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The Ballad of John and YokoThe Beatles

Released: May 30, 1969

Songwriter: Lennon-McCartney John Lennon

Producer: George Martin

[Verse 1: John Lennon]
Standing in the dock at Southampton
Trying to get to Holland or France
The man in the mac said, "You've got to go back"
You know they didn't even give us a chance

[Chorus: John Lennon]
Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're gonna crucify me

[Verse 2: John Lennon]
Finally made the plane into Paris
Honeymooning down by the Seine
Peter Brown called to say
"You can make it O.K
You can get married in Gibraltar, near Spain"

[Chorus: John Lennon]
Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're gonna crucify me

[Verse 3: John Lennon]
Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton
Talking in our beds for a week
The newspaper said, "Say what you doing in bed?"
I said, "We're only trying to get us some peace"

[Chorus: John Lennon]
Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're gonna crucify me

[Bridge: John Lennon]
Saving up your money for a rainy day
Giving all your clothes to charity
Last night the wife said
"Poor boy, when you're dead
You don't take nothing with you but your soul"
Think!

[Verse 4: John Lennon]
Made a lightning trip to Vienna
Eating chocolate cake in a bag
The newspaper said, "She's gone to his head
They look just like two gurus in drag"

[Chorus: John Lennon & Paul McCartney]
Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're gonna crucify me

[Verse 5: John Lennon & Paul McCartney]
Caught the early plane back to London
Fifty acorns tied in a sack
The men from the press said, "We wish you success
It's good to have the both of you back"

[Chorus: John Lennon & Paul McCartney]
Christ you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be
The way things are going
They're gonna crucify me
The way things are going
They're gonna crucify me

[Outro]

The Beatles

The Beatles are arguably the most famous, critically-acclaimed, and successful rock band of all time—certainly the preeminent group of the 20th century. They started out as four teenagers playing grimy basement clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg, but they progressed to become world-beating rock stars who are still influential to this day.

John Lennon first formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen in March 1957. A fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined shortly thereafter, eventually inviting his friend George Harrison to audition for the band. After finally impressing John with his guitar skills, George was asked to join—but this juncture would be short-lived as John’s departure to college signaled the other quarrymen to go their separate ways.

By 1960, Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison had re-branded from ‘Johnny & the Moondogs’ to ‘The Silver Beetles’ at the behest of their new bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe. The name would eventually evolve into ‘The Silver Beatles’ by July of that year, before settling on ‘The Beatles’ come August—just in time for their trip to Hamburg with new drummer, Pete Best. Though club residencies in Germany would prove fundamental to the group’s progress as a whole, the tour turned out to be a blessing and a curse, following the deportation of a then-seventeen-year-old George Harrison, and the eventual tragic death of Stuart Sutcliffe.

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