New York City
John and Yoko/The Plastic Ono Band Lyrics
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Just me and Yoko Ono
We was waiting for Jerry to land
Up come a man with a guitar in his hand
Singing, "Have a marijuana if you can"
His name was David Peel
And we found that he was real
He sang, "The Pope smokes dope every day"
Singing, "Power to the people today!"
New York City, back in New York City, New York City
Que pasa, New York?
Que pasa, New York?
Well down to Max's Kansas City
Got down the nitty gritty
With the Elephants Memory Band
Laid something down
As the news spread around
About the Plastic Ono Elephants Memory Band!
And we played some funky boogie
And laid some tutti frutti
Singing, "Long Tall Sally's a man."
Up come a preacher man trying to be a teacher
Singing, "God's a red herring in drag!"
New York City, back in New York City, New York City
Que pasa, New York?
Que pasa, New York?
New York City, back in New York City, New York City
Que pasa, New York?
Que pasa, New York?
Well we did the Staten Island Ferry
Making movies for the telly
Played the Fillmore and Apollo for freedom
Tried to shake our image
Just a cycling through the Village
But found that we had left it back in London
Well nobody came to bug us
Hustle us or shove us
So we decided to make it our home
If the Man wants to shove us out
We gonna jump and shout
The Statue of Liberty said, "Come!"
New York City, back in New York City, New York City
Que pasa, New York?
Que pasa, New York?
New York City, back in New York City, New York City
Que pasa, New York?
Que pasa, New York?
The song "New York City" by John and Yoko/The Plastic Ono Band is a celebration of their experience in the city, especially during the early 1970s. The lyrics describe various encounters they had with people on the street, musicians, preachers, and police officers, all while they were living, playing music, and making films in New York. The song captures the wildness and sense of freedom that was prevalent in the city during this time, and it also reflects John and Yoko's political and social views.
The first verse is about their encounter with David Peel, a street musician who often sang about marijuana and political issues. Peel became a friend and collaborator of John and Yoko, and they even produced an album for him. The line "The Pope smokes dope every day" is a reference to Peel's song "The Pope Smokes Dope," which he often performed on the streets. The line "Power to the people today!" is a nod to the Black Power movement and other social justice movements of the time.
The second verse is about their experience playing at Max's Kansas City, a legendary music venue in New York's Lower East Side. They played with the band Elephants Memory, who were also political activists and played a mix of funk and rock music. The line "Long Tall Sally's a man" is a reference to the song "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard, which they often covered. The line "God's a red herring in drag!" is a critique of organized religion and the ways in which it can be used to oppress people.
Overall, "New York City" is a lively and energetic celebration of creativity, freedom, and community, with a strong political and social message.
Line by Line Meaning
Standing on the corner
We were hanging out on the street corner
Just me and Yoko Ono
It was just the two of us, John and Yoko
We was waiting for Jerry to land
We were waiting for our friend Jerry to arrive
Up come a man with a guitar in his hand
A man approached us with a guitar in hand
Singing, "Have a marijuana if you can"
He sang a song about smoking weed
His name was David Peel
The man's name was David Peel
And we found that he was real
We realized that he was a genuine person
He sang, "The Pope smokes dope every day"
He sang a song about the Pope smoking weed
Up come a policeman shoved us up the street
A police officer came and pushed us down the street
Singing, "Power to the people today!"
The policeman was chanting a slogan about empowering the people
New York City, back in New York City, New York City
We were back in New York City after being away
Que pasa, New York?
What's going on, New York?
Well down to Max's Kansas City
We went to Max's Kansas City
Got down the nitty gritty
We got down to business
With the Elephants Memory Band
We played with the Elephants Memory Band
Laid something down
We recorded and created something
As the news spread around
As the word got out
About the Plastic Ono Elephants Memory Band!
People found out about our band, Plastic Ono Elephants Memory Band
And we played some funky boogie
We played some funky music
And laid some tutti frutti
And added some pizzazz to our performance
Singing, "Long Tall Sally's a man."
We sang a song about Long Tall Sally being a man
Up come a preacher man trying to be a teacher
A preacher man came up to us trying to teach
Singing, "God's a red herring in drag!"
The preacher man sang a song about God being a deceptive distraction
New York City, back in New York City, New York City
We were back in New York City after being away
Que pasa, New York?
What's going on, New York?
New York City, back in New York City, New York City
We were back in New York City after being away
Que pasa, New York?
What's going on, New York?
Well we did the Staten Island Ferry
We rode on the Staten Island ferry
Making movies for the telly
We made movies for TV
Played the Fillmore and Apollo for freedom
We played at the Fillmore and Apollo theaters, expressin freedom
Tried to shake our image
We tried to break free of people's perception of us
Just a cycling through the Village
We were just cruising through the Village
But found that we had left it back in London
But we realized that we couldn't escape our previous life in London
Well nobody came to bug us
No one bothered us
Hustle us or shove us
No one tried to hustle or push us around
So we decided to make it our home
So we decided to make New York City our home
If the Man wants to shove us out
If anyone tries to push us out
We gonna jump and shout
We'll fight back and make some noise
The Statue of Liberty said, "Come!"
We felt like the Statue of Liberty welcomed us to New York City
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: John Winston Lennon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind