Station_3_Working_Class_Hero

//Station #3: Working Class Hero // __CONTEXT __ John Lennon was an English musician, singer, and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as a founder member of the rock band //The Beatles//, the most commercially successful band in the history of popular music. When the group disbanded in 1970, Lennon embarked on a solo career that produced the critically acclaimed albums and iconic songs such as //Working Class Hero.//

Lennon revealed a rebellious nature and acerbic wit in his music. Controversial through his political and peace activism, he moved to Manhattan in 1971, where his criticism of the Vietnam War resulted in a lengthy attempt by Richard Nixon’s administration to deport him. Some of his songs were adopted as anthems by the anti-war movement and the larger counterculture.

Lennon often referred to //Working Class Hero// as “a bitter attack against bourgeois social systems.” Note Lennon’s use of **__sarcasm__** throughout the song.

**Cue the song. To accommodate different computers, the song may be listened to in any one of the following three, separate file formats: AAC/iTunes, .MP3, or .WAV. __If one doesn't play, try another!__** As you listen, **__annotate the lyrics__,** making note of **__specific statements__** that strike you **__as having Marxist undertones.__**

**AAC/iTunes File** media type="file" key="Working Class Hero.m4a" width="300" height="50"

**.MP3 File** media type="file" key="Working Class Hero.mp3" width="240" height="20"

**.WAV File** media type="file" key="Working Class Hero.wav" width="300" height="50" LYRICS:  As soon as you’re born, they make you feel small By giving you no time instead of it all ‘Til the pain is so big you feel nothing at all. <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">A working class hero is something to be. . . <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">A working class hero is something to be. ..

<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">They hurt you at home, and they hit you at school. <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">They hate you if you’re clever and they despise a fool, <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">‘Til you’re so f— crazy, you can’t follow their rules. <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">A working class hero is something to be. . . <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">A working class hero is something to be. ..

<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">They’ve tortured and scared you for 20 odd years, <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">Then they expect you to pick a career <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">When you can’t really function, and you’re so full of fear. <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">A working class hero is something to be. . . <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">A working class hero is something to be. ..

<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">Keep you doped with religion, and sex, and T.V. <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">And you think you’re so clever, and classless, and free. <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">But you’re //still// f— peasants, as far as I can see. <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">A working class hero is something to be. . . <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">A working class hero is something to be. ..

<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">“There’s room at the top” they keep telling you still. <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">But first, you must learn how to smile as you kill— <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">If you want to be like the folks on the hill. <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">A working class hero is something to be. . . <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">A working class hero is something to be. ..

<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">If you want to be a hero, well just follow me. . . <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">If you want to be a hero, well //just follow me. . .//

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 20px; text-align: center;">* * * * * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 20px; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">Now take note of the still pictures below. Consider the collective __**meaning**__ of these images.







<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">Finally, __**engage in a small-group discussion**__. Each member of the group **__must contribute to the process by fulfilling an assigned role__**. Then, in a thoughtful, “MEL-style” short essay response, answer this question:

<span style="font-family: Garamond,serif; font-size: 15pt;">What **__specific information__** should a Marxist critic consider in an analysis of this text? Using that information as **__evidence__**, what **__meaning__** can //we// make of this text, **__using Marxist tenets as our “lenses”__**?