John Lennon used N-word in poem before becoming famous

Telegraph

19-05-2025

wrote a poem using the N-word before he became famous.
The former Beatle penned a racist verse during the band's Hamburg residency in 1961. In the short poem, he uses the term several times when describing the story of an unemployed boy named Tom.
It reads: 'One time upon a tom a little negro who had lost his mother was looking for a job. Maybe I will be a shoe shine boy, says the negro who was black and dirty. But no – unluckily as luck would have it he could not a job find.'
The poem ends: 'No job for a n-----.'
Lennon, who was in his early 20s at the time, wrote the poem in an A5 notebook that he kept in the Hamburg flat of Astrid Kirchherr, a German photographer and friend of the band.
A year after it was written, the Beatles released their first single, Love Me Do. They were then propelled to stardom with the release of their first album, Please Please Me, in March 1963.
Kirchherr later gifted Lennon's poem to another source before it fell into the hands of a collector, who is selling it at an auction this month.
The poem, which stands in stark contrast to his later songs preaching love and tolerance, such as Imagine, is being sold by Hollywood's Julien's Auctions.
The 6.5in by 8.5in piece of paper containing the poem is estimated to sell for up to $20,000 (£15,000) on May 30.
Giles Moon, the head of music at Julien's Auctions, said: 'John Lennon was a complicated and complex artist whom we discovered through his public and private personas had his share of issues.
'His writings, music and appearances revealed his struggles and journey to becoming a more understanding person.'
It would not be the only controversy involving Lennon and the N-word. He released a single in 1972 titled Woman is the N----- of the World, which caused outrage.
Billboard called it 'the most controversial record of the year', but Lennon explained that the track – which lambasts how society treats women – was an attempt to declare his belief that women were the most exploited members of society.
'I agree that a lot of people, black and white, are slaves in the world,' he explained, adding: 'But each of them has his own slaves, and that's usually the wife.'
'I think the word n----- has changed and it does not have the same meaning that it used to,' Lennon said, adding that the song's main point was to shine a light on women's rights.
The former Beatle said: 'I really believe that women have [it] the worst. Whatever it is, however badly or poor people are, it's the woman who takes it when they get home from work.'
Lennon a 'hypocrite'
However, in a story published two days before he was assassinated in 1980, Lennon admitted that he beat women including Cynthia Powell, his first wife. In an interview with Playboy, he admitted: 'I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically ... any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn't express myself, and I hit.'
The musician was also accused by Julian Lennon, his first son, of being a 'hypocrite' who had a family 'in bits and pieces'.
In an interview with The Telegraph in the late 90s, he said: 'Dad could talk about peace and love out loud to the world but he could never show it to the people who supposedly meant the most to him: his wife and son.'
Archive footage of the Beatles star mocking disabled people during a performance also caused controversy when it was re-aired by the TV show It Was Alright in the 1960s.
The show, which documented changing societal attitudes and norms, showed Lennon encouraging a screaming crowd to clap their hands and stomp their feet as he spoke with a speech impediment while making awkward clapping and stomping movements.