John Lennon - Look At Me (cover by Luis Gomes)

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of John Lennon’s debut solo album – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - I’d like to perform a not very well known song, but certainly one of the most beautiful. After the Beatles break-up in April 1970, John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono undertook primal therapy with the guidance of Arthur Janov in London and Los Angeles for almost five months. Janov's therapy technique emphasised emotionally reliving repressed childhood traumas rather than analytical discussion which was strongly influenced both the lyrical content of the album, pushing him toward themes of child–parent relationships and psychological suffering, and the simple yet intense style of the album's music. “Look At Me” was witten by John Lennon in 1968, while the Beatles were studying Transcendental Meditation in India with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They found their stay an enormously creative time, and many of their compositions from the time were included on the White Album in 1968. Others were used on Abbey Road the following year, and a handful remained unused or were reworked on solo releases. When Lennon came to record his debut solo album, the lyrics to “Look At Me” were a perfect fit. Its questions – “Who am I supposed to be?”; “What am I supposed to do?”; “Who am I?”; “Who are we?” – may have emerged from a period in which his marriage to Cynthia Lennon and his place within The Beatles were both being questioned, but in the wake of his primal therapy it provided a continuation of the self-analysis that ran throughout John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. He recorded unreleased demos of the song in 1968 and 1970. The final recording again looked back to 1968, incorporating the fingerpicking guitar style he had learnt in India from Donovan, which he used ons ongs such as “Julia”, “Dear Prudence” and “Happiness Is Warm Gun”. “Look At Me” features only Lennon singing and playing acoustic guitar. I’m not sure about the instruments that he had at that time. A studio outtake was later issued on the Acoustic album and the John Lennon Anthology box set in which Lennon played a steel string acoustic guitar on it. However, some sources claim that he used a nylon strings guitar. He also had double-tracked another guitar and vocals; the opening “OK?” “Yes thank you” showed that Lennon never lost his sense of humour, even when his lyrics were at his most soul-baring. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was released in both the UK and US on 11 December 1970 and was received with high critical praise upon release. A lovely song of a fantastic album! Hope you guys enjoy. Thank you once again... stay safe and Peace & Love everybody!!!