First person

Narrated from 'I/me/my' – the singer as subject or speaker

181

songs

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John Lennon's default narrative stance is first person – 80 of his songs use it.

John Lennon

Analysis

By Year

Song count per year

By Songwriter

% of each member's catalogue with this tag (by writing credit)

By Era

Early46 · 29%

Mid-period55 · 35%

Late55 · 35%

By Album

Past Masters24

The Beatles (The White Album)22

Help!12

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band9

Please Please Me8

With The Beatles8

Beatles For Sale8

Magical Mystery Tour5

Yellow Submarine4

Reunion singles3

Songs(158 of 181)

Year

Album

Writer

Lead vocal(s)

#	Title	Year	Album	Lead Vocal(s)	Notes
1	Love Me Do	1962	Please Please Me	Paul, John	–
2	P.S. I Love You	1962	Please Please Me	Paul	–
3	Ask Me Why	1963	Please Please Me	John	–
4	Please Please Me	1963	Please Please Me	John, Paul	–
5	I Saw Her Standing There	1963	Please Please Me	Paul	–
6	There's a Place	1963	Please Please Me	John, Paul	–
7	Do You Want to Know a Secret	1963	Please Please Me	George	–
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8	Misery	1963	Please Please Me	John, Paul	–
9	From Me to You	1963	Past Masters	John, Paul	–
10	Thank You Girl	1963	Past Masters	John, Paul	–
11	I'll Get You	1963	Past Masters	John, Paul	–
12	I Wanna Be Your Man	1963	With The Beatles	Ringo	–
13	It Won't Be Long	1963	With The Beatles	John	–
14	Hold Me Tight	1963	With The Beatles	Paul	–
15	All I've Got to Do	1963	With The Beatles	John	–
16	Don't Bother Me	1963	With The Beatles	George	–
17	All My Loving	1963	With The Beatles	Paul	–
18	Little Child	1963	With The Beatles	John, Paul	–
19	Not a Second Time	1963	With The Beatles	John	–
20	This Boy	1963	Past Masters	John, Paul, George	–
21	I Want to Hold Your Hand	1963	Past Masters	John, Paul	–
22	Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand	1964	Past Masters	John, Paul	–
23	Can't Buy Me Love	1964	A Hard Day's Night	Paul	–
24	I Call Your Name	1964	Past Masters	John	–
25	You Can't Do That	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	–
26	Tell Me Why	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	–
27	A Hard Day's Night	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John, Paul	–
28	And I Love Her	1964	A Hard Day's Night	Paul	–
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29	Any Time at All	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	–
30	I'll Be Back	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	–
31	I Should Have Known Better	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	–
32	I'll Cry Instead	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	–
33	If I Fell	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John, Paul	–
34	Things We Said Today	1964	A Hard Day's Night	Paul	–
35	When I Get Home	1964	A Hard Day's Night	John	–
36	I'm Happy Just to Dance with You	1964	A Hard Day's Night	George	–
37	I Feel Fine	1964	Past Masters	John	–
38	She's a Woman	1964	Past Masters	Paul	–
39	Every Little Thing	1964	Beatles For Sale	John	–
40	Eight Days a Week	1964	Beatles For Sale	John	–
41	I Don't Want to Spoil the Party	1964	Beatles For Sale	John	–
42	I'll Follow the Sun	1964	Beatles For Sale	Paul	–
43	Baby's in Black	1964	Beatles For Sale	John, Paul	–
44	What You're Doing	1964	Beatles For Sale	Paul	–
45	I'm a Loser	1964	Beatles For Sale	John	–
46	No Reply	1964	Beatles For Sale	John	–
47	Ticket to Ride	1965	Help!	John	–
48	Yes It Is	1965	Past Masters	John, Paul, George	–
49	I'm Down	1965	Past Masters	Paul	–
50	Help!	1965	Help!	John	32 pronouns (74%)
51	Yesterday	1965	Help!	Paul	–
52	I Need You	1965	Help!	George	–
53	The Night Before	1965	Help!	Paul	–
54	You've Got to Hide Your Love Away	1965	Help!	John	–
55	It's Only Love	1965	Help!	John	–
56	You're Going to Lose That Girl	1965	Help!	John	–
57	Another Girl	1965	Help!	Paul	–
58	I've Just Seen a Face	1965	Help!	Paul	–
59	Tell Me What You See	1965	Help!	John, Paul	–
60	You Like Me Too Much	1965	Help!	George	–
61	Run for Your Life	1965	Rubber Soul	John	–
62	Wait	1965	Rubber Soul	John, Paul	–
63	In My Life	1965	Rubber Soul	John	–
64	If I Needed Someone	1965	Rubber Soul	George	–
65	Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)	1965	Rubber Soul	John	–
66	Drive My Car	1965	Rubber Soul	Paul, John	–
67	Think for Yourself	1965	Rubber Soul	George	–
68	You Won't See Me	1965	Rubber Soul	Paul	–
69	What Goes On	1965	Rubber Soul	Ringo	–
70	I'm Looking Through You	1965	Rubber Soul	Paul	–
71	Girl	1965	Rubber Soul	John	–
72	The Word	1965	Rubber Soul	John, Paul	–
73	Michelle	1965	Rubber Soul	Paul	–
74	We Can Work It Out	1965	Past Masters	Paul, John	–
75	Day Tripper	1965	Past Masters	John, Paul	–
76	Rain	1966	Past Masters	John	–
77	Paperback Writer	1966	Past Masters	Paul	–
78	Yellow Submarine	1966	Revolver	Ringo	'In the town where I was born'
79	Here, There and Everywhere	1966	Revolver	Paul	Narrator: 'I need my love', 'I want her'
80	I'm Only Sleeping	1966	Revolver	John	Sung entirely from 'I' perspective throughout
81	Taxman	1966	Revolver	George	Sung in character as the taxman ('I'm the taxman')
82	Love You To	1966	Revolver	George	–
83	I Want to Tell You	1966	Revolver	George	–
84	Good Day Sunshine	1966	Revolver	Paul	–
85	And Your Bird Can Sing	1966	Revolver	John	–
86	She Said She Said	1966	Revolver	John	–
87	Got to Get You into My Life	1966	Revolver	Paul	–
88	Penny Lane	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	Paul	'In my ears and in my eyes'
89	Strawberry Fields Forever	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	John	–
90	A Day in the Life	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	John, Paul	–
91	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Paul	Band addresses audience as 'we'
92	With a Little Help from My Friends	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Ringo	–
93	Lovely Rita	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Paul	–
94	Fixing a Hole	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Paul	–
95	Good Morning Good Morning	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	John	'I've got nothing to say'
96	When I'm Sixty-Four	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Paul	–
97	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Paul, John, George	Band addresses audience as 'we'
98	Getting Better	1967	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	Paul	–
99	Hello, Goodbye	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	Paul	–
100	I Am the Walrus	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	John	–
101	Blue Jay Way	1967	Magical Mystery Tour	George	–
102	The Inner Light	1968	Past Masters	George	Verse 1 'my door / my window'
103	Revolution	1968	Past Masters	John	–
104	Hey Jude	1968	Past Masters	Paul	'Don't let me down'
105	Martha My Dear	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	'Please remember me'
106	Honey Pie	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	–
107	Cry Baby Cry	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	10 pronouns (42%)
108	Good Night	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Ringo	5 pronouns (42%)
109	Why Don't We Do It in the Road?	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	'we' / 'us' throughout
110	Don't Pass Me By	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Ringo	–
111	I Will	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	–
112	Yer Blues	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	–
113	Mother Nature's Son	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	–
114	Julia	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	16 pronouns (89%)
115	Birthday	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul, John	–
116	Helter Skelter	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	"I get to the bottom", "I'm coming down fast"
117	Wild Honey Pie	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	'I love you, honey pie' in outro
118	Glass Onion	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	–
119	Revolution 1	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	–
120	I'm So Tired	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	–
121	While My Guitar Gently Weeps	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	George	–
122	Revolution 9	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	–	16 pronouns (47%)
123	Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	–
124	Long, Long, Long	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	George	–
125	Happiness Is a Warm Gun	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	John	–
126	Back in the U.S.S.R.	1968	The Beatles (The White Album)	Paul	–
127	It's All Too Much	1969	Yellow Submarine	George	–
128	Only a Northern Song	1969	Yellow Submarine	George	–
129	All Together Now	1969	Yellow Submarine	Paul, John	–
130	Don't Let Me Down	1969	Past Masters	John, Paul	–
131	Old Brown Shoe	1969	Past Masters	George	–
132	The Ballad of John and Yoko	1969	Past Masters	John	–
133	She Came in Through the Bathroom Window	1969	Abbey Road	Paul	–
134	I Want You (She's So Heavy)	1969	Abbey Road	John	36 pronouns (58%)
135	Golden Slumbers	1969	Abbey Road	Paul	–
136	You Never Give Me Your Money	1969	Abbey Road	Paul	–
137	Here Comes the Sun	1969	Abbey Road	George	–
138	Because	1969	Abbey Road	John, Paul, George	–
139	Her Majesty	1969	Abbey Road	Paul	–
140	Carry That Weight	1969	Abbey Road	Paul, John, George, Ringo	Verse: 'I never give...', 'I break down'
141	Octopus's Garden	1969	Abbey Road	Ringo	–
142	Oh! Darling	1969	Abbey Road	Paul	–
143	Something	1969	Abbey Road	George	–
144	Come Together	1969	Abbey Road	John	22 pronouns (42%)
145	Across the Universe (Wildlife version)	1969	Past Masters	John	–
146	Let It Be	1970	Let It Be	Paul	–
147	I've Got a Feeling	1970	Let It Be	Paul, John	–
148	For You Blue	1970	Let It Be	George	–
149	Dig It	1970	Let It Be	John	–
150	One After 909	1970	Let It Be	John, Paul	–
151	Across the Universe	1970	Let It Be	John	–
152	The Long and Winding Road	1970	Let It Be	Paul	–
153	I Me Mine	1970	Let It Be	George	–
154	Dig a Pony	1970	Let It Be	John	–
155	Two of Us	1970	Let It Be	Paul, John	–
156	Free as a Bird	1995	Reunion singles	John, Paul, George	–
157	Real Love	1996	Reunion singles	John	–
158	Now and Then	2023	Reunion singles	John	–