I could have written about every other song on John Lennon’s first post-Beatles album, but it was this one that came first. What can I say about it? Probably nothing that hasn’t been said before. But I will try my best to give you my opinion on why this phenomenal track is worth four minutes of your time.

“God” is the penultimate track on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon’s studio debut released in the winter of 1970. The album is one of the most introspective and personal works of its time if not to this day; if you hear it and think that he let go of his personal issues by the time you get to “God”, then it is in that where he hadn’t lays everything on the table by bluntly stating what he does and doesn’t believe in. After telling the listener his opinion on the God for the first minute or so, he provides a list of subjects that he doesn’t believe for the next minute in a half, ranging from “Yoga” to “Elvis Presley” before emphatically ending on “The Beatles”, before he simply stating that he believes in himself and Yoko Ono.

“God” was the definitive statement to end ‘the dream’ that Lennon’s former band had seemed to build up in the preceding decade. No one wanted to believe it. But it was when Lennon uttered the poignant ending line, that reality had to kick in. It was time for a new chapter.

It’s actually quite heartbreaking to listen to.