The Words and Songs of John Lennon: #8 / Gimme Some Truth
Posted: Tuesday, June 07, 2011
by Kenny St.pierre
I'm sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocritics
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
I've had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of tricky dicky
Is gonna mother Hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocketful of hope
Money for dope
Money for rope
I'm sick to death of seeing things
from tight-lipped, condescending, mama's little chauvinists.
All I want is the truth.
Just gimme some truth now.
I've had enough of watching scenes
of schizophrenic, ego-centric, paranoiac, prima-donnas.
All I want is the truth now.
Just gimme some truth.
No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of tricky dicky
is gonna mother Hubbard soft soap me
with just a pocketful of soap.
It's money for dope.
Money for rope.
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I'm sick and tired of hearing things
From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocritics
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
I've had enough of reading things
By neurotic, psychotic, pig-headed politicians
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
"Gimme Some Truth" is a protest song recorded by John in 1971 with blazing political references during the latter years of the Vietnam War. This song was in the works as early as January 1969, during The Beatles' Let It Be sessions. Bootlegs of them rehearsing include this song. The song reveals Lennon's disappointment with deceptive politicians, and war crimes such as the My Lai massacre. It was a timely song since the transgressions of the war had reached deep into the minds of America's consciousness. As most of you are aware, many protest had taken place during this time.
No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of tricky dicky
Is gonna mother Hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocketful of hope
Money for dope
Money for rope
The song expresses Lennon's frustration with deceptive politicians ("...short-haired yellow-bellied sons of "Tricky Dicky." When Lennon referred to "tricky dicky," he was using a nickname that liberals had been applying for decades to Richard Nixon. "Yellow-bellied," of course, is slang for cowardly.
I'm sick to death of seeing things
from tight-lipped, condescending, mama's little chauvinists.
All I want is the truth.
Just gimme some truth now.
Jingoism - ("...tight-lipped condescending mommy's little chauvinists."). Few Nationalist have a world view on things, thus John's reference to chauvinism.
I've had enough of watching scenes
of schizophrenic, ego-centric, paranoiac, prima-donnas.
All I want is the truth now.
Just gimme some truth.
No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of tricky dicky
is gonna mother Hubbard soft soap me
with just a pocketful of soap.
It's money for dope.
Money for rope.
The song references the nursery rhyme "Old Mother Hubbard," using the rhyme's subject matter (About a woman going to get her dog a bone, only to discover that her cupboard is empty.) as a political parallel to the events of the day. The song's reference to "soft soap" employs the slang verb in its classic sense: Insincere flattery that attempts to convince someone to do or to think something, as in the case of politicians who use false or dishonest rhetoric to quell public unrest or to propagandize unfairly.
"The rhyme's words allude to the famous Cardinal Wolsey. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was the most important statesman and churchman of the Tudor history period in 16th century England. Cardinal Wolsey proved to be a faithful servant but displeased the King, Henry VIII, by failing to facilitate the King's divorce from Queen Katherine of Aragon who had been his queen of many years. The reason for seeking the divorce and hence the creation of the Old Mother Hubbard poem was to enable him to marry Anne Boleyn with whom he was passionately in love. Katherine was older than Henry VIII, and had a stillbirth, then a daughter, Mary. But at 42, she was no longer able to bear children, and Anne Boleyn looked very promising. And she had to be his legitimate wife, for a bastard could not rightfully claim the throne. In the Old Mother Hubbard song King Henry was the "doggie" and the "bone" refers to the divorce. The cupboard relates to the Catholic Church although the subsequent divorce arranged by Thomas Cramner resulted in the break with Rome and the formation of the English Protestant church and the demise of Old Mother Hubbard - Cardinal Wolsey. Henry VIII ended up with six wives, but never a son. As it turned out, though, his daughter Mary I was the heir that England needed. She's considered to be one of the most superlative rulers England has ever had."
"There is a book written by Jon Wiener of the same title revealing a compilation of FBI files on Lennon, who was investigated as a drug user and radical. The FBI feared Lennon would disrupt the Republican National Convention in 1972."
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Brilliant! Hippies were treated badly back then, and the close minded ones still lost in their delusions feel no different about them. They were way ahead of their times. Way ahead. May chauvinists either open their minds or crawl in their their self-reinforcing holes and leave us alone. Great job of breaking down the lyrics. Now this is music (art). What is out here now disguised as music (art) is no more than noise.
Best......eThanks E...Lennon will always be the man in my mind.
Liked this article Kenny- I've always had an enduring interest in the Tudors; although I have to disagree that Mary Tudor was a superlative ruler- I rather think that she was the dupe of her desperate love for Phillip of Spain.She may have been at least a better ruler otherwise. :) Hope to see more of you in the future here on SearchWarp AKA WryteStuff. Always Ella
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