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)

It's So Hard
John Lennon Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You gotta live
You gotta love
You gotta be somebody
You gotta shove
But it's so hard, it's really hard
Sometimes I feel like going down

You gotta eat

You gotta drink
You gotta feel something
You gotta worry
But it's so hard, it's really hard
Sometimes I feel like going down

But when it's good
It's really good
And when I hold you in my arms, baby
Sometimes I feel like going down

You gotta run
You gotta hide
You gotta keep your woman satisfied

But it's so hard, it's really hard
Sometimes I feel like going down

Overall Meaning

In "It's So Hard," John Lennon explores the struggles and challenges of daily life. He lists out the basic necessities we all need to live - food, drink, love, purpose - and expresses how difficult it can be to balance all of these things. The repetition of "You gotta" creates a sense of obligation and pressure that many people can relate to. But despite the difficulty, there are moments of joy and pleasure, represented in the lyrics "when it's good, it's really good" and "when I hold you in my arms, baby."

The line "sometimes I feel like going down" is interesting because it can have multiple interpretations. It could mean feeling depressed or overwhelmed, almost like sinking into despair. But it could also be interpreted as a sexual innuendo, which was not uncommon in Lennon's writing.

Overall, "It's So Hard" is a reflection on the ups and downs of life, and the constant struggle to maintain balance and find happiness.

Line by Line Meaning

You gotta live
You have to survive and make the most of your life

You gotta love
You have to experience and give out affection

You gotta be somebody
You have to find your identity and be recognized for it by society

You gotta shove
You have to be bold and assertive to achieve your goals

But it's so hard, it's really hard
Despite these aspirations, it's difficult to achieve them

Sometimes I feel like going down
At times, it all feels impossible to handle

You gotta eat
You have to sustain yourself with food

You gotta drink
You have to hydrate yourself with fluids

You gotta feel something
You have to experience emotions and sensations

You gotta worry
You have to be concerned about the consequences of your actions