John Lennon’s muse waxed and waned at times during his solo career. But you could always count on him to be honest. You could be pretty certain when you heard one of his songs that you were getting a direct, guileless message from his head and heart.
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When his songwriting skills were on point, the effect of that honesty hitting you could be overwhelming. Such was the case with his song “Scared”, which was found on John Lennon’s 1974 album Walls And Bridges.
Building ‘Walls’
The early 70s weren’t always kind to John Lennon. Legal issues surrounding the dissolution of The Beatles dragged on interminably. Problems with drugs and alcohol reared their heads. Worst of all, he briefly fell out with wife Yoko Ono, leading to a separation.
That’s when Lennon relocated to the West Coast and endured what’s commonly known as the “lost weekend.” Hanging out with buddies like Ringo Starr and Harry Nilsson, Lennon drank heavily and acted the fool out in public on several occasions.
For the most part, however, he didn’t let that bleed into his work. This proved especially true on his 1974 album Walls And Bridges. Lennon insisted on a tight ship during the recording, staying clean and demanding that his players do the same. He rose to the occasion with one of the finest albums of his solo career.
Even though he maintained a brave face during the making of the record, the lyrics to the songs often betrayed just how lost he felt. “Scared” dives into the feelings of fear that enveloped him as he tried to make sense of John Lennon’s life without Yoko. Ironically, considering the song title, it shows Lennon writing as fearlessly as ever.
Exploring the Lyrics of “Scared”
“Scared” swaggers about with a barroom blues feel not unlike something you might have heard Frank Sinatra sing. The horns accentuate all of Lennon’s frightened admissions. Guitarist Jesse Ed Davis provides wrenching fills when Lennon calls on him. It’s the perfect musical setting for lyrics that don’t try to put on any false bravado about what the narrator’s feeling.
Lennon repeats the word “scared” over and over in the opening lines, driving the point home with a blunt hammer. “As the years roll away,” he sings. “And the price that I paid / And the straws slip away.”
All his illusions of safety are dissipating, leaving him with a terrifying reality. He advises against trying to run away from the fear or trick it out of existence. “No bell book or candle / Can get you out of this,” Lennon moans.
In the second verse, he changes “scared” to “scarred,” making clear that one leads to the other. “Every day of my life,” he sings. “I just manage to survive.” It doesn’t exactly sound like the good life.
“Just dance to the music,” Lennon sings, implying that you have to put on an act to make it through the horrors of each day. In the middle eight, he drops any façade and sings directly about his own issues.
“Hatred and jealousy, gonna be the death of me,” he admits. Later come these stunning lines about the contradiction between his public persona and his stark reality: “Sing about love and peace / Don’t want to see the red raw meat / The green eyed goddamn straight from your heart.”
With “Scared”, John Lennon was letting his listeners in on the anxiety and angst that were torturing him at the time. From the vivid nature of the descriptions, one guesses that he had known those emotions for a long time. But at least he brought them to light in his music, perhaps helping more than a few of his fans to identify and face down their own scary demons.
Photo by Ann Limongello/Source: ABC
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