Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Instant Karma! (1970)
In January 1970, the Beatles had already split up, but the world didn't know it yet. John Lennon told the other members he was leaving in a September 1969 band meeting, but the Let It Be album and movie hadn't come out yet, so he agreed to keep his departure quiet for the time being.
Lennon got the idea for "Instant Karma!" after a dinner conversation with his wife Yoko Ono and her former husband Tony Cox and his wife Melinde Kendall. They were discussing the idea that the consequences of your actions could occur immediately: instant karma. Lennon went into the studio and wrote the song with the idea that he would record and release it immediately. He then called fellow Beatle George Harrison, who he was still on good terms with, to come help him record it. Harrison brought in producer Phil Spector and the rest of the band included Klaus Voorman on bass, Billy Preston on Hammond organ and Alan White (who would go on to play with prog rock gods Yes) on drums. Later, a group of people from a nearby nightclub was recruited to provide backing vocals.
The song was recorded on January 27, although Spector's "Wall of Sound" technique required mucho overdubs--taking many sounds and making them sound like one--that took a week to finish. Even with all that work, Lennon released the song as his third single (previously released were "Give Peace a Chance" and "Cold Turkey") on February 6 in the U.K., crediting it to Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band. A remixed version came out on February 20 in the U.S., where it was titled "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" and credited to John Ono Lennon.
It immediately became one of Lennon's most memorable songs.
"Instant karma's gonna get you/Going to knock you right on the head/You better get yourself together/Pretty soon you're going to be dead/What in the world are you thinking of/Laughing in the face of love?/What on earth you trying to do?/It's up to you, yeah, you/Instant karma's gonna get you/Going to look you right in the face/You better get yourself together, darling/Come and join the human race/How in the world you gonna see?/Laughing at fools like me?/Who on earth do you think you are?/A superstar? Well, right you are."
The drunken revelers join in on the chorus.
"Well, we all shine on/Like the moon and the stars and the sun/Well, we all shine on/Everyone, come on."
"Instant Karma!" was an instant success. It went to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 in Canada and #5 in the U.K. The song became the first solo Beatle single to sell 1 million copies in the U.S.
"Instant karma's gonna get you/Gonna knock you off your feet/Better recognize your brothers/Everyone you meet/Why in the world are we here?/Surely not to live in pain and fear?/Why on earth are you there when you're everywhere?/Come and get your share/Well, we all shine on/Like the moon and the stars and the sun/Yeah, we all shine on/Come on and on and on, on, on."
Pleased with Spector's work on "Instant Karma," Lennon had him take over production work on the unfinished Beatles album, which was retitled Let It Be. McCartney didn't like Spector's approach. Two months after "Instant Karma!" came out, McCartney ended up spilling the beans about the Beatles breakup while promoting his first solo album. The Let It Be album was released in May 1970, followed by the documentary of the same name. Lennon, Harrison and Ringo Starr all released solo albums later in 1970.
The various Beatles would continue releasing music throughout the decade but never succumbed to the temptation to reunite, despite a $50 million offer from promoter Bill Sargent to do a reunion concert in 1974. Lennon released five more solo albums before taking a hiatus in 1975 after the birth of his son Sean to become a househusband. He released the single "(Just Like) Starting Over" in October 1980 and the album Double Fantasy the following month. On December 8, 1980, Lennon was shot to death by deranged fan Mark David Chapman; just hours earlier, Lennon had signed a copy of Double Fantasy for Chapman.
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