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From album
Imagine
John Lennon · 1971 · Track 4
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The story behind
The first time I heard It's So Hard, I was struck by the feeling that John Lennon had turned an everyday lament into something danceable. It's not a song that calls for silence or deep reflection: it's an accelerated blues, with a piano that pounds like a hammer and a saxophone that cuts through the tension just when the track seems to deflate. The lyrics don't beat around the bush: they speak of how hard it is to keep going, of the fatigue of getting up every morning, and of that moment when, no matter what happens, the only way out is to take refuge in love. But what's curious is that, between complaint and complaint, there's a playful wink, almost as if Lennon were laughing at himself while singing about how hard life is.
They recorded it in two sessions: first in February 1971 at Ascot Studios, where they tested the new equipment with a direct take of Lennon's guitar and piano. Klaus Voormann's bass and Jim Gordon's drums gave it that punchy rhythm, but something was missing. Two months later, in July, they went back into the studio to add the string arrangements by the Flux Fiddlers and, above all, King Curtis' saxophone solo. Curtis, a musician who had left his mark in the 50s and 60s with the Coasters, recorded his part on July 5, 1971; shortly after, in August, he would be murdered. His contribution to It's So Hard sounds like a farewell, a final flash of energy before the song was forever sealed on the album. The result is a track that oscillates between catharsis and dance, as if Lennon had found a way to make exhaustion sound like a party.