"I Found Out" is a song by the English musician

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

from his 1970 album ''

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band ''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'' is the debut solo album by English musician John Lennon. Backed by the Plastic Ono Band, it was released by Apple Records on 11 December 1970 in tandem with the similarly titled album by his wife, Yoko Ono. At th ...

''.

Writing and recording

The song expresses Lennon's disillusionment with a world dominated by what he saw as false religion and idols, and warns against being taken in by such beliefs. Recorded at EMI Studios on 27 September 1970, the instrumentation, style, and production of the song are typical of Lennon's Plastic Ono Band era work. The song features a low, rumbling

tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo. The first is a rapid reiteration: * Of a single note, particularly used on bowed string instruments, by rapidly moving the bow back and fo ...

guitar, thumping drums, a rolling, minimal bass guitar line, and a scathing vocal delivery. The recording is bare-bones, in stark contrast to the heavy production of Lennon's later albums. It is influenced more heavily by blues music than other songs on ''Plastic Ono Band''.

Reception

In a review for ''Plastic Ono Band'', website ''Classic Rock Review'' described "I Found Out" as a "dark but fine tune", describing the bass line as the track's highlight. ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Nick DeRiso called "I Found Out" the most underrated song on ''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band''. The song contains the line "Some of you sitting there with your cock in your hand", which was censored at the record company's request.

Personnel

The musicians who performed on the original recording were as follows: *

– vocals, fuzzed

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

– drums *

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, including " You're So ...

– bass guitar

Popular culture

The song was covered by the

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, f ...

on '' Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon''. The song has also been recorded by Nathaniel Mayer on ''I Just Want to Be Held'' (2004). The song was featured during the end credits of the sixth episode of season three of '' The Marvelous Mrs.Maisel''.

References

John Lennon songs 1970 songs Songs critical of religion Songs written by John Lennon Song recordings produced by Phil Spector Song recordings produced by John Lennon Song recordings produced by Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band songs {{beatles-song-stub