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)

Bring It On Home To Me
John Lennon Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

If you ever change your mind,
About leaving, leaving me behind,
Oh, you'd better bring it to me,
Bring your sweet lovin',
Bring it on home to me.
Yeh, (yeh) yeh, (yeh) yeh.

You know I laughed,

Laughed when you left.
But now I know, i've only hurt myself.
Oh, you'd better bring it to me,
Bring your sweet lovin',
Bring it on home to me.
Yeh, (yeh) yeh, (yeh) yeh, yeh, yeh.

Oh, you'd better bring it to me,
Bring your sweet lovin',
Bring it on home to me.
Yeh, (yeh) yeh, (yeh) yeh.

You know i'll always be your slave,
Until I'm dead and buried in my grave.
Oh, you'd better bring it to me,
Bring your sweet lovin',

Bring it on home to me.
Yeh, (yeh) yeh, yeh

Overall Meaning

These lyrics are about a person pleading with their lover to come back to them after they have left. The singer explains that they initially laughed at their lover's departure as they believed they could handle being alone. However, they now realize that they have only hurt themselves and desperately want their lover to bring their sweet love back home to them. The line "you know I'll always be your slave until I'm dead and buried in my grave" reinforces the idea that the singer is completely devoted to their lover and is willing to do anything to make them happy.

The song is unique in the sense that it is a combination of two different songs. The first half of the song is a cover of Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home To Me" while the second half is an original composition by John Lennon. Lennon's half of the song takes a more desperate tone, emphasizing the singer's plea for their lover to come back to them.

Interestingly, the original plan for the song was to have Paul McCartney sing Sam Cooke's parts and John Lennon sing his own composition. However, during the recording, Lennon felt that he couldn't sing the Cooke parts as well as McCartney could, so they switched roles in the song.

Line by Line Meaning

If you ever change your mind,
If you reconsider leaving me behind,

About leaving, leaving me behind,
If you're thinking of abandoning me,

Oh, you'd better bring it to me,
You must come to me with a decision,

Bring your sweet lovin',
Bring back your affection and care,

Bring it on home to me.
Return to our relationship and love me like before.

Yeh, (yeh) yeh, (yeh) yeh.
Reinforcing the need to bring love home.

You know I laughed,
I tried to convince myself that it did not matter,

Laughed when you left.
I acted as though your leaving did not affect me,

But now I know, i've only hurt myself.
But now I realize that I caused myself great pain.

You know i'll always be your slave,
I'll always be submissive to you,

Until I'm dead and buried in my grave.
This submission will persist until my death.