10 Darkest Songs John Lennon Ever Wrote
7. Mother
Featured on: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)
Despite the title, Mother saw Lennon dealing with the pain of being abandoned by both parents. Though he had issues with his mother prior, she was killed in a car accident when he was seventeen. Mother opens with funeral bells tolling, an idea which Lennon had while watching an old horror movie. Lennon addresses both parents explicitly:
“Mother. You had Me. But I never had you […] I wanted you. But you didn't want me.”
“Father. You left me. But I never left you […] I needed you. But you didn't need me.”
Lennon was inspired to write the song after completing primal therapy, which involves screaming to unleash repressed pain caused by childhood trauma. In Lennon’s case, feelings of loss and abandonment by his parents.
Lennon predicted that “Many, many people will not like Mother” and that it would hurt them. When asked about the musical composition, Lennon said “I express myself best in rock, and I had a few ideas to do this with Mother and that with Mother, but the piano does it all for you”.
The song showcases the emotional range of Lennon’s vocals and is held together by some of Ringo’s best drumming, which was sampled as a beat in the Eminem track Headlights.