John Lennon Named the Elvis Song That Inspired ‘(Just Like) Starting Over’

It doesn’t take a genius to hear that John Lennon‘s “(Just Like) Starting Over” was inspired by Elvis Presley’s music. During an interview, John named the Elvis song and the Roy Orbison song that inspired “(Just Like) Starting Over.” He also revealed how much he was indebted to both artists. 

John Lennon’s ‘(Just Like) Starting Over’ paid homage to Elvis Presley and ‘Only the Lonely’

During a 1980 Rolling Stone interview recorded in the book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon, John discussed the genesis of “(Just Like) Starting Over.” “All through the taping of ‘Starting Over,’ I was calling what I was doing ‘Elvis Orbison:’ ‘I want you I need only the lonely,'” he said. His words were a clear callback to Elvis’ “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” and Roy Orbison’s “Only the Lonely,” two songs that influenced “(Just Like) Starting Over.”

John revealed the mindset he had while crafting his album Double Fantasy. “I’m a born-again rocker, I feel that refreshed, and I’m going right back to my roots,” he said. “It’s like [Bob] Dylan doing Nashville Skyline, except I don’t have any Nashville, you know, being from Liverpool. So I go back to the records I know — Elvis and Roy Orbison and Gene Vincent and Jerry Lee Lewis. I occasionally get ripped off into walruses or ‘Revolution 9,’ but my far-out side has been completely encompassed by Yoko.”

‘(Just Like) Starting Over’ is more mature than ‘I Want You, I Need You, I Love You’

Is “(Just Like) Starting Over” that similar to “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You?” The two tunes are both rock ‘n’ roll love ballads. They’re both deeply sentimental, with a bit of a tongue-in-cheek streak. They’re also simple compositions with few instruments. Most strikingly, John is clearly doing an Elvis impression on “(Just Like) Starting Over.”

But the actual instrumentals of the songs don’t share much beyond their genres. Perhaps the main difference between the two is that “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” has the virginal innocence of a lot of 1950s songs. In contrast, “(Just Like) Starting Over” is about keeping romance alive in a long-term relationship. While “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” could be about any gal in any malt shop, “(Just Like) Starting Over” is definitely about Yoko Ono.

Did Elvis Presley’s song resonate more that John Lennon’s?

Sometimes, the real test of a song’s popularity is how many covers it inspired, “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” has inspired approximately zero covers by famous artists. It didn’t even make it onto the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis in any way, shape, or form.

Meanwhile, “(Just Like) Starting Over” inspired a rendition by The Flaming Lips that appeared on the charity album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. That’s basically nothing. Would The Flaming Lips even have covered “(Just Like) Starting Over” if it weren’t for a good cause?

Elvis and John were both great, but maybe that schmaltzy ’50s sound doesn’t appeal to modern audiences.