John Lennon, p. 225

Elvis was bigger than religion in my life. Then this boy at school said he'd got this record by somebody called Little Richard who was better than Elvis. We used to go to this boys house after school and listen to Elvis on 78s: we'd buy five ciggies loose and some chips and go along. The new record was Little Richard's 'Long Tall Sally'. When I heard it, it was so great I couldn't speak. You know how you are torn. I didn't want to leave Elvis but this was so much better. We all looked at each other. I didn't want to say anything against Elvis, even in my mind. How could they both be happening in my life? And then someone said, "It's a nigger singing." I didn't know negroes sang. So Elvis was white and Little Richard was black. This was a great relief. "Thank you God," I said. "There is a difference between them." But I though about it for days at school, of the labels on the records of Elvis and Little Richard. One was yellow and the other was blue, and I thought of the yellow against the blue.

— John Lennon on Little Richard

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Elvis was bigger than religion in my life. Then this boy at school said he'd got this record by somebody called Little Richard who was better than Elvis. We used to go to this boys house after school and listen to Elvis on 78s: we'd buy five ciggies loose and some chips and go along. The new record was Little Richard's 'Long Tall Sally'. When I heard it, it was so great I couldn't speak. You know how you are torn. I didn't want to leave Elvis but this was so much better. We all looked at each other. I didn't want to say anything against Elvis, even in my mind. How could they both be happening in my life? And then someone said, "It's a nigger singing." I didn't know negroes sang. So Elvis was white and Little Richard was black. This was a great relief. "Thank you God," I said. "There is a difference between them." But I though about it for days at school, of the labels on the records of Elvis and Little Richard. One was yellow and the other was blue, and I thought of the yellow against the blue." in the context of "John Lennon, p. 225" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Little Richard" (Quotes about Little Richard, The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorized Biography (2003): Quotes of others on Little Richard from The Life and Times of Little Richard : The Authorized Biography (2003) by Charles White) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed February 05, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
John Lennon

About John Lennon

John Winston Ono Lennon (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980), born John Winston Lennon, was a singer, songwriter, guitarist, political activist and founding member of The Beatles. His second wife was Yoko Ono. He was murdered in 1980.