"Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)" played over a picture of John.
1974, Walls and Bridges
Walls and Bridges was the first album recorded and released entirely during John's "Lost Weekend," when he was separated from Yoko Ono, the love of his life, for eighteen months. He shacked up with his assistant May Pang (at Yoko's suggestion), sunk into a drink- and drug-fueled depression, fucked around with his mates (one episode where he paraded about with a sanitary napkin on his head was caught by the paparazzi), and generally wandered aimlessly. The album is suprisingly upbeat, perhaps the most upbeat album John ever made, which is fitting, since one of his aforementioned mates was mainstream glam rock king Elton John. "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)" is the most melancholy track, lamenting the absence of his wife and his lack of direction. John seems genuinely heartsick here, but when the band kicks in, he sings with a driving confidence, somehow assuring the listener that he'll get through the night.
