Story of the song: God by John Lennon

From The Independent archive: Robert Webb hears how the Beatle trashed everything from Hitler and Elvis to his former band with this song from his break-up solo album

John Lennon sings in Canada in 1969 (Getty)

God” remains John Lennon’s best-known album track. The opening line came from a comment Lennon made to his therapist: “God is a concept by which we measure our pain.” The song buries everything from magic and the Bible to Hitler and Elvis. “The first three or four just came out,” Lennon said, maintaining that he could have continued. After the revelation that he no longer believed in The Beatles, Lennon took a breath. “Just fill in your own,” he said.

At Abbey Road studios Lennon was accompanied by bassist Klaus Voormann and pianist Billy Preston, and the recording was kept at pallbearer’s pace by Ringo Starr. Next door George Harrison was completing work on “All Things Must Pass”.

“I was in one room singing, ‘My Sweet Lord’,” said Harrison, “and John was in another room... singing, ‘I don’t believe in Jesus, I don’t believe in nothing’.” It was recorded by Brian May in 1993. May missed the point and trashed, among other things, newsprint, torture, colour and Queen.