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)
Sweet Little Sixteen
John Lennon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
in Philadelphia PA,
deep in the heart of Texas,
on down the Frisco Bay.
All over Saint Louis
and down in New Orleans.
All the cats want to dance with
sweet little sixteen.
Sweet little sixteen,
she's just got to have
about half a million
framed autopraphs.
Her wall is filled with pictures,
she gets them one by one.
Becomes so excited,
oh watch her at the run boy.
Oh mommy mommy,
please may I go.
You know it's such a sight to see
somebody steal the show.
Oh daddy daddy,
I beg of you.
Please say it to mommy
it's alright with you.
Sweet little sixteen
she's got the grown up blues.
Tight dresses and lipstick,
she's sporting in high heeled boots.
Oh but tomorrow morning
she'll have to change her trend
become sweet sixteen
and back in class again.
They're really rocking in Boston,
in Philadelphia PA,
deep in the heart of Texas
and down the Frisco Bay.
All over Saint Louis,
on down in New Orleans.
All the cats want to dance with
sweet little sixteen.
John Lennon's song "Sweet Little Sixteen" was a cover of Chuck Berry's original song of the same name. The lyrics describe the excitement and popularity of a young girl, who is sixteen years old and considered a celebrity by others. The first verse talks about how people are dancing to rock and roll music in different cities, including Boston, Philadelphia, Texas, and New Orleans. The second verse talks specifically about the young girl, who has a wall filled with pictures and framed autographs from famous people. She is excited to get more, and her parents are hesitant to let her go out and collect them because of her young age. The third verse describes the girl's appearance, wearing tight dresses and high heels, trying to appear more grown up. Finally, the song ends with a repeat of the chorus, talking about how everyone wants to dance with sweet little sixteen.
Overall, the song seems to be a commentary on the popularity of young girls in the entertainment industry and how they can become objects of obsession for the public. It also touches on how young girls try to appear older than they are in order to fit in with the rest of society.
Line by Line Meaning
They're really rocking in Boston,
Boston is one of the places where they're enjoying the music and having a great time.
in Philadelphia PA,
Another place where they're really rocking is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
deep in the heart of Texas,
Even Texas has some great music playing and people are enjoying it.
on down the Frisco Bay.
The folks down at San Francisco Bay are also enjoying the music and dancing.
All over Saint Louis
Saint Louis is not left behind, they're also rocking it out there.
and down in New Orleans.
In addition, New Orleans is not left out, they're also enjoying the beat.
All the cats want to dance with
sweet little sixteen.
Everyone is really interested in dancing with the young, pretty girl who's enjoying the music and dancing - sweet little sixteen.
Sweet little sixteen,
she's just got to have
about half a million
framed autographs.
The young girl, sweet sixteen is obsessed with collecting autographs of famous people and has about half a million of them already hanging on her wall.
Her wall is filled with pictures,
she gets them one by one.
Her wall is filled with pictures of many famous people, but she didn't get them all at once, she had to collect them one by one.
Becomes so excited,
oh watch her at the run boy.
She gets so excited about the idea of collecting autographs and you can see how happy and energetic she becomes when she thinks of it - watch her run in excitement.
Oh mommy mommy,
please may I go.
She expresses her desire to go to a show or concert to her mom and asks for permission to go.
You know it's such a sight to see
somebody steal the show.
She recognizes how amazing it is when someone performs so well that they steal the show and become the center of attention.
Oh daddy daddy,
I beg of you.
She also speaks to her dad about her desire to attend the event and begs him to allow her.
Please say it to mommy
it's alright with you.
She asks her dad to speak to her mom about it and get permission from her since she already agreed to it.
Sweet little sixteen
she's got the grown up blues.
Despite being so young, she seems to be experiencing feelings of being grown up and a little blue, maybe from dealing with the pressures of being a teenager.
Tight dresses and lipstick,
she's sporting in high heeled boots.
As part of growing up and becoming a young woman, she starts wearing dresses with a tight fit, applying lipstick to her lips, and walking around in high heeled boots.
Oh but tomorrow morning
she'll have to change her trend
become sweet sixteen
and back in class again.
Despite her newfound appreciation for adult fashion and dancing the night away, she'll have to go back to being her regular, teenage self in the morning and head back to class.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, ENTERTAINMENT ONE U.S. LP
Written by: Chuck Berry
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dulce Natalia Hernandez
on Imagine - 2010 - Remaster
en donde kiera k este