“John L” is a song that black midi began to perform while touring in 2019. An official release/music video was released on March 23rd, 2021, along with the announcement of their sophomore album Cavalcade. Live recordings appeared earlier, including one on the Bandcamp exclusive album Black Midi Live In The USA and a performance on Marc Riley’s BBC Radio 6 show.

A studio version of the song later debuted with a surreal music video described as “a jet black comedy about what happens to cult leaders when their followers turn on them”. Along with it came the announcement of black midi’s sophomore album, Cavalcade.

Note that the letter “L” is also the Roman numeral for “fifty”. John Fifty is then likely the fiftieth in a line of rulers.