Working Class Hero – John Lennon

• Activity type: identify correct word.

• Note: This was released on Lennon’s first solo album, 1970’s Plastic Ono Band. He told the magazine Rolling Stone: “I think it’s for the people like me who are working class – whatever, upper or lower – who are supposed to be processed into the middle classes, through the machinery, that’s all. It’s my experience, and I hope it’s just a warning to people. I’m saying it’s a revolutionary song; not the song itself but that it’s a song for the revolution.”
• Green Day covered this song for the 2007 album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.
• This song may be useful to introduce a discussion on the class system.
• Note that this song features the word “fucking”, so may not be suitable for all learners.

Worksheet written by Prof. Noelia Rivas, Uruguay

Download worksheet

Embedding disabled? Double click on the video.
Video removed? Please let us know!