"It's So Hard" is a song written and performed by John Lennon which first appeared on his 1971 album Imagine. Shortly after the album's release, the song was released as the B-side to the single "Imagine."
The lyrics of the song describe Lennon's attitude towards life, that though things are hard and sometimes you "feel like going down," "you got to live, you got to love, you got to be somebody," and so forth. It demonstrates Lennon's prankster streak with its double entendres ("it's so hard" and "going down").
The song, when taken into context with "Imagine" or some of the other overtly political tracks on the album such as "Gimme Some Truth," could be heard as having political connotations, saying that one must rebel against the clear-cut lines drawn by the government to live their own lives and to love.
The saxophone break comes courtesy of King Curtis who played on many jazz and pop recordings of the 1950s and 60s, including The Coasters' 1958 hit "Yakety Yak". It was one of his final performances, as he was murdered just one month before the U.S. release of Imagine
Klaus Voormann, a longtime friend of the Beatles and designer of the cover for their Revolver album, plays bass on the song.
In February 1972, Lennon and Ono appeared on the Mike Douglas Show and performed the song with the backing of the Elephant's Memory Band. Lennon also played the track during a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden on 30 August 1972.
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