You say you found Jesus Christ;
He's the only one.
You say you've found Buddha,
Sittin' in the sun.
You say you found Mohammed,
Facin' to the East.
You say you found Krishna,
Dancin' in the streets.

Well there's somethin' missing in this God Almighty stew,
And it's your mother, (your mother, don't forget your mother, lad.)
You got to serve yourself,
Ain't nobody gonna do it for you.
You got to serve yourself,
Ain't nobody gonna do it for you.

Well you may believe in devils, and you may believe in lords,
But if you don't go out and serve yourself, lad, ain't no room service here.
It's still the same old story,
A bloody Holy War,
A fight for love and glory.
Ain't gonna study war no more.
A fight for God and country.

We're gonna set you free,
We'll put you back in the Stone Age,
If you won't be like me, get it?
You got to serve yourself,
Ain't nobody gonna do for you.
You got to serve yourself,
Ain't nobody gonna do for you.

Well you may believe in devils, and you may believe in lords,
But Christ, you're gonna have to serve yourself, and that's all there is to it.
So get right back here; it's in the bloody fridge. God, when I was a kid,
Didn't have stuff like this; TV-fuckin' dinners and all that crap.
You fuckin' kids are all the fuckin' same! Want a fuckin' car now
Lucky to have a pair of shoes!

You tell me you found Jesus Christ,
Well that's great, and he's the only one.
You say you just found Buddha,
Sittin' on his ass, in the sun.
You say you found Mohammed,
Kneeling on a bloody carpet, facin' the East.
You say you found Krishna,
With a bald head, dancin' in the street.
(Well, Christ, now you're being heard.)

You got to serve yourself,
Ain't nobody gonna do for you.
You got to serve yourself,
Ain't nobody gonna do for you.
(That's right, lad, you better get that straight into your fuckin' head.)
You got to serve yourself. (You know that; who else is gonna do it for you?
It ain't me I tell you that.)
Well, you may believe in Jesus, and you may believe in Marx,
And you may believe in Marks and Spencer's, and you may believe in bloody

Woolworths,
But there's something missing in this whole bloody stew.
And it's your mother; your poor, bloody, mother. (She worked for you in the
Back bedroom, full of piss, and shit, and fuckin' midwives. God, you can't
Forget that awful moment, you know. You should have been in the bloody
War, lad, and you would know all about it. Well, I'll tell you something...)

It's still the same old story.
A Holy, bloody, War, you know, with the Pope and all that stuff.
A fight for love and glory.
Ain't gonna study no more war.
A fight for God and country, and the Queen, and all that.
We're gonna set you free;
Bomb you back into the fuckin' Stone Age

If you won't be like me, you know, get down on your knees and pray.
Well there's somethin' missing in this God Almighty stew,
And it's your goddamn mother you dirty little git, now.
Get in there and wash yer ears!


Lyrics submitted by Urine's_whore

Serve Yourself Lyrics as written by John Lennon

Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing

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Serve Yourself song meanings
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12 Comments

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  • +4
    General Comment

    This song is a jab at Bob Dylan. I am not religious at all, but I thought it was lame of Lennon to make this just because Dylan (use to be a very close friend of Lennon's) claimed to have found god. Dylan released "You're Gonna Have to Serve Somebody" and then Lennon released this. Kind of fucked up I think, maybe not.

    sirharrynuggzon June 25, 2007   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning

    dear nostril flutterers . . . relax, get a life, float downstream! you are obviously not british! it's just a bit of english fun! making fun of parents of that generation (and beyond) and the kind of thing that folks (midlands & working class in particular) would've said to their post-war kids. you don't need to find the holy grail in every bloody word rhyme and silly song, it's just a bit of fun, for john's sake . . . how you nobodies love an excuse to come out of your holes revving for blood at the least opportunity; just like chapman, you want a little flush from your association, like spitting on the madona . . . have a look at john's/beatles' song book and IMAGINE, and ask yourselves: "what have a created?" then go get a life . . . it's a short one, see what you can do! soppy twats!

    mockdartinon January 08, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The greatest song of his lyrically. Very controversial at the time, highlighting his independence, and his honesty. We can admire him for his indignation.

    The religous aspect to this song i really love, its so hilarious and yet so poignantly relevant... i love it

    ilovelucyon December 08, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    damn, gotta agree with 'ilovelucy' there.. one of the best masterpieces john lennon's ever done which brings across the strong message of the pointlessness and destruction of people fighting in the name of their gods

    Ambeeon June 11, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think that if this song had been released at the time it was recorded, punk rockers would have embraced John Lennon as a precursor. Lyrically and musically, it's a punk song, and a great song.

    Bad_teethon July 24, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Yes I agree with all of you. I am a Hare Krishna but, I do not take offense to it. As I know it is a song of expression by another being. It is very artistic and am suprised that more punk rockers do not praise John Lennon as apposed to well, booing him.

    rooze1992on September 13, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I'm going to have to disagree with basically everyone and say that I don't like this song. The lyrics and singing aren't really that great, and it's none of John Lennon's business what Bob Dylan's religious beliefs are. Also don't know why the hell this song would be a "punk precursor" considering it came out in 1979, and the first punk album, Ramones, was released in 1977. So....

    pittsburghgirl92on June 07, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Wow in this song Lennon really sounds like the petty, arch-liberal elitist he was. He can spout his pseudo-religious musings in his songs but as soon as someone else does it he's up in arms.

    atamataon April 12, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Lennon's rebellious tendency is highlighted on this song perfectly.

    Tiffany94on May 24, 2017   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The more I learn about Lennon the more I think he was influenced by dark spirits. They say Yoko Ono wrote the lyrics to 'Imagine' and that was some dark lyrics, If you like the lyrics to this and Imagine you should reconsider.

    Into the mysticon May 06, 2021   Link

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