“I nearly took the word out”: The one John Lennon lyric he wanted to change
It isn’t hard to find any footage of John Lennon slagging off some of the best Beatles songs ever made. Even though the beginning of the Fab Four’s career contained some of the greatest pieces of rock and roll ever made, there’s a good chance that Lennon either went off of it over time or considered it complete garbage before it had been properly recorded. Lennon was always a bit of a perfectionist, and even down to his final hours on this Earth, there was one tune that he wished he could have tuned up a little bit more.
But a lot of what Lennon had to gripe about had to do more with the lyrics than any of the music. Although he always liked making things that sounded wild and off the wall, the way that he complimented Paul McCartney was always about finding the right turn of phrase for any of their classics, like adding in the cynical line in ‘Getting Better’ or reminding everyone that life is short in the middle of ‘We Can Work It Out’.
When looking back at his solo years, though, Lennon was more attuned to what he was saying than at any other moment in his career. While this would ultimately come back to bite him in the ass when making something like Some Time in New York City, Plastic Ono Band still hold up as wonderful pieces of art, even if some of the lyrics are incredibly direct when addressing his parental issues or his dismissal of any Beatles reunion.
By the time he reached his late 30s, Lennon started to warm up to the idea of coming back to music. He had resigned himself to a life inside the Dakota, but after a wayward trip to Bermuda, the tunes he was coming up with were a much more pure reflection of what he had been up to, usually singing about the pleasures of being a househusband and being able to put his fame up on the shelf for a little bit.
And if not for his tragic murder, Double Fantasy was bound to be a new beginning for him. He had started to get interested in newer strains of rock and roll like B-52s, and listening back to how he felt about his new life with Yoko Ono, hearing songs like ‘Watching the Wheels’ and ‘Just Like Starting Over’ promised the start of a new era of happiness after all the heavy episodes of the 1970s.
If Lennon had the chance, though, he would have gladly changed one line in ‘Starting Over’, saying, “I nearly took the word ‘wings’ out because I thought, Oh, God! They’ll all be saying, ‘What’s this about Wings?’ It has nothin’ to do with Wings.” While that kind of overlap was nothing new, considering Ringo Starr had released a song called ‘Wings’, it’s understandable why Lennon figured it was too close for comfort.
Despite him and McCartney patching things up towards the end of the 1970s, it was clear that he didn’t want to step on his toes or invite another rumour of The Beatles reuniting. He had only begun to enjoy his independence away from his star power, and he wasn’t about to jump back in for more all over again.
But given how time played out in the coming months, ‘Starting Over’ feels a lot more wistful than it should be with the line about spreading their wings and flying. It’s not what Lennon intended, but it’s easy to see him now as the musical angel who spread his wings and departed for parts unknown.
