John Lennon Said The Beatles’ ‘Dear Prudence’ Was About a Woman Trying to Reach God
John Lennon said The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence” was inspired by a woman who was trying to reach God by meditating for weeks on end in India. Subsequently, John said she was “slightly barmy” at the time. Notably, she was the sister of a famous actor.
John Lennon said the lady behind The Beatles’ ‘Dear Prudence’ was Mia Farrow’s sister
During a 1980 interview contained in the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, John was asked about the origin of “Dear Prudence.” “‘Dear Prudence’ is me,” he said. “Written in India.” Notably, The Beatles went to India with several other celebrities to learn meditation from a guru known as the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
He revealed the tune was about Prudence Farrow, the sister of a well-known actor. “A song about Mia Farrow’s sister, who seemed to go slightly barmy, meditating too long, and couldn’t come out of the little hut that we were livin’ in,” he remembered. “They selected me and George to try and bring her out because she would trust us. If she’d been in the West, they would have put her away.”
2 of The Beatles got Prudence Farrow to come out of the house after 3 weeks
Subsequently, John was asked if he and George were able to get Farrow out of her room. “Well, we got her out of the house,” he recalled. “She’d been locked in for three weeks and was trying to reach God quicker than anybody else. That was the competition in Maharishi’s camp: who was going to get cosmic first. What I didn’t know was I was already cosmic.”
John revealed he stopped idolizing the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, but he had no hard feelings towards the guru. “At first, I was bitter about Maharishi being human,” he said. “Well, I’m not bitter anymore. [He’s] human and I’m only thinking what a dummy I was, you know. Although I meditate.”
‘Dear Prudence’ became a pop culture staple despite not being released as a single
“Dear Prudence” was never a single, so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Despite this, it inspired covers by several notable artists. For example, Ramsey Lewis, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the Jerry Garcia Band all put their own spins on “Dear Prudence.” The tune clearly inspired the character of Prudence in the Fab Four jukebox musical Across the Universe. The tune recontextualizes the line encouraging Prudence to “come out to play” so it’s about coming out of the closet.
In addition, the phrase “Dear Prudence” became part of popular culture. It’s the name of one of the most famous advice columns in the history of the internet. In addition, unrelated films titled Dear Prudence came out in 2008 and 2010. “Dear Prudence” left a big impact for an album track that isn’t even one of the best folk songs on The White Album.
John felt Farrow was “slightly barmy” — but he immortalized her in rock ‘n’ roll history.
