John Lennon Compared 1 of His Solo Songs to Haiku
TL;DR:
- One of John Lennon’s songs was similar to a famous nursery rhyme.
- John compared the song to a haiku.
- The “Imagine” singer discussed how haiku was different from the work of a famous Western poet.
John Lennon felt one of the songs from his post-Beatles career was similar to haiku. He discussed his feelings on haiku in general. Subsequently, he contrasted it with some Western poetry.
John Lennon said 1 of his solo songs was ‘just a feeling’ and compared it to a haiku
The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon includes an interview from 1971. In it, the interviewer asked about John’s song “My Mummy’s Dead” from the album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The song is very short and closes the album on a morbid note. The interviewer said the song sounded like “Three Blind Mice.”
“It was just a feeling,” John said. “It was almost like a haiku poem. Actually, I got into haiku in Japan just recently. I think it’s fantastic. God, it’s beautiful.”
John explained his and Yoko’s relationship to haiku. “We bought some haiku originals when we were there [in Japan],” he revealed. “But obviously when you get rid of a whole section of illusion in your mind, you’re left with a precision.”
John Lennon contrasted haiku to the work of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
He contrasted haiku with the work of a famous Western poet. “The difference between haiku and [Henry Wadsworth] Longfellow or something is immense,” he opined. “Longfellow says, ‘Oh, beautiful yellow flowers standing quietly in the shadowy electric light,’ when the haiku would just say, ‘Yellow flowers in a white bowl on a wooden table” and that gives you the whole picture.”
John said people were often accustomed to looking at the world through an intellectual lens. Because of this, a simple haiku could feel novel. John said he didn’t know how people who were not intellectuals looked at the world.
How ‘My Mummy’s Dead’ and its parent album performed on the pop charts in the United States and the United Kingdom
“My Mummy’s Dead” was never a single, so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. On the other hand, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band became a minor hit. It reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 34 weeks.
Since “My Mummy’s Dead” was not a single in the United Kingdom either, The Official Charts Company reports the tune did not chart there either. Meanwhile, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band hit No. 8 in the U.K. and remained on the chart for 11 weeks.
“My Mummy’s Dead” was not a hit but John felt it was comparable to a famous literary artform from Japan.
