Album: Imagine (1971)

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• You can shine your shoes and wear a suit
  You can comb your hair and look quite cute
  You can hide your face behind a smile
  One thing you can't hide
  Is when you're crippled inside
  
  You can wear a mask and paint your face
  You can call yourself the human race
  You can wear a collar and a tie
  One thing you can't hide
  Is when you're crippled inside
  
  Well now you know that your
  Cat has nine lives
  Nine lives to itself
  But you only got one
  And a dog's life ain't fun
  Momma take a look outside
  
  You can go to church and sing a hymn
  You can judge me by the color of my skin
  You can live a lie until you die
  One thing you can't hide
  Is when you're crippled inside
  
  Well now you know that your
  Cat has nine lives
  Nine lives to itself
  But you only got one
  And a dog's life ain't fun
  Momma take a look outside
  
  You can go to church and sing a hymn
  Judge me by the color of my skin
  You can live a lie until you die
  One thing you can't hide
  Is when you're crippled inside
  
  One thing you can't hide
  Is when you're crippled inside
  One thing you can't hide
  Is when you're crippled inside Writer/s: John Winston Lennon
  Publisher: Downtown Music Publishing
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 4

• Astro from AustraliaCan't agree with you Glen, some of the stuff John wrote for Imagine were superb examples of songwriting - Gimme Some Truth (surely one of the greatest ever protest songs) and How Do You Sleep. And Joe I agree with you it is about being heartbroken, crippled inside its the way I feel after having to get my 18 years old dog put down a few days ago. The song sums it up perfectly.
• Joe from WisconsinEverybody thinks this sounds like john taking a dig at paul or even himself. But I feel like crippled inside is what he calls it when you're heartbroken. And when you're heartbroken, there's nothing you can do to hide it.
• Glenn from UkThis was at the point when John Lennon departed from himself as a songwriter. The lyrics and finish of the song were an atrocious departure from Lennon's days without McCartney, eg. "Well now you know a cat has nine lives. Nine lives to itself....." and the finish, "One thing you can't hide......". As a songwriter, Lennon's career compared to McCartney took a nose dive with the exception of Imagine and Happy Christmas, War is Over. This song was a typical example of the cheesiness of his lyrics as he began to improvise most of what he wrote, trying to sound American and leaving behind his creativity with The Beatles years. The manipulative Yoko had truly destroyed what could have been a genius.
• Ken from Louisville, KySome people thought this was another song aimed at Paul, but John said it was about the hypocrisy in all of us, including himself.

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