John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 Decem… Read Full Bio ↴John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame as the founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. His work included music, writing, drawings and film. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history.

Born in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager. In 1956, he formed The Quarrymen, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Sometimes called "the smart Beatle", Lennon initially was the group's de facto leader, a role he gradually ceded to McCartney. Through his songwriting in the Beatles, he embraced myriad musical influences, initially writing and co-writing rock and pop-oriented hit songs in the band's early years, then later incorporating experimental elements into his compositions in the latter half of the Beatles' career as his songs became known for their increasing innovation. Lennon soon expanded his work into other media by participating in numerous films, including How I Won the War, and authoring In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works, both collections of nonsense writings and line drawings. Starting with "All You Need Is Love", his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement and the larger counterculture of the 1960s. In 1969, he started the Plastic Ono Band with his second wife, multimedia artist Yoko Ono, held the two-week-long anti-war demonstration Bed-ins for Peace and left the Beatles to embark on a solo career.

Between 1968 and 1972, Lennon and Ono collaborated on many works, including a trilogy of avant-garde albums, several more films, his solo debut John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and the international top-10 singles "Give Peace a Chance", "Instant Karma!", "Imagine", and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". Moving to New York City in 1971, his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a three-year deportation attempt by the Nixon administration. Lennon and Ono separated from 1973 to 1975, during which time he produced Harry Nilsson's album Pussy Cats. He also had chart-topping collaborations with Elton John ("Whatever Gets You thru the Night") and David Bowie ("Fame"). Following a five-year hiatus, Lennon returned to music in 1980 with the Ono collaboration Double Fantasy. He was murdered by a Beatles fan, Mark David Chapman, three weeks after the album's release.

As a performer, writer or co-writer, Lennon had 25 number-one singles in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Double Fantasy, his best-selling album, won the 1981 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. That year, he won the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2002, Lennon was voted eighth in a BBC history poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer and 38th greatest artist of all time. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (in 1997) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (twice, as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1994).

Studio albums
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)
Imagine (1971)
Some Time in New York City (with Yoko Ono, 1972)
Mind Games (1973)
Walls and Bridges (1974)
Rock 'n' Roll (1975)
Double Fantasy (with Yoko Ono, 1980)
Milk and Honey (Posthumous with Yoko Ono, 1984)

Experimental studio albums with Yoko Ono
Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins (1968)
Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions (1969)
Wedding Album (1969)

9. Mucho Mungo
John Lennon Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Mucho mungo, sweet thing
Sweetest little thing I've ever seen
Must have been a sweet dream
Brought you here
Brought you through the sorrow
And the tears

C'est la, see'est la, see'est la vie

Sail upon the ocean, sail with me

Sail into the moment every day
Sail it to the sunshine through the haze

Overall Meaning

In John Lennon's song Mucho Mungo, the lyrics seem to be a love letter to a sweet and precious person. The opening line, "Mucho mungo, sweet thing," is a playful and endearing way of addressing the subject of the song. The lyrics then go on to describe this person as the "sweetest little thing I've ever seen," further emphasizing their importance and value to the singer. It is suggested that this person may have been a result of a dream, and somehow that dream brought them to the singer, through both good and bad times, as the last line of the verse reads: "Brought you through the sorrow and the tears."

In the chorus, the song takes on a more philosophical tone, with the French phrase "C'est la vie" being repeated twice. This phrase means "That's life," and seems to reflect an acceptance of the ups and downs that come with living. The following lines, "Sail upon the ocean, sail with me / Sail into the moment every day / Sail it to the sunshine through the haze," suggest that the singer wants to embrace life and its challenges, and is inviting their sweet companion to do so with them. The image of sailing, which is repeated throughout the chorus, suggests a sense of adventure and journeying into the unknown, which may symbolize the journey of life itself.

Line by Line Meaning

Mucho mungo, sweet thing
You are a beautiful person in my eyes

Sweetest little thing I've ever seen
Out of all the people I have met, you are the most endearing

Must have been a sweet dream
Meeting you feels like it was too good to be true

Brought you here
Fate or circumstance led us to this moment

Brought you through the sorrow
You have faced and overcome difficult times in your life

And the tears
You have experienced emotional pain and sadness

C'est la, see'est la, see'est la vie
This is life, and it is what it is

Sail upon the ocean, sail with me
Let's take on life's adventures together

Sail into the moment every day
Live in the present and cherish every moment

Sail it to the sunshine through the haze
Through life's challenges, let's focus on the positive and strive for happiness

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: JOHN LENNON

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind