It should come as no surprise, given that Yoko Ono was John Lennon’s muse for more than a decade before his tragic murder, that his song “Woman” was inspired by her, though it was also dedicated to all women everywhere. Included in the Lennon-Ono collaboration album Double Fantasy, it was released as a single just weeks after Lennon’s passing. Benefiting from the universal anguish at the untimely death of one of rock’s critical pioneers, “Woman” became a worldwide top-ten hit.
John Lennon said in a Rolling Stone interview just days before his murder that “Woman” was a “grown-up version” of his 1965 Beatles song “Girl.” In the song’s opening seconds, Lennon can be heard whispering, “For the other half of the sky…” part of a Chinese aphorism that Mao Zedong was known to use. What can one say about John Lennon? How many people can be considered to be even half as important as he to the development of rock ‘n’ roll as we know it? From his early simple, catchy pop songs to his later more complex and experimental compositions dealing with mature political, spiritual, and personal issues, he helped define the trajectory of the art for generations of musicians.
“The Ballad of Jayne” by L.A. Guns
The second L.A. Guns album, 1989’s Cocked & Loaded, was also their first gold record. The lead single off the album, “The Ballad of Jayne,” was inspired by the life of Jayne Mansfield, one of Hollywood’s biggest sex symbols of the 1950s and 60s. Mansfield was one of the original “blonde bombshells,” a pinup girl, and one of the very first Playboy Playmates. Despite her above-average intelligence, she took advantage of her looks in provocative ways to further her career with every imaginable sort of publicity stunt. She was only 34 years old when she died in a horrific car crash in 1967.
The glam metal scene in Los Angeles produced a lot of acts with lasting influence, and group members would often move from one band to another. At one point, L.A. Guns merged with Hollywood Rose to form Guns n’ Roses, which is a classic case of the whole being more than the sum of its parts. The other bands would eventually regroup in one form or another.
“Vera” by Pink Floyd
Vera Lynn was a British singer who was tremendously popular during World War II, especially with the troops. The song she is most closely associated with is “We’ll Meet Again,” which she often sang as she visited army bases throughout the war. Roger Waters, in his inimitable ironic fashion, mentions Vera Lynn and “We’ll Meet Again” while implying that his character in "The Wall" will, in fact, never see his father again. Almost as though Vera had broken her promise. It is even possible that Waters intended the title to be a double entendre on losing faith, given that “Vera” is the Russian word for faith.
After a few years of declining relevance and increased tensions, Pink Floyd returned with a bang with one of the biggest-selling albums in history: 1979’s "The Wall." It also features their only number-one single, “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2”. Three years later, it would be adapted into a successful movie of the same name.
“The Hurricane” by Bob Dylan
The subject of the topical protest song “The Hurricane” was the American professional boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, who spent almost 20 years in prison for murders that many believed he was innocent of. The song was written by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy to bring attention to Carter’s plight in hopes of securing the boxer’s release. After the song was completed but before it was released, Dylan was forced to re-record it because his record company feared some of the lyrics would leave them liable to defamation lawsuits by some of the trial’s witnesses.
Bob Dylan had largely left behind protest songs by that time in his career, and “The Hurricane” was a notable exception. More than 20 years later, the song prominently featured in the Hollywood biopic about Carter’s life, also called "The Hurricane."
“The Boxer” by Simon and Garfunkel
Folk-rock duo Simon and Garfunkel had one of their biggest hits and most evocative songs in 1969 with “The Boxer.” One might think that it goes without saying that the song must literally be about a boxer, but the truth is a little more mysterious and enigmatic. Almost as soon as the song came out, competing rumors and theories as to the real meaning behind the song started coming out. One popular one was that “The Boxer” was none other than Bob Dylan, who had been an amateur boxer earlier in his life, and who would eventually cover this very song!
Paul Simon, the man who wrote the song, has never given credence to any of these theories. If anything, he has sometimes stated that the song is autobiographical, as he felt that he and his partner were being unfairly attacked in the press.