This is probably the first song that genuinely changed my life – affected me so deeply I began to view the world differently.
Taken from the John Lennon/Plastic Ono album – his debut solo record. A song that has long been a touchstone for me, it’s not just the hard bitten message, it’s the performance, that barely hidden rage, the unapologetic honesty spat between gritted teeth, the sorrow and the blinding truth as he saw it. The simplest of compositions but devastating as a result. The whole album is a beyond description for me, it stands alone for so many reasons.
If you don’t know this record – get it, live with it, it may be the best thing you ever do.
I cannot get near it – no one can – but I offer it as a tribute to one of music’s most enigmatic, honest, authentic and complicated artists and one of my biggest heroes. Forgive the profanity, but it is as he wrote it and understand exactly why
Merchandise
Toby Jepson’s debut solo album ‘Toby and the Whole Truth – Ignorance Is Bliss’ is now available to pre-order as a limited edition signed deluxe CD Songbook with all original 11 songs remastered and featuring previously unreleased material.
A special 25th anniversary edition: The songbook features 36 pages of production notes, hand drawn illustrations, lyrics, song explanations and a forward introduction by writer David Gailbraith (Kerrang!).
Podcast
In my new series of podcasts – TOBY AND THE WHOLE TRUTH – I seek to uncover the reality of what it means to live and work as a successful person in the real music business. I’ve interviewed characters from every sector of this crazy yet obsessively addictive world to try uncover what it really takes to reach beyond the dream, step out of the garage and bedroom to escape the ‘normal’ world and become a success against the odds in the most competitive business there is.