Some Time in New York City Songs Ranked

Some Time in New York City is a part-studio, part-live double album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, with the American rock band Elephant’s Memory. Released in June 1972 in the US and in September 1972 in the UK on Apple Records, it is the third album to bear Lennon’s name since he left the Beatles and his fourth with Ono. Like Lennon’s previous solo albums, it was co-produced by Lennon, Ono, and Phil Spector. The album’s lyrics are very politically charged compared to its predecessors, discussing political and social issues and topics such as sexism, incarceration, colonialism, and racism. Preceded by the single “Woman Is the Nigger of the World”, which caused controversy due to its title, Some Time in New York City received scathing reviews on release and performed poorly commercially. Reviewers were especially critical of its politically charged content. Zappa was critical of Lennon and Ono’s handling of the recordings of the Mothers performance, eventually releasing his own version of the performance on Playground Psychotics (1992). Some Time in New York City was reissued on compact disc in 2005 as a single album, removing several of the Live Jam songs while adding other non-album singles, and again on CD in 2010 in its original double album format. Here are all of Some Time in New York City songs ranked.

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10. Scumbag

 “Scumbag” is bluesy rock; Lennon invites the audience to sing along, with the lyrics consisting of one word: “scumbag”. On “Scumbag,” they sing the title repeatedly over what sounds like the 23 minutes of jamming edited out of the original performance of “Helter Skelter,” and Zappa urges the audience to sing along.”

9. Jamrag

“Beautiful melodies and lyrics highly engaged, without leaving aside the sweetness and irreverence that has always been a trademark of this múdico single.”

8. Don’t Worry Kyoko

“As for “Don’t Worry Kyoko,” I appreciated the Led Zeppelin-esque guitar riff (strongly reminiscent of “Good Times Bad Times”), but it goes on forever, and Yoko’s persistent screeching of “Don’t worry” does not help matters.”

See more: John Lennon Albums Ranked

7. We’re All Water

“We’re All Water” is peppy and upbeat, but I wish that someone at the time could have been so good as to inform Ms. Ono that screaming and yelling are no substitute for singing.”

6. John Sinclair

“John Sinclair” also puts one back in the 1970’s. I had to go to Wikipedia to learn his story. For a poet to receive a sentence of ten years’ imprisonment for giving two marijuana joints to an undercover cop (hence the song’s line “They gave him ten for two”) does seem a bit extreme.”

5. Sunday Bloody Sunday

“As for the tracks where Lennon and Yoko are singing at the same time, or singing back to back, these are pretty good as well, because the songwriting is luckily pretty strong. In fact, on “Sabbath Bloody… er, Sunday Bloody Sunday”, Yoko’s incredibly dark singing tone during the chorus is extremely effective, and John’s lyrics on the verse melody are quite meaningful as well (and remind me of “Come Together” a little bit).”

See more: John Lennon Songs Ranked

4. New York City

“But then the album takes a decided turn for the better, as John delivers the great, energetic, bluesy “New York City” — the one song from this album that people still play. John’s well-known love for N.Y.C. really comes through here; guitar, saxophone, and Jerry Lee Lewis-style piano work together flawlessly, and the song’s numerous and specific New York references put you right there.”

3. Born in a Prison

“Born in a Prison,” one of a number of examples on this album of John and Yoko taking different approaches to the same subject matter, is one of Yoko’s better songs, but again is undone by Yoko’s limited singing proficiency.”

2. Woman Is the Nigger of the World

“”Woman is the Nigger of the World” is an amazingly bold track; no one else in the media dared point out such things back then. It’s fortunately somewhat less true today for American women, although many still seem to be in the thrall of “paint your face, be skinny, and smile at everyone or no one will like you” propaganda.”

1. Cold Turkey

“”Cold Turkey” is grim and powerful; its muted melodic line captures well the manner in which a battle against addiction can combine long periods of monotony with unexpected moments of absolute terror. “