"Grow Old with Me" is one of the final songs written by John Lennon. It was first recorded by Lennon as a demo while in Bermuda. A handwritten lyric sheet for the song is dated July 5, 1980 Fairyland Bermuda.[1] The song was first released on the posthumous album Milk and Honey in 1984. It was also rumored to be among the songs planned as a possible reunion single by his former bandmates during the making of The Beatles Anthology.[2]
| "Grow Old with Me" | |
|---|---|
| Song by John Lennon | |
| from the album Milk and Honey | |
| Released | 27 January 1984 |
| Recorded | November 1980 |
| Genre | Pop |
| Length | 3:09 |
| Songwriter(s) | John Lennon |
| Producer(s) |
|
Origins and inspiration edit
The song was inspired from two different sources: a poem penned by Robert Browning titled "Rabbi ben Ezra" and a song by Lennon's wife Yoko Ono called "Let Me Count the Ways." The latter had been inspired by Sonnets from the Portuguese Number 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.[3]
Lennon and Ono had for some time admired the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Browning. In fact, they thought they might be the couple reincarnated.[3] The two songs were purposely written with the couple in mind.
Ono woke up one morning in the summer of 1980 with the music of "Let Me Count the Ways" in her head. She rang Lennon in Bermuda to play it for him.[3] Lennon loved the song, and Ono then suggested to him that he should write a Robert Browning piece to accompany it. They discussed having portraits of themselves as the Brownings on the cover of the album.[3]
Lennon asked to have a collection of Browning's works sent.[3] However, that afternoon, Yoko says in the liner notes to "Milk and Honey," John was watching TV when a film came on which had the poem "Rabbi Ben Ezra" by Robert Browning in it. Inspired by this turn of events, Lennon wrote "Grow Old with Me" as an answer to Ono's song, and rang her back to play it to her over the phone.[4] For parts of the melody and cadence, Lennon drew from an unreleased song called "Memories."[5]
Ono said in a 1984 interview, "He was looking forward to it. He was always talking about, won't it be great when we're 80 and don't have to struggle any more, sitting in a rocking chair, getting letters from Sean."[6]
In October 2020 it was reported that the baseball film which Lennon had been watching in Bermuda was A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story, about baseball player Lou Gehrig, who died of a rare nervous system disorder which later came to bear his name in popular media. Kenneth Womack made the discovery "after watching dozens in search of the mysterious film in question, I began to study TV guides from that period. John was a regular subscriber". Upon realising A Love Affair had been screened at the time Lennon was staying in Bermuda, Womack made the connection, concluding: "The mystery, quite suddenly, was solved".[7][8][9]
Recording edit
The two new songs, "Grow Old with Me" and "Let Me Count the Ways" were originally meant for inclusion on Double Fantasy. In fact, they were envisioned as the "backbone" of the album.[3] However, Lennon and Ono, working on a tight deadline to get the album finished and released before Christmas, decided to postpone recording the songs until the following year (1981) for the planned Double Fantasy follow-up album, Milk and Honey.[3] This never happened owing to Lennon's murder in December 1980.
Had the song been finished and recorded, Lennon and Ono envisioned "Grow Old With Me" as a "a standard, the kind that they would play in church every time a couple gets married" according to Ono.[3] It was intended to have horns and a symphony as accompaniment.[3]
Several home recordings were made by Lennon. However, all except the one released on Milk and Honey "disappeared."[3] Recorded in the couple's bedroom on a cassette with a piano and rhythm box, this version was the last recording ever made of the song by Lennon and Ono.[3]
In 1998, at Ono's request, George Martin created an orchestrated version of the recording, which was released on the John Lennon Anthology box set. The orchestration was recorded at Abbey Road and mixed at Air Studios according to album notes. Martin's son, Giles, plays the bass added to this version. The 1998 version was later included on the compilation Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon.
In 2009, an acoustic version and an alternative piano arrangement came to light and now circulate among Lennon collectors. Some of these versions are available on YouTube.
In 2020 a new mix of the "orchestrated version" was released on the compilation Gimme Some Truth. The song was mixed by Sam Gannon.[10] The John Lennon Twitter account said that the version "used AI technology to isolate John's vocals from the piano and allowed Sean and the team to clean it up further and have more control in the mix."[11]
The version has other differences from its predecessors. Sean Ono Lennon said “On ‘Grow Old With Me,’ I wound up having to do a kind of a hybrid of all these three different versions...I made some decisions there arrangement-wise that hadn’t been before.” [12]
Personnel edit
- Milk and Honey version
- John Lennon – vocals, piano, rhythm box
- John Lennon Anthology version
- John Lennon – vocals, piano, rhythm box
- Giles Martin – bass (uncredited)[13]
- George Martin – producer, orchestral arrangement
- Giles Martin – assistant producer
- Engineers – Andy Strange, Peter Cobbin, Steve Orchard
- Assistants – Ricky Graham, Chris Clark
- Audio restoration – Tony Cousins, Crispin Murray (Metropolis Mastering)
Promotion edit
In 1984 Stanley Dorfman directed a music video for the song. The video featured home movies of Lennon and Yoko Ono walking in Central Park, Lennon dancing, and other intimate moments from Lennon's personal film archive.[14] The video was subsequently contained on the 1992 release The John Lennon Video Collection.
Shortly before the release of "Milk and Honey," Yoko Ono is said to have commissioned 70 hand-crafted wood boxes made of Bermuda cedar as Christmas presents for friends and "a select few radio and music personalities."[15] The boxes had an engraved silver plaque that reads "MILK & HONEY, LOVE, YOKO & SEAN, XMAS '83, N.Y.C." The box contained a casssette player that played the home recording of Lennon singing "Grow Old With Me."[16]
Reception edit
Rolling Stone critic Don Shewey said in a 1984 review that the song had the "stately feel of 'Imagine'" but noted that it was unlikely to become the standard Lennon hoped.[17]
In 2013, Ultimate Classic Rock critic Stephen Lewis rated "Grow Old with Me" as Lennon's 2nd greatest solo love song, calling it "as sparse and soul-baring as anything Lennon had done since 1970's Plastic Ono Band.[18] In 2024, Far Out critic Tim Coffman rated it as Lennon's 3rd greatest deep cut, calling it "one of his most stunning ballads, having the same emotional vulnerability of his last album with a Beatles-esque melody behind it."[19]
Attempted Beatles version edit
In 1994, Yoko Ono gave Paul McCartney cassettes containing demo recordings of four of John Lennon's unfinished songs: "Grow Old with Me," "Free as a Bird," "Real Love" and "Now and Then." McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr allegedly attempted to work on "Grow Old with Me" in a similar way that they had with the other Beatles "reunion" songs.[2] "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" were the only ones completed. They did work on "Now and Then" but abandoned it at the time because Lennon's original demo required too much work to bring it up to the standard needed for an official release.[20] It was eventually finished and released in 2023.[21]
However, Jeff Lynne, who produced "Free As a Bird" and "Real Love," told Beatlefan in 1995 that "There were three tracks altogether" that the surviving Beatles worked on. He was specifically asked if they had worked on "Grow Old With Me" and replied "No. It was only the three."[22] This was prior to the release of the first two songs.
In the same issue of Beatlefan, McCartney confirmed that "Grow Old With Me" was among the songs that Ono presented for consideration. When asked if the surviving Beatles planned to work on the song, McCartney said "No. I don’t think so, no. We’re not that keen on that one."[23] In a 2012 documentary on Jeff Lynne, McCartney reconfirms “There were three that we liked: ‘Free As a Bird’ and ‘Real Love.’ So those are the two that we did. And there was another one that we started working on…” That third song eventually became “Now and Then.” [24]
Ringo Starr, who recorded the song for a solo album in 2019, told GQ magazine he only learned of the song's existence that year. "I had never heard of the song, and had no awareness of it at all."[25] While this seems likely to be an error in memory, as it is well-established that the song was given to the surviving Beatles in the '90s, it further supports the notion that they did not work on the song.
Ringo Starr's version edit
Lennon is alleged to have intended to give the song to former bandmate Ringo Starr to record.[26] In the aftermath of Lennon's death Starr could not go through with it.[26] However, the latter assertion is contradicted by Starr's statement that he had "no awareness" of the song until shortly before he recorded it in 2019.[25]
Lennon had given Starr tracks for a 1981 album that became "Stop and Smell the Roses." However, those songs are said to be “Nobody Told Me” and “Life Begins at 40.” It would seem those were the songs Starr could not go through with, with Starr saying in a 1981 interview of the Lennon songs “I won’t use them now…they won’t be on this album.” [27] Additionally, Ono said "Grow Old With Me" was originally intended to be the "backbone" of "Double Fantasy" album before being moved to "Milk and Honey."[3] This makes it seem unlikely the song was intended to be given away for a separate album by Starr released the same year "Milk and Honey" would have been were it not for Lennon's death.
Starr said he learned of the song's existence in 2019 from producer Jack Douglas.[25] Douglas told Starr his name was referenced on the so-called Bermuda Tapes. "At the beginning (of the demo, you can hear John say), “Oh, this would be good for Richard Starkey... this would be great for you, Ring!” [25]
Starr covered "Grow Old with Me" for his 2019 album What's My Name.[26][28] Paul McCartney sang backing vocals and played bass, with Starr saying "I thought the only guy who could really play bass on this for me was Paul."[25]
Douglas, who produced Lennon's Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey, arranged strings – including a George Harrison musical reference. "And the strings that Jack arranged for this track, if you really listen, they do one line from 'Here Comes the Sun,'" Starr said. "So in a way, it's the four of us".[29] Of his version, Starr said "I did the best I could."[30]
Personnel edit
- Ringo Starr – vocals, drums
- Paul McCartney – backing vocals, bass
- Joe Walsh – guitar
- Jim Cox – piano
- Allison Lovejoy – accordion
- Rhea Fowler – violin
- Bianca McClure – violin
- Lauren Baba – violin
- Isaiah Cage – cello
- Jack Douglas – string arrangement
Production edit
- Wesley Seidman – assistant engineer
Other cover versions edit
As of 2024, the song has been covered by over 30 artists. This includes pop, rock, country, gospel, and instrumental versions.
The earliest known covers were made in 1990. Morgan Fisher covered the song on the album "Echoes of Lennon," Peter Randall on the album "Better Times."
Mary Chapin Carpenter recorded it in 1995 on the Lennon tribute album Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon and it went to #17 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart. It was re-released on her 1999 compilation album, Party Doll and Other Favorites.
Indie pop supergroup The Postal Service recorded a version of the song for the 2007 compilation album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.
Glen Campbell recorded it on his 2008 album Meet Glen Campbell and stated in interviews that he received permission directly from Yoko to record it. He stated, erroneously, that it had never previously been recorded. Campbell also recorded a live version in 2008 that was subsequently released on the "Live from Troubadour" album in 2021. He says in the intro that Ono brought him the song and that it had "never been played, never been recorded."
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "The Art of John Lennon". Retrieved 2024-02-17.
- ^ a b Kozinn, Allan (1995-03-03). "Will They or Won't They? They Will, It Seems". New York Times. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "'Milk and Honey Liner Notes (http only)'". Archived from the original on 2024-02-17. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
- ^ "Happy Valentine's Day, 2001". Archived from the original on 2013-05-09. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ Womack, Kenneth (2020). John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-78760-1369. p136
- ^ Cooke, Richard (1984-02-11). "Yoko Ono: We Are Only One. New Musical Express". Rock’s Back Pages Library. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
- ^ Neale, Matthew (October 4, 2020). "Beatles expert discovers baseball film that inspired late John Lennon song". NME. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
- ^ Alberge, Dalya (October 4, 2020). "How a TV baseball movie inspired late Lennon love song". The Guardian. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
- ^ "The Beatles expert discovers the film that inspired John Lennon song 'Grow Old With Me'". Far Out Magazine. October 4, 2020. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
- ^ Vnuk, Jr., Paul. "(Just Like) Starting Over: Remixing John Lennon - Paul Hicks, Simon Hilton and Sam Gannon". Recording Magazine (Interview). Retrieved 2024-03-10.
- ^ "'John Lennon Twitter account, June 24, 2024'".[permanent dead link]
- ^ Fantano, Anthony (2020-10-29). "Sean Ono Lennon Interview". The Needle Drop (Interview). 16:04. Retrieved 2024-03-10 – via YouTube.
- ^ Womack, Kenneth (2018). Sound Pictures: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin (The Later Years, 1966–2016). Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-0-91277-774-0. p. 475.
- ^ "A new look at Lennon". Liverpool Echo. 6 January 1984. Retrieved 2023-06-23 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "JOHN LENNON YOKO ONO LIMITED EDITION MUSIC BOX 43 OF 70 RARE & HARD TO FIND".
- ^ "John Lennon's Bermuda Cedar Music Boxes".
- ^ Shewey, Don (1 March 1984). "Milk and Honey". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
- ^ Lewis, Stephen (20 March 2013). "Top 10 John Lennon Love Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
- ^ Coffman, Tim (22 January 2024). "10 greatest John Lennon deep cuts". Far Out. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
- ^ "The Beatles Studio <> Song Details <> Grow Old with Me". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-05-07., The Beatles Studio. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
- ^ Schube, Will (2023-10-26). "The Beatles Announce Release Of Final Song 'Now And Then,' Expand 'Red' And 'Blue' Compilations". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
- ^ Rense, Rip (November 1995). "Recording with the Fab Three! Producer Jeff Lynne Talks About Sessions for 'Free As a Bird'". Beatlefan via The Paul McCartney Project. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ Kozinn, Allan (November 1995). "McCartney on the 'Anthology' - The Inside Story on the Film, Album and Reunion". Beatlefan via The Paul McCartney Project. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ Atkins, Martyn (24 October 2019). "Mr Blue Sky The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO Documentary, 2012, 50:18". Parallel 28 Équipe, Inc. Retrieved 2024-03-10 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b c d e LeDonne, Rob (16 October 2019). "'Ringo Starr Is Still Burning Bright'". GQ. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
- ^ a b c Coffman, Tim (2 November 2023). "'Grow Old With Me': The John Lennon song that made Ringo Starr cry". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
- ^ Mewborn, Brant (30 April 1981). "Ringo Starr in the Afternoon". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
- ^ Bacior, Robin (2019-10-25). "Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reunite to cover John Lennon's "Grow Old with Me": Stream". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (13 September 2019). "'Ringo Starr's New Album Features Paul McCartney, John Lennon-Penned Song'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
- ^ Newman, Melinda (24 October 2019). "'Ringo Starr Emotionally Recalls Recording John Lennon Song for New Album 'What's My Name'". Billboard. Retrieved 2024-03-09.