1 John Lennon Song Is a Criticism of His Fan’s Fantasies About Him
One of John Lennon‘s songs sounds relaxing but it was actually an angry response the to popular perception of the “(Just Like) Starting Over” singer. He felt that outsiders didn’t understand who he really was. The song in question was a big hit in the United States but audiences in the United Kingdom were less enthused.
John Lennon wrote a song about how he’s not lazy
John’s “Watching the Wheels” includes the line “People think I’m lazy.” In a 1980 interview in the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, John discussed the line. “I’m not lazy,” he said.
“I’ve done more in my life than most people would do in 10,” he added. “Absolutely! If I never did another damn thing! Even if I wasn’t just laying on my back or looking after Sean or doing anything, I’ve still done more work than most people do in their lifetime — even in the ten-year Beatle period.”
The “Imagine” singer reflected on the expectations foisted on him as a celebrity. “Being a public figure, as I’ve said, is a twenty-four-hour-a-day job,” he said. “People wake you up in the middle of the night and ask you to save Peru. When I was in the mountains of Japan, some a**hole got the number and woke us up in the middle of the night to try and get us to do a UNICEF concert.”
John Lennon insisted he wasn’t ‘running for office’
The “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” singer explained why he didn’t feel the need to live up to other’s expectations. “But I’m not running for office,” he said. “I’m not gonna curtail everything I say to fit some image of myself or to fit some fantasy of somebody else’s image of me. I’m not running for office! If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the pissoir!”
If John did run for office, he might have been able to leverage his celebrity, his history of political activism, and his many protest songs (“Give Peace a Chance,” “Power to the People,” “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” etc.) into a successful political career. Plenty of celebrities have entered the halls of power and John would have been no different.
How John Lennon’s ‘Watching the Wheels’ performed
“Watching the Wheels” became a posthumous hit for John in the United States. The track peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for 17 weeks. The tune appeared on the album Double Fantasy. That’s interesting, considering it’s a song that tears down fantasies. That record topped the Billboard 200 for eight weeks, lasting on the chart for 77 weeks in total.
The Official Charts Company reports that “Watching the Wheels” was not nearly as popular in the United Kingdom. There, the tune reached No. 30 and remained on the chart for six weeks. In the U.K., Double Fantasy hit No. 1 for two weeks, lasting on the chart for 36 weeks in total. A remixed version of the record called Double Fantasy Stripped Down charted at No. 80 for a week.
“Watching the Wheels’ is a cool song and it came from an honest place.
