The Songs of John Lennon

Book excerpt: (Berklee Press). An essential guide for all songwriters and Beatles fans, this book explores John Lennon's songwriting genius with a guided tour through 25 of his Beatles-era hits. Author John Stevens explains Lennon's intuitive talent from a technical point of view, through the lens of songwriting's three basic elements: melody, harmony and lyric. He shows how Lennon fashioned songs that were at once politically and socially relevant during the '60s, yet remain ageless and timeless today. Features in-depth musical analysis of: A Hard Day's Night * Ticket to Ride * Norwegian Wood * Strawberry Fields Forever * Come Together * and more. John Stevens is a songwriting professor at Berklee College of Music. For more than 20 years, he has taught "The Music of John Lennon," one of the most popular courses in the Berklee curriculum. "You've got the Beatles' records and the John Lennon records; now with this book, you can have the Owner's Manual. This will tell you how the songs are built and how they work. Good stuff." Marshall Crenshaw, Singer/Songwriter