1974 single by John Lennon
"
What You Got
" is a song written by
John Lennon
that was first released on his 1974 album
Walls and Bridges
. It was later released as the B-side to his top 10 "
#9 Dream
" single.
Lyrics and music
[
edit
]
The lyrics of "What You Got" reflect Lennon being upset at being separated from wife
Yoko Ono
at the time, during his "lost weekend."
[1]
This is particularly the case of the
refrain
of "You don't know what you got until you lose it."
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
Lennon acknowledged that this is the case, stating that "Well, that's talkin’ about Yoko. You really don't know what you got till you lose it."
[1]
[5]
The lyrics are peppered with other cliches, including more reassuring ones such as "You gotta hang on in," and the refrain ends with the phrase "give me one more chance."
[4]
[6]
One line, "Well it's Saturday night and I just gotta rip it up" recalls
Little Richard
's song "
Rip It Up
" but unlike Little Richard, Lennon is not looking to celebrate Saturday night but rather expressing his anxiety about his personal situation and lamenting the time he has wasted getting drunk to try to forget about it.
[1]
[3]
[6]
Music lecturers Ben Urish and Ken Bielen describe "What You Got" as a "
blues
-tinged rocker with more than a little Latin
funk
thrown in."
[6]
The music to "What You Got" was influenced by
dance music
.
[2]
It recalls the
O'Jays
' song "
For the Love of Money
."
[1]
[2]
Music critic
Johnny Rogan
sees it as a mixture between
Sly Stone
,
The Isley Brothers
and
Tamla Motown
.
[4]
Beatle historians Chip Madinger and Mark Easter feel that it sounds like a
Commodores
song.
[7]
The song is taken at a fast pace.
[3]
[8]
Beatle historian
Bruce Spizer
likens the pace to that of the
Beatles
' "
Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
."
[8]
Beatle biographer John Blaney states that while the music sounds "up-beat" it is "honest and self-explanatory" below the surface.
[2]
Urish and Bielen interpret that "the taut rush of the song implies that the singer is trying to run away from himself," an interpretation that is supported by the line "I've just got to run away / It's such a drag to face another day."
[6]
Reception
[
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]
Blaney states that "What You Got" "may not have much to say lyrically, but it said it musically in the most fashionable way possible."
[2]
Du Noyer similarly states that it is "short on poetry, but it's satisfyingly stuffed with drama."
[3]
Rogan states that "although the party atmosphere suggests one long drinking binge, neither the musicianship not the arrangement is noticeably slack," going on to say that this song sounds better than most of the songs on Lennon's previous album
Mind Games
.
[4]
Communications professor Michael Frontani calls it one of Lennon's best vocal performances.
[9]
On the other hand,
New Musical Express
critics
Roy Carr
and
Tony Tyler
state that the song "begins as a promising rocker, but by
middle-eight
time a routine quality has begun to set in and the overall arthritic effect is overpowering, despite the anticipatory oomph of the first eight bars."
[10]
Madinger and Easter similarly state that the song "doesn't seem to go anywhere after the first verse and chorus," but they do praise the "rhythm backing."
[7]
Allmusic
critic
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
considers it a "middling rocker" that replicates the "bright, sunny surface" of the big hit from
Walls and Bridges
, "
Whatever Gets You thru the Night
."
[11]
Far Out
critic Tim Coffman rated it as Lennon's 8th greatest deep cut, calling it "a portrait of a man lost without the love of his life" and saying "Set to an early rock and roll shuffle, Lennon turns in a performance which feels like the hardcore equivalent of an early 1960s pop rock song, howling in frustration as the gentle staccato guitars follow his every word."
[12]
Personnel
[
edit
]
The performers on "What You Got" were:
[2]
[8]
Alternate version
[
edit
]
A 1:15 long edit of a
demo
of the song was issued on
John Lennon Anthology
.
[7]
[8]
Lennon plays this version on an unplugged
electric guitar
.
[7]
[8]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"What You Got"
. The Beatles Bible. 16 August 2010
. Retrieved
2021-09-07
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Blaney, J. (2007).
Lennon and McCartney: Together Alone ? A critical discography of their solo work
. Jawbone Press. p. 94.
ISBN
9781906002022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Du Noyer, Paul (1999).
John Lennon: Whatever Gets You Through the Night
. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 86.
ISBN
1560252103
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Rogan, Johnny (1997).
The Complete Guide to the Music of John Lennon
. Omnibus Press. p. 89.
ISBN
0711955999
.
- ^
Sheff, David (2010).
All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono
. St. Martin's Press. p. 217.
ISBN
9781429958080
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Urish, Ben; Bielen, Ken (2007).
The Words and Music of John Lennon
. Praeger. pp. 58?59.
ISBN
9780275991807
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Madinger, Chip & Easter, Mark (2000).
Eight Arms to Hold You
. 44.1 Productions. p. 95.
ISBN
0-615-11724-4
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Spizer, Bruce (2005).
The Beatles Solo on Apple Records
. 498 Productions. p. 86.
ISBN
0966264959
.
- ^
Frontani, Michael (2009). "The Solo Years". In Womack, Kenneth (ed.).
The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles
. Cambridge University Press. p. 174.
ISBN
9780521869652
.
- ^
Carr, Roy & Tyler, Tony (1981).
The Beatles: An Illustrated Record
. Harmony Books. p. 114.
ISBN
0517544938
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Erlewine, Stephen Thomas.
"Walls and Bridges"
. Allmusic
. Retrieved
2021-09-08
.
- ^
Coffman, Tim (22 January 2024).
"10 greatest John Lennon deep cuts"
. Far Out
. Retrieved
2024-01-24
.
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Lifetime
| 1969
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1970
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1971
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1972
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1973
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1974
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1975
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1977
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1980
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Posthumous
| 1981
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1982
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1984
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1985
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1986
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- "Rock and Roll People"
(promo)
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1998
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