John Lennon: Between The Lines
complete home recordings 1975–1980
Disc 8: July 1980 (Bermuda) [70:50]
PLAY the whole disc
- I'm Losing You PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 3:15
- recorded: July 1-2, 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.123, #19:a.1
- source: Gone From This Place [88-34]
- Written in early July after Yoko had returned to the Dakota, and taking inspiration from John's failure to reach her by the phone, 'I'm Losing You' is, however, not a completely new composition, but an update of the earlier 'Stranger's Room'.
- I'm Losing You PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 0:47
- recorded: early July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar (double tracked)/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.123, #19:a.2
- source: LLT premiere
- Two double tracked versions of 'I'm Losing You' are available. The first one is only available as an excerpt from its airing in the LLT series, and uses track 1 on this disc as the basis. The second version has been overdubbed on another otherwise unavailable demo, and surfaced from an unidentified tape souce on Geritol's Your Daddy's Here.
- I'm Losing You PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 3:07
- recorded: early July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar (double tracked)/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.123, #19:b.1
- source: Your Daddy's Here [tape]
- I'm Stepping Out PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 5:11
- recorded: early July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar (double tracked)/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.124, #20:c.1
- source: News Of The Day [88-21] + Your Daddy's Here [tape]
- The LLT broadcast of this double tracked drum machine demo of 'I'm Stepping Out' is of much better fidelity than the tape source on Your Daddy's Here. The latter is, however, longer at the end.
- I Don't Wanna Face It PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 3:01
- recorded: early July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar (double tracked)/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.123, #16:d.1
- source: Your Daddy's Here [tape] + Hidden Archives [91-20]
- The post-song "should be slower and probably for Ringo" comment comes from Lennon's Bermuda demo compilation made for Jack Douglas, and is therefore missing from Your Daddy's Here (but has here been restored from an LLT broadcast bootlegged on Hidden Archives).
- I'm Stepping Out PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 5:00
- recorded: early July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar (triple tracked)/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.124, #20:d.1
- source: LLT 34 [89-22]
- This version of 'I'm Stepping' out utilises the same basic take as the one on track 4 above, but is triple, rather than double tracked.
- Mr. Hyde's Gone (Don't Be Afraid) PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 2:39
- recorded: c. July 5-9, 1980
- instrumentation: piano
- 8 Arms ID: p.125, #27:a.1
- source: Anthology
- The Happy Rishikesh Song / Something Is Wrong PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 3:23
- recorded: c. July 5-9, 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar
- 8 Arms ID: p.122, #13:a.1
- source: Anthology + Watching The Wheels [88-08]
- Previously unidentified, 'Mr. Hyde's Gone' and 'The Happy Rishikesh Song' stem from the same cassette as the recordings of 'Real Love' below, following a succession of unavailable acoustic guitar and piano takes of 'Grow Old With Me', and preceding an unheard piano rendition of 'India, India'. Like much of this tape, 'Mr. Hyde's Gone' was passed by in the LLT series and made its debut on Anthology. 'The Happy Rishikesh Song' is also included in that box, but has been edited compared to its airing in episode 88-08; the official release does, however, include a previously unavailable pass of 'Something Is Wrong', which is untitled on Anthology but was copyrighted under that title in the 1980's.
- Real Love [take 1] PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 3:58
- recorded: c. July 5-9, 1980
- instrumentation: piano
- 8 Arms ID: p.126, #31:e.1
- source: Gone From This Place [89-10] + Free As A Bird: The Dakota Beatle Demos [tape]
- Real Love [take 4] PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 4:07
- recorded: c. July 5-9, 1980
- instrumentation: piano
- 8 Arms ID: p.126, #31:f.1a
- source: Anthology
- Although official releases have mistakenly titled 'Girls And Boys' (which doesn't feature those words) 'Real Love', it was in fact only at this point that the composition was fashioned into its final shape and titled that. The old "I don't expect you to understand" middle-eight was removed, the instrumental introduction/interlude was added, and the chorus lyrics changed from "it's real life" to "it's real love". Five takes were recorded in all, of which we have numbers 1 and 4 in their original state, and a third one, most likely take 5, after receiving vocal and percussion overdubs — it was this double tracked version that the remaining Beatles used as the basis for the 1995 "reunion" single; it was also included on the demo compilation made for Double Fantasy producer Jack Douglas, but wasn't attempted in the actual sessions, perhaps because of a similarity in the lyrics to Yoko's 'Beautiful Boys' ("You're beautiful boys, with all your little toys") which would have required rewriting.
- Grow Old With Me PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 3:10
- recorded: c. July 5-9, 1980
- instrumentation: piano/tambourine
- 8 Arms ID: p.122, #12:a.1-2
- source: Milk and Honey (remastered)
- Real Love [take 5 with overdubs] PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 4:22
- recorded: c. July 5-9, 1980
- instrumentation: piano/tambourine
- 8 Arms ID: p.126, #31:g.1
- source: LLT 34 [90-33]
- The recording date of these demos can be approximated by lyric sheets dates for 'Grow Old With Me' and 'Real Love', July 5 and 9, 1980, respectively. Like 'Real Love', 'Grow Old With Me' was planned for inclusion on Double Fantasy or Milk And Honey, but as fate would have it, the song was never recorded in studio. In 1998, the Anthology box included an orchestrated version of the demo arranged by George Martin, presumably this was the sort of production Lennon had planned for the composition. The remastered version of the demo included on Milk And Honey suffers from a glitch towards the end which has been restored here.
- Woman [take 1] PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 2:41
- recorded: July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.130, #36:b.1
- source: Dreaming Of The Past [89-51]
- Woman [take 4] PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 0:32
- recorded: July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.130, #36:a.1
- source: LLT program 90-21
- Woman [take 7] PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 3:53
- recorded: July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.130, #36:c.1
- source: My Love Will Turn You On [90-21]
- Woman [take 8] PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 3:25
- recorded: July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.130, #36:d.1
- source: News Of The Day [88-26]
- Nine takes of this completely new composition, 'Woman', were taped in Bermuda. What John announces as "take 1 of the new one" and "positively, the take, take 9" are actually 4 and 7, respectively, as LLT narration and other evidence makes clear. By the former (a false start) Lennon has evidently decided to start numbering the takes anew, and by the latter lost count. The last version here, used as the basis for the double tracked recordings, is probably take 8, as the last attempt appears to have been perfunctory.
- Nobody Told Me [overdub take 1] PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 3:21
- recorded: July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar (double tracked)/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.125, #29.1:a.1
- source: A Heart Play [90-04] (+ My Love Will Turn You On [90-04])
- Nobody Told Me [overdub take 2] PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 4:10
- recorded: July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar (double tracked)/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.125, #29.1:b.1
- source: LLT 33 [91-21]
- Two different overdub attempts on the same acoustic guitar and drum machine basic take of 'Nobody Told Me' exist. It seems like the "this one's gotta be for Ringo" spoken introduction was edited to from take 2 to take 1 when broadcast in LLT, as it appears to be part of the overdub rather than the original take. The preceding "this one's probably for Mr. Richard Starkey, late of the Beatles" introduction to take 2, on the other hand, comes from John's Bermuda demo compilation for producer Jack Douglas.
- Woman [take 8 with overdubs] PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 3:08
- recorded: July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar (double tracked)/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.130, #36:d.2
- source: LLT program 88-07
- Woman [take 8 with overdubs] PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 4:13
- recorded: July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar (double tracked)/drum machine
- 8 Arms ID: p.130, #36:d.2
- source: Anthology
- As above, we again have two different double tracking attempts on the same take of 'Woman' — a second take was probably made necessary by John's vocal flub in the second verse in the first pass. Both were aired in LLT, but track 20 is found more complete and in better quality on the official release. However, on Anthology the tempo has been digitally manipulated (ie. without the pitch being affected and not just speed corrected) for an unknown reason; this anomaly has been restored here.
- (Forgive Me) My Little Flower Princess [take 3] PLAY | LYRICS
- length: 3:27
- recorded: July 1980
- instrumentation: acoustic guitar
- 8 Arms ID: p.122, #10:a.1
- source: Yer Blues [89-19]
- Recorded in (probably late) July 1980 in Bermuda, and likely composed then also, although its reported attribution as being written for May Pang may hint at a prior incarnation existing from earlier in the 1970's; no concrete evidence has, however, surfaced to support this.