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I bent over backwards to be nice about “What You Got.” I’m not going to do the same for “Bless You,” which is functionally the flipside: Another song about Yoko in a slower, jazzier style.
But whereas “What You Got” had some fighting spirit, in “Bless You” John just seems to have given up. It’s pathetic. The best line he can muster is “windswept child on a shooting star,” which is pretty seventh-grade poetry if you ask me. And musically the song just kind of floats there, like Benjamin Braddock in a swimming pool. It’s pretty enough for a minute or so and then I’m tempted to reach for the Skip button.
Lennon said “I think it’s the best piece of work on the album,” and he’s got a right to his opinion. Based on critics’ statements and YouTube comments, it seems like a fair number of people agree with him. To my ear Walls and Bridges would only have benefitted from its being cut, or at least trimmed to a brief interlude.
De gustibus non est disputandum. Those who like this song are welcome to it. I’ve said my piece. Moving on.