"Well, Well, Well"

I had some Lennon CDs on shuffle, and heard "Well, Well, Well" from Plastic Ono Band. Then, lo and behold, heard the live version from the Live in New York City disk.

What a great tune, and a precursor to the punk vocal sound of Johnny Rotten. As a punk rocker myself, I remember how back "in the day", a lot of people pointed to John and Yoko as pioneers of the genre. At the time, being both a Lennnon and punk fan, I didn't really see it.

Like all things Beatles (music, fashion, politics), Lennon's devolution to a raw sound came on slowly, so it didn't seem all that outrageous. With "Revolution", "Yer Blues", "I Want You", "Cold Turkey"...."Well, Well, Well" was a natural next step.

And his experiments with "primal scream" therapy seemed like the catalyst, not a desire to invent a new form of rock. Besides, his albums were so damn personal, and my interest in any ex-Beatles project so intense, that, to me, they lived in their own world. Not influenced or affecting other artists.

But I can see it now. "Well, Well, Well" was indeed one of the first "punk" songs, and John must've liked it, too, since he chose it as one of the songs to perform live.

I won't analyze the song. Just give it a fresh listen and see if don't agree.