by Madeline Bocaro
The two songs on the single ‘Give Peace a Chance’ / ‘Remember Love’ by Plastic Ono Band were recorded at the Montreal Bed-In for Peace on May 31, 1969, and released on Apple Records on July 4, 1969 (UK) and July 7th (USA). As John was still a member of the Beatles at the time, the songwriting on the A-side was credited to Lennon-McCartney.
For the picture-sleeve single, a large Perspex sculpture was commissioned by Yoko Ono. There are four objects including a microphone, a reel-to-reel tape recorder and a television set wrapped in transparent Perspex. According to the Apple Records press release, the sculpture was made by an inventor named Chales Melling. As specified by Yoko, the four columns vary in height, representing John, Paul George and Ringo (three taller and one shorter). It can also be a representation of members of any other band. They are fitted with equipment by Apple Electronica under the direction of (Magic) Alexis Mardis. The sleeve was designed by John Kosh.
REMEMBER LOVE
Yoko’s acoustic song for the B-side, the beautifully delicate ‘Remember Love’ (one of the first proper songs that she had ever written) was also recorded in the same hotel room during the Montreal Bed-In, on the same night, after everyone had gone. John’s guitar melody is similar to that of The Beatles’ song ‘Sun King’ on Abbey Road.
Sean Lennon spoke to David Fricke about ‘Remember Love’ on Sirius XM radio during a birthday tribute to his mom in February 2021 on The Beatles Channel…
“There is a sweetness and hesitance in her voice – obviously a hesitance, which vanishes very quickly when she starts making her own albums like POB or Fly. How intimidating it must be finding yourself in a world-famous couple celebrity relationship with a Beatle – having the bravery to jump head first into songwriting. For her, it must have been daunting… I feel like you can hear it in her voice. It’s an appropriate and natural hesitance. Her husband is arguably the most famous songwriter in the world. There’s something sweet and brave – and something remarkable in the context of how she’s going to develop.”
‘Remember Love’ is very dear to Yoko’s daughter, Kyoko…
“Yes, there is the intimidation of her situation, but I think another reason for my mom’s vulnerability in this song is that she was brought up to be circumspect about the word love. My grandmother like many of the parents of her generation felt that being overly demonstrative about love was unsophisticated. Mom is being very brave using the word love. It’s very brave and very insightful about the real meaning of love, not just some
romantic 60s abstraction. Mom was brave when she was wailing, ‘Why?’ and she was brave when she was melodically singing ‘Remember Love.’”
– Kyoko Ono to Madeline Bocaro, 2025
A re-recording of ‘Remember Love’ is the soundtrack to Yoko’s narration of her short, animated film titled My Hometown in 2011.
My Hometown:
Watch!
Also see my story about ‘Give Peace a Chance’
This is an excerpt from:
In Your Mind – The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono
The true story of the woman John Lennon loved.
THE YOKO YOU DON’T KNOW!
Highly acclaimed!
E-BOOK NOW AVAILABLE on Amazon worldwide and BookBaby.com
Coming Soon:
Listen… The Musical Universe of Yoko Ono
by Madeline Bocaro
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