"John L" is a song by English rock band Black Midi, released in 2021 as the lead single from their second studio album, Cavalcade.

The song describes the story of a powerful leader, the titular John L, who is eventually betrayed and killed by his followers.

"John L" is an avant-garde[2] progressive rock[1] song described by Guitar World as "[featuring] dissonant piano chimes, weaving hypnotic vocals, a cacophony of string sounds, and an edge-of-the-seat dynamic range, spanning from complete silence to raucous, high-energy midsections.

In the website's review for the song, Sam Sodomsky wrote "the triumph of 'John L' is not that these well-trained musicians continue to confound expectations: It's that they have become so adept at their brand of dissonant, skronking, avant-prog that it actually sounds sort of anthemic.

"[9] In a review for Joyzine, Andrew Wood described the song as 'as good as anything they’ve so far released' but was disappointed by the vocals, saying "there’s no attempt at singing here, just a story recited, but in a strange American style [accent.