John Lennon’s Son Inspired 2 Songs With Similar Names From the Former Beatle’s Final Album
John Lennon‘s son, Sean Ono Lennon, inspired two similarly-named songs from the former Beatle’s final album, Double Fantasy. Yoko Ono wrote one of the songs. Subsequently, she revealed she was making a statement about men in general with the track’s lyrics.
John Lennon’s son inspired a song that the former Beatle called ‘self-explanatory’
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono is a long interview from 1980. In the interview. John was asked about many of his recent songs. One of the songs was “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy).”
“Well, what can I say?” John replied. “It’s about Sean. It’s self-explanatory. The music and the lyric came at the same time.”
John Lennon’s son inspired a song Yoko Ono wrote for the album that reflected on her relationships with men
Yoko wrote a similarly titled song, “Beautiful Boys,” for Double Fantasy. She discussed the track too. “That speaks for itself, really,” she said. “It’s a message to men. John and Sean inspired me, but the third verse is about all the beautiful boys of the world. That’s sort of like the extension of the idea. I had relationships with men, but it was always ‘You know where the door is.'”
Yoko contrasted her relationship with John to her other relationships with men. “I didn’t really trouble to find out what their needs were, what their pains were,” she recalled. “With John, that changed. He found out my pain, and I had to find out his pain.”
Yoko noted she encourages crying in “Beautiful Boys.” “The world consists of men and women — there is no denying that,” she opined. “It is important men and women recognize each other and work with each other. It’s really a message to men — reaching out to men to understand.”
How ‘Double Fantasy’ performed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom
“Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” and “Beautiful Boys” did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. On the other hand, Double Fantasy became a major hit. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for eight weeks, remaining on the chart for 77 weeks altogether. None of John’s post-Beatles albums performed as well in the United States.
The Official Charts Company reports “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” and “Beautiful Boys” did not chart in the United Kingdom either. Meanwhile, Double Fantasy topped the chart for two weeks. The album remained on the chart for 36 weeks in total.
2010 saw the release of a remix album called Double Fantasy Stripped Down. The album reached No. 80 for a single week in the U.K.
“Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” and “Beautiful Boys” weren’t hits — but they have interesting connections to John’s family.
