Charity Shop Classics: John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Milk and Honey, the first posthumous collection of John Lennon's songs, was put out in 1984 and contained a mix of material from the Double Fantasy sessions of 1980 and new songs from Yoko Ono.

Let Me Count The Ways, with its endearing lyrics and clunking lo-fi piano, has the charm of a Daniel Johnston track.

I picked up this copy from an Oxfam in Kent over Christmas and its immaculate condition suggests it was originally bought more out of loyalty than for the quality of its songs.

To be fair to Lennon his contributions were clearly unfinished - like the painfully high-pitched but poignant Grow Old With Me - but they are generally forgettable or plain cringeworthy.

I'm Stepping Out is maybe the worst offender as it articulates his domestic boredom with lyrics like: "Baby's sleeping the cats have all been blessed/Ain't nothing doing on TV (summer repeats)".

As with Double Fantasy the more interesting songs are Yoko's. Admittedly she had time to hone them, but tunes like You're The One have an early '80s New York club sound that's still fresh today.

Let Me Count The Ways, with its endearing lyrics and clunking lo-fi piano, has the charm of a Daniel Johnston track.

But it's Yoko's unorthodox sleeve notes that really bring home the trauma of Lennon's death: "From '81 to '83, it was as though Sean and I were standing in a snowfield surrounded by human wolves, who claimed themselves 'close friends' and meanwhile raped and desecrated John's body in front of our eyes."

Hear Grow Old With Me and Let Me Count The Ways on a Beatle-themed edition of Charity Shop Classics on Allfm 96.9 on Sunday January 15, 11-12.