple song is usually dismissed; however the lyrics of this song were too profound to pass unnoticed. Delivered almost as spoken word (which adds to the story telling style), the songs meaningful lyrics

attempt to dispel the idea that being working class is something to be ashamed of; being working class should be something to be proud of. Lennon talks about the middle class like they are part of the machine, and, according to Lennon, are the sheep being led by the shepherds of the upper class. The working class is the social strata most removed from the influence of machine, the machine in this instance being a government that attempts to control the minds of its people. We can see Lennons intent in characterizing this oppressive government in the lyric as soon as youre born they make you feel small, which is a clear description of an overbearing government and social structure. According to Joshua Ostroff, writer for Spinner.com, the song *checklists] all the ways society makes the working class "feel small," from educational indoctrination to dehumanizing labour.

Much of the song can be broken down into several different attacks on the middle class: Middle class is ignorant, middle class is desensitized, and middle class is molded by the machine. The first, that the middle class is ignorant, is clearly seen in the 4th stanza, in which Lennon sings Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV, and you think youre so clever and classless and free, but youre still fucking peasants as far as I can see. You in this line is aimed at the middle class; those most likely to have leisure time and disposable income. It connects with this theme of ignorance because the song implies that even though the listener believes him or herself to be living free, they are actually just running on the metaphorical hamster wheel that the machine has set up for them. Lennon also sets out to show that the middle class is desensitized, and therefore complacent. The idea of desensitivity can be seen in the line in the first stanza with Until the pain is so big you feel nothing at all. This is a reference to media coverage of traumatic events across the globe like the Vietnam War, and the graphic images that were appearing. When people are exposed constantly to injustices and atrocities, they lose feeling towards such events, and when the people stop caring, the government is free to do whatever it wants. For example, in the 1960s, the time frame that this song

drew its message from, there was unrest in society regarding the Vietnam War, but one of the biggest threats to the counterculture movement was that after 15 years of war was that people would become contented with being in a state of war and not see the violence as something to be avoided. The idea that the middle class is molded and controlled by the machine is the most prominent in the song. With the line They hate you if youre clever and they despise a fool, Lennon implies that the government doesnt want someone outstanding or someone slow; they just want someone mediocre who they can influence into being a productive member of society. The story evident in the song also becomes more important to this point; the processing of a family into the middle class is the molding done by the government. The song also mentions how the government presents the illusion that theres room at the top, which is similar to political satirists claims that everyone can be in the one percent. The view of the government in the 1960s was a very cynical one, and it became more and more clear as the decade wore on that the government could not be trusted. The working class seemed the most pure demographic in Lennons eyes, the stigma of being working class being a creation by a government controlled society. You dont need to be a hero of the working class; in Lennons philosophy, being a member of the working class is being a hero.