Working Class Hero

Recorded at EMI Studios on 27 September 1970, it has only Lennon singing and playing acoustic guitar. The chord progression is very simple and builds on A minor and G major. Tape operator Andy Stephens said it took more than 100 takes, and the finished recording is a composite of two. Lennon said the song is about working-class people being processed into the middle classes, into "the machine", and called it "a revolutionary song". The tone has been compared with Bob Dylan's "Masters of War" and "North Country Blues".

The lyrics use strong language, and several US radio stations banned it. In 1973 Representative Harley Staggers complained to the Federal Communications Commission after the station WGTB played it, though charges against the station manager were later dropped. In Britain EMI used asterisks in the printed lyrics, and the Australian release of the album had the word removed. It was issued as the B-side of "Imagine" in Britain on 24 October 1975. Classic Rock's Rob Hughes ranked it Lennon's fourth best political song.