The John Lennon Lyric That Asks Questions and Gives No Answers

John Lennon never pretended to have all the answers. While he put himself in the limelight at times for his political views, it was generally in the guise of someone who was posing opinions and beliefs that questioned the status quo, not as someone with definitive solutions.

He also displayed inquisitiveness when it came to his own life. From his 1971 album Imagine, the song “How?” finds him practically paralyzed by questions about his potential path forward that he can’t seem to answer.

Sweet Sounds and Sad Sentiments

If you just listened to the sound alone of John Lennon’s first two solo albums, you might think he’d undergone a drastic change in attitude in the year that separated their releases. But the different musical tone of the records had more to do with what Lennon wanted out of those two records.

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, which he released in 1970, was extremely stark from a musical standpoint. He recorded most of the songs with a trio, and he often screamed out the lyrics. This was in response to the “primal scream” therapy he was undergoing at the time.

By contrast, Imagine, released in 1971, arrived sounding much lusher and more produced. The record was also full of sweet melodies. But that benign feel didn’t often translate to the lyrics. Songs like “Crippled Inside” and “Jealous Guy” were quite catchy, but the sentiment of the lyrics was often just as raw as what appeared on the first record.

Why the change? Quite simple. Lennon wanted Imagine to sell better than its predecessor, and the gambit worked. A song like “How?” filled with strings and comfy keyboards is just as dire and desolate in its way as anything found on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.

Examining the Lyrics of “How?”

“How?” gives clear indication the success John Lennon had achieved in his amazing career had in no way squelched his self-doubt. Nor had his relationship with Yoko Ono rid him of his insecurity. Just as he had asked or “Help!” with The Beatles, he was now asking questions of his audience that were clearly directed at himself.

How can I go forward when I don’t know which way I’m facing? Lennon begins. He’s afraid to make any kind of move without any kind of assurance about where it might land him. In the second verse, he starts to doubt the veracity of his inner life: How can I feel something when I don’t know how to feel? / How can I have feelings when my feelings have always been denied?

In the third verse, he gets deeper into his emotions, specifically the most potent emotion of all: How can I give love when I just don’t know how to give? / How can I give love when love is something I ain’t never had? The middle eights, which find him relying on clichés about perseverance and grit, don’t sound all that convincing in the face of all these doubts.

Lennon changes the I to we in the final verse, bringing Yoko into his dilemma. Still, there are no answers forthcoming. Don’t get lulled into a false sense of security by the music. “How?” finds John Lennon writing with honesty and vulnerability about his perilous mental and emotional state.

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