Yoko wrote ‘Winter Song’ under a full moon while John was asleep at their friend’s farmhouse in upstate New York. John has repeatedly said that he wishes that he had written this exquisite song himself. He plays guitar on the track.
Yoko wrote ‘Winter Song’ while John was asleep, in a farmhouse in upstate New York. John wished that he had written this song himself. He plays guitar on the track, along with Mick Jagger.
Again, as in many of Yoko’s songs, there is a haunting prescience – a longing for an earthly future with John that was not to be. In this line, she senses the impending tragedy of his death.
Mountains lie in a distance like the future we’d never reach…
Despite Yoko’s unwitting prescience, there is beautiful shimmer about this song in its gorgeous strings and especially in the sacred lyrics, which evoke the beauty of nature, and speak of past and future.
I know you now for a thousand years
Your body still feels nice and warm to me
The sun is old, the winter’s cold
The lake is shining like a drop of Buddha’s tears…
The bed is shining like an old scripture that’s never been opened before
And I keep my warm with your mind close.
Some of the lines in ‘Winter Song’ reflect upon Yoko’s Rubber Piece from her book Grapefruit which instructs,“Imagine your body spreading rapidly all over the world like a thin tissue.”
String orchestrations were by Ron Frangipane, who arranged the strings on ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over) andplayed on The Archies’ hit song ‘Sugar Sugar.’ The producer was Wes Farrell (co-writer of The McCoys’ hit, ‘Hang On Sloopy’ and many tunes for The Partridge Family).
Experience the song with this beautiful accompanying video by John Smith:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKOolxzu1qI
And here is Yoko performing the song live on the TV show Flipside
Filmed 12 May, aired 30 June 1973
John playing on ‘Winter Song’
In Your Mind – The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono
The true story of the woman John Lennon loved.
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Listen… The Musical Universe of Yoko Ono
by Madeline Bocaro
© Madeline Bocaro, 2014
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Hi, Where have I been all these years, this song is absolutely great, have me in tears every time I listen to it. Have you got the guitar chord and backing track please?