John Lennon had no intention to tour ‘Double Fantasy’
Double Fantasy was, of course, the swan song for John Lennon. He couldn’t have predicted what happened next, but he did have an odd prescience of knowing how things were meant to be.
By this point in his life, he had experienced enough torment and tumult that when his children came along, it provided him the perfect excuse to take a step away from the limelight and be the perfect doting dad, even if, in doing so, it was slightly masking the fact that his career was on a bit of a rocky decline.
As such, when 1980 rolled around, and his youngest son Sean was now five years old, he had spent enough time recalibrating and getting back in touch with what really mattered in the world that he wanted to prove his growth and commit those reflections to an album. In this case, that obviously turned out to be Double Fantasy.
But in hammering home the point that things had changed, Lennon had some very steadfast ideas about how the release of the record was going to pan out – and for better or worse in hindsight, that involved no touring. “I’m so hungry for making records because of the way I feel, I want to make some more records before a tour,” he said in an interview shortly after the album’s release. “I’d like to make at least one more album before actually just making that final decision of calling those very expensive session musicians and taking them on the road.”
That seemed a valid enough, if tragic, statement, because Lennon most clearly had his reasons. For much of his life, he marched to the beat of his own drum, but on this occasion, he was actually looking to the wisdom of other musicians. “When I went in, I had no intention of going live,” he admitted, “Because I’ve noticed a lot of people, like The Clash and things like that, don’t do any personal appearances hardly anymore. They just make a video on the record.”
While this notion of both protecting his peace and prioritising the music may have been pretty much honourable, it still didn’t stop the dreams running wild as soon as things got down to it in the studio. Lennon’s musicians urged him to take the plunge, with even the man himself admitting that the idea would be “fun” to take the record on the road.
But then there came the other logistical issues. “The thing is, you see, that’s the bit I don’t want to think about. I don’t know whether Madison Square Garden is what I really want to do, but then, can I really go into a small club and deal with [people saying], ‘Oh, he couldn’t make Madison Square Garden anymore’?” he confessed.
It is interesting to hear how a figure like Lennon, usually so inimitable, dominating, and impenetrable, would still fall victim to allowing the nagging and incessant voices of critics to cloud his mind, because if only he had just listened to what his gut instinct was telling him, the course of history might have panned out so differently.
However, that was never meant to be, since three weeks after Double Fantasy hit the shelves, Lennon was dead, and he never did get the chance to make another album or tour again, and it’s obviously a warning about never knowing what lies ahead, but also equally a lesson in truly seizing the moment and doing exactly what you want. Lennon would definitely approve.
