John Lennon was a fearless truth teller when it came to his song lyrics, whether he was reaching out to the masses or revealing his inner workings. He possessed the artistic skills to deliver those truths in a multitude of ways, sometimes even couching the message in music that was utilized to throw people off the scent.
Just the title of his 1971 song “Crippled Inside” sounds like something stark and harrowing. Yet Lennon chose music that was practically ebullient, using that bit of misdirection to deepen the meaning behind the song.
You Can Imagine
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon’s first album following the breakup of The Beatles, chronicled his excavation of the demons of his past, which, as it turned out, included his former band. He needed that album to be musically raw and unadorned so no one could miss the message he was trying to impart.
As brilliant as the album turned out to be, it was a bit too uncompromising to be a huge hit on radio. That kept the album sales a bit modest compared to releases by Lennon’s former Beatle buddies around that time. That’s why he went for a more commercial approach for his follow-up album Imagine, which arrived in 1971.
Producer Phil Spector was given free rein to employ whatever Wall of Sound tactics he could summon to sweeten the sound. And after recording most of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band with the same core trio, Lennon allowed himself the luxury of guest musicians on Imagine. “Crippled Inside” manages to sound like a country rocker thanks to the efforts of George Harrison on dobro and Nicky Hopkins on saloon-style piano.
But it wasn’t like all the issues that had bothered Lennon in 1970 had suddenly disappeared by the following year. “Crippled Inside” makes that clear. And the good-timey music sort of proves his point. It essentially dares you to try and cover up your inner pain as much as possible with a happy front. Eventually, the truth will come out.
Exploring the Lyrics to “Crippled Inside”
“Crippled Inside” catalogs all the machinations we humans undertake to put on a brave face and make everyone think we’re fine and dandy. Lennon suggests, in the refrain, that it’s all an exercise in futility: One thing you can’t hide / Is when you’re crippled inside.
Lennon makes the point that we do what we can with our outside appearance to hide any tumult behind the façade: You can shine your shoes and wear a suit / You can comb your hair and look quite cute. Or you might even go to more extreme lengths: You can wear a mask and paint your face / You can call yourself the human race.
In the bridge, Lennon shows off his razor-sharp sense of humor, suggesting that unlike the old adage about the nine lives of cats, humans are in for a much rougher go of it: You only got one / And a dog’s life ain’t fun. He might be sugarcoating the message with the music, but he was still trying to talk straight to his listeners with his lyrics.
Lennon sings the song with just the slightest bit of a twang, sounding at times like a Southern preacher. But the lyrics to the final verse express skepticism at the benefits of religion: You can go to church and sing a hymn, he sings, just another one of the ways that he believes we deceive ourselves.
You can live a life until you die, Lennon sings leading up to the final refrain. In other words, there is never a point where you’re going to get away from whatever is tearing you up. It’s not the most optimistic message in the world, which makes his decision to play “Crippled Inside” with a glimmer in his eye and some pep in his step all the cleverer.
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Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
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