The artist John Lennon said he had never made a bad song

On the other hand, part of Berry’s genius was keeping everything incredibly simple whenever he played. There would be the occasional song that sounded like the one before, but there were just as many moments where he would twist the narrative a little by starting on a different chord or creating a compelling story that kept the listener on the edge of their seat throughout the piece.

At the same time, Berry never expected his audience to analyze every song he wrote. He was still more than happy to create works that captured someone’s imagination, but titles like “Rock and Roll Music” are perfectly acceptable songs that people can turn off their brains to and dance to their heart’s content at a local gymnasium.

Although Lennon seemed to have matured beyond this stage of his musical development, he admitted that Berry hardly ever wrote a bad song, and said Rolling Stone, “I loved everything he ever did. He was in a class of his own compared to other artists; he was in the tradition of the great blues artists, but he really wrote his own stuff – I know (Little) Richard did that, but Berry Really wrote things, the lyrics alone were fantastic, even if we didn’t know what he was saying half the time.”

But what made Berry’s songs so interesting in the first place? His style may have helped spawn later genres like rock and roll, but the many great tunes in his repertoire also had an air of innocence, as they could be played by children of all backgrounds, regardless of the laws in place in America at the time.

And while Lennon had a more melodic side that came out much more strongly in his solo career, he also didn’t forget where he came from. A song like “New York City” is practically Lennon’s take on a Berry song, and even on his last album, a track like “Dear Yoko” feels like an ode to Berry’s sincere rock’n’roll, filtered through the innocence of someone like Buddy Holly.

But that’s always been the key to Berry’s music. Yes, the songs are simple and may not always impart much wisdom, but when a track is this open, it’s something that everyone can appreciate.

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