John Lennon concentrated on his solo career after The Beatles disbanded in 1970, releasing seven studio albums before he was tragically murdered in 1980 at the age of 40. The most well-known song from his last album, “Double Fantasy,” published just a few months before he died, was “Woman.”
He wrote the song, which featured a picture of him and his wife Yoko Ono. Jack Douglas and the pair produced it. But the song’s deeper significance went well beyond that; his wife wasn’t the idea for it.
What inspired John Lennon to write the hit “Woman”
In 1980, during his final interview with Rolling Stone, the artist was questioned on a few tunes from their album. “Woman” was, of course, one of them. He clarified that it was while he was in Bermuda that the idea struck. Lennon had an epiphany about women’s immense value in their lives. Additionally, he said that the song was a “grown-up” rendition of “Girl,” which was initially featured on The Beatles’ 1965 album “Rubber Soul.”
“‘Woman’ came about because, one sunny after-noon in Bermuda. It suddenly hit me what women do for us. Not just what my Yoko does for me, although I was thinking in those personal terms. But any truth is universal. What dawned on me was everything I was taking for granted.”
He added, “Women really are the other half of the sky, as I whisper at the beginning of the song. It’s a “we” or it ain’t anything. The song reminds me of a Beatles track, though I wasn’t trying to make it sound like a Beatles track. I did it as I did “Girl” many years ago. It just sort of hit me like a flood. It came out like that. ‘Woman’ is the grown-up version of ‘Girl’.”
Curiously, he disclosed in the same interview that he referred to Yoko as “mother.” Ronald Reagan, the previous president, was also cited by him because he referred to his wife as “Mommy.”
John said, “For those childless people who find that peculiar, it’s because, in general, when you have a child around the house, you tend to refer to each other that way. Yoko calls me ‘Daddy’. It could be Freudian, but it could also mean that Sean refers to me as ‘Daddy.’ Occasionally I call her ‘Mother,’ because I used to call her ‘Mother Superior’. If you check your Beatles Fab Four f***** records, “Happiness Is a Warm Gun.”
“Woman” reached its highest rank on charts as a single in a number of different nations during that period. In addition to Lennon, who sung and played the acoustic guitar, the song included a number of other notable performers.
Tony Levin played bass while Earl Slick and Hugh McCraker recorded lead guitar. Arthur Jenkins provided percussion, Andy Newmark performed on drums, and George Small played piano.