Double Fantasy Stripped Down Part III

The jacket cover for the single "Watching the Wheels" [above] featured a photo actually taken by one of the 'Dakota Groupies', a band of loonies and ne'er-do-wells who would wait around the Dakota's entrance for a glimpse of John. This photo happened to be taken on August 4, 1980, just as John and Yoko were heading out to the first recording sessions for Double Fantasy. While initially annoyed with the fan photographer, John loved this photo and wanted to use it for the "Watching the Wheels" single. Unfortunately, that same fan would take another picture - four months later - that would become infamous. The fan who took the picture above was Paul Goresh, the same man who would photograph John signing an autograph for Mark Chapman on December 8, 1980.

WATCHING THE WHEELS

This song is my favorite of favorites. It may be the most autobiographical song in the history of rock music, actually. The song - as with much of that period - is touched with a special sadness because of the role it played in convincing Mark Chapman to kill John Lennon. With his infatuation with Catcher in the Rye and Holden Caulfield, the one scene in the book that resonated the most with Chapman said was when Holden's little sister, Phoebe, is riding the merry-go-round and worrying that she will fall off [i.e. grow up]. When Chapman first played "Watching the Wheels" and heard the lyrics, "...no longer ridin' on the merry-go-round. I just had to let it go." Chapman said that was the final sign he needed to remove the few doubts he still had as to whether or not he was really meant to kill John Lennon.

While it is unlikely that sound of a merry-go-round in the song made it any more likely that Chapman would kill Lennon, there is an interesting back story as to how that sound - created by an instrument called a Hammered dulcimer - ended up in the song. While walking one day in Greenwich Village, producer Jack Douglas and engineer Lee DeCarlo literally stumbled upon a street musician playing a Hammered dulcimer on the corner. The sound immediately made them think of a merry-go-round and the lyric in John's song.

Struck by the sound, the two men went up to the street musician - Matthew Cunningham -- and asked him whether he was interested in taking part in a paying gig at a professional recording session. Cunningham naturally agreed but interestingly enough never asked who was making the recording. At the studio - still not knowing for whom he was playing - Cunningham set up by sitting down with his Hammered dulcimer in a yoga position, with his legs folded under him. At this point, Douglas came down from the production control room with John joining them. Douglas and Lennon then told Cunningham exactly where they wanted him to play on the song. He played wonderfully, getting the exact sound John wanted on one take.

As he waited to get paid, Cunningham started staring into the control room. Finally, he pointed to John and said, "What's your name?" Amused, John replied, "I'm John." After a pause, Cunningham said, "Hi, John." It would be months before he'd learn that he had played on John Lennon's last album.

On Stripped Down, what is most noticeable about the song is that there is only John on one piano. On the recorded version on Double Fantasy, John played a second piano tracked to mirror the first one. It makes a different sound, to be sure, and actually highlights the part of the chorus where John mimics the Hammered dulcimer to add to the merry-go-round effect.

People say I'm crazy
Doing what I'm doing
Well they give me all kinds of warnings
To save me from ruin
When I say that I'm o.k.
Well they look at me kind of strange
Surely you're not happy now
You no longer play the game

People say I'm lazy
Dreaming my life away
Well they give me all kinds of advice
Designed to enlighten me
When I tell them that I'm doing fine
Watching shadows on the wall
Don't you miss the big time boy
You're no longer on the ball

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go

Ah, people asking questions
Lost in confusion
Well I tell them there's no problem,
Only solutions
Well they shake their heads and they look at me
As if I've lost my mind
I tell them there's no hurry
I'm just sitting here doing time

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round, you see
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go


YES, I'M YOUR ANGEL

There are very few differences between the song as it appeared on the finished product and as it does on Striped Down. Missing, though, is the enjoyable interlude between "Watching the Wheels" and "Yes, I'm your Angel". After the final drum roll ending the former, the latter begins with the sounds of a street busy with life. We hear a homeless man [John] on a corner with a hat collecting money, and as each passer-by drops in a coin John says, "Thank you, thank you; you've got a lucky face. Thank you, thank you." We then follow a man after he drops a coin in the beggar's hat as he is walking down the street. He stops inside a drinking establishment as we hear the swinging saloon door squeak closed behind him. Glasses are clinking and people are talking as the lady at the piano is warming up. When she begins, they applaud politely as Yoko performs in this imaginary nightclub in the 1940s.

Yes, I'm your angel
I'll give you everything
In my magic power
So make a wish
And I'll let it come true for you
Tra, la, la, la, la

[John whistles]

You're my fairy
You give me everything
I ever wanted from life
Have I made a wish
And is that why I have you
Tra, la, la, la, la

[John whistles]

We believe in pumpkins that turn into princess
And frogs that turn into prince
We believe in moons that smile to us
When we hurry home before the midnight strikes
Tra, la, la, la, la

[John whistles]

Yes, I'm so pretty [John whistles a cat-call]
You're so dizzy
And we're so happy every day
Let's make a wish
And let it come true for us
Tra, la, la, la, la

I'm in your pocket
You're in my locket
And we're so lucky in every way
We make a wish
And let it come true for us
Tra, la, la, la, la

[John whistles]

We believe in houses built in the sky
And love that lifts us high
We believe in the sun that looks over our shoulders
And brings our shadows together
Tra, la, la, la, la

[John whistles]

Yes, our hearts are one
Our bodies, too
And it's so good (hmmm) everytime
We make a wish
And let it come true for you, too
Tra, la, la, la, la

Happy birthday, my love
I'm your angel
I'll give you everything
In my magic power
So make a wish
And I'll let it come true for you
Tra, la, la, la, la, la


WOMAN

The track begins with John strumming a note on the guitar before asking quizzically to the musicians, "Where we goin' fellas?" This was a phrase John would use with the other three Beatles in the early days of their careers, playing at clubs, dance halls and bars. He'd say, "Where we goin' fellas?" They're response was, "To the top, Johnny?" John would then say, "And where's that, fellas?" To which they'd replay, "To the toppermost of the poppermost!"

The version on Stripped Down is quite beautiful and the song's origins as a tune for guitar are more easily gleaned as it is only John, a bass and a drum. After asking them where they're going, John counts in, "two, three, four"

For the other half of the sky...
Woman I can hardly express
My mixed emotions at my thoughtlessness
After all I'm forever in your debt
And woman I will try to express
My inner feelings and thankfulness
For showing me the meaning of success

Oooooh, well, well
Doo, doo, doo, doodle, doo
Ooooh, well, well
Doo, doo, doo, doodle, doo

Woman I know you understand
The little child inside the man
Please remember my life is in your hands
And woman hold me close to your heart
However distant don't keep us apart
After all it is written in the stars

Oooooh, well, well
Doo, doo, doo, doodle, doo
Oooooh, well, well
Doo, doo, doo, doodle, doo
Well

Woman please let me explain
I never meant to cause you sorrow or pain
So let me tell you again and again and again

I love you, yeah, yeah
Now and forever
I love you, yeah, yeah
Now and forever
I love you, [deep breath] yeah, yeah
Now and forever
I love you, [deep breath] yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

NEXT: The Final Four

copyright 1980 John Lennon and Yoko Ono;
copyright 2010 by EBBP Redux. If you are reading this on a blog or website other than EBBP Redux or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.