On This Day in 1980: John Lennon Begins Recording His Album After a 5-Year Hiatus, The LP Would Go #1 in the US After Its Release
via The Beatles Interviews / YouTube
Lennon’s Return to Music
On August 4, 1980, after a five-year break from recording, John Lennon and Yoko Ono began work on their album Double Fantasy at New York’s Hit Factory Studio. The release would reach number one in the United States in November, less than a month before Lennon was killed outside his apartment. The album went on to win the 1981 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
Lennon’s return to music followed a long period focused on raising his son, Sean. He began writing again after a sailing trip from Newport, Rhode Island, to Bermuda in June 1980. The 43-foot schooner he was on encountered a severe storm, leaving the crew sick and exhausted. Lennon took the helm alone for six hours, an experience that renewed his confidence and made him reflect on life. It inspired him to start writing again.
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A Burst of Creativity
“Suddenly I got the songs, like had, if you pardon the expression, diarrhea of creativity,” Lennon said. “In fact we went in the studio and cut about 22 tracks and cut it down to 14 to make the dialogue.” He explained that the songs were written like a play, with him and Ono as the characters. While drawn from their real lives, Lennon noted that songs are never completely real because they are shaped for a record.
He added that they could have taken the idea further into a rock opera but chose to keep the characters close to themselves. “The work we did on this thing is really a play, but we’re using ourselves as the characters and what we sing about… are real diaries of how we feel, but also it’s always not really really real because it’s a song.”
Long-Distance Songwriting
While in Bermuda with Sean, Lennon called Ono in New York. “I called her… I’m getting all this stuff,” he recalled. He sang ideas to her over the phone, and she would respond with her own lines. This back-and-forth led to songs like “(Just Like) Starting Over.”
The album’s title came when Lennon saw a flower labeled “Fria Double Fantasy” at the botanical gardens. He felt the name reflected the meaning of the album for both of them.
Release, Reaction, and Legacy
Upon release, Double Fantasy received mixed reviews. However, after Lennon’s murder three weeks later, it became a worldwide commercial success. One notable track, “Watching the Wheels,” explained his choice to step away from fame, embracing family life as “the world’s most famous househusband.” Lennon’s message was that taking life slower is far from foolish, and overworking can be unfulfilling.
