Working Class Hero by John Lennon

Working Class Hero is a song from John Lennon's first "post-beatles" solo album.


Theme

This song is about the litteral "working class" split of the 1940s and 1950s which brought about much social reform in Amercia. This song appears to tell the story of someone growing up in the working class of captialism. According to Lennon in an interview with Jann S. Wenner of Rolling Stone magazine in 1970, the song is about working class individuals being processed into the middle classes, into the "machine".

Lyrics that exemplify the meaning of the song are:
"When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career
When you can't really function you're so full of fear
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be"

These lyrics can be found in the link below between 1:25 and 2:04

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njG7p6CSbCU