Well Well Well (John Lennon song)
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| "Well Well Well" | |
|---|---|
| Song by John Lennon | |
| from the album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band | |
| Published | Northern Songs |
| Released | 11 December 1970 |
| Recorded | 1970 |
| Genre | Rock |
| Length | 5:59 |
| Label | Apple |
| Songwriter | John Lennon |
| Producers | John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector |
"Well Well Well" is a song by the English musician John Lennon from his 1970 album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The eighth and longest track on the album, "Well Well Well" features an aggressive guitar sound, screaming vocals and a pounding backing track.[1]
The lyrics of "Well Well Well" describe mundane incidents from Lennon's daily life with wife Yoko Ono.[2][3][4] Incidents described include eating a meal together, going for a walk, and discussing current events such as "revolution" and "women's liberation."[3] The song also describes the uneasiness the couple feel during these events, but which they cannot understand.[3][4] Authors Ben Urish and Ken Bielen suggest that this uneasiness is due to guilt the couple feel about being able to talk about issues but having the luxury of deciding whether or not to take action.[3]
One line of the song refers to Yoko Ono as "she looked so beautiful I could eat her."[5] Music critic Wilfrid Mellers interprets this line as evidence of a "cannibalistic impulse" to the song.[5][6] However, critic Johnny Rogan believes it is more likely simply a reference to oral sex.[5] Early lyrics for the song used a slightly different line: "she looked so beautiful I could wee."[4][5] In the performance of the song during the One-To-One concert at Madison Square Garden (in NYC) on 30 August 1972, when Lennon says the line "she looked so beautiful I could eat her", he follows it with "and I did", while looking at Ono, who smiles and nods at Lennon.
The melody of "Well Well Well" is pentatonic, incorporating a proper tritone.[6] In the stanzas there is little harmony other than the instruments doubling the vocal line and the thumping drum.[6] The chorus is in call and response form, and uses triadic harmony.[6]
Instrumentation for "Well Well Well" is provided by Lennon, Klaus Voormann and Ringo Starr performing as a power trio with Lennon on guitar, Voormann on bass and Starr on drums.[3] Rock journalist Paul du Noyer describes Lennon's guitar playing as "clenched" and "grunge-like" and claims that Starr's drumming is "some of Ringo's toughest."[4] Urish and Bielen suggest that Lennon's guitar playing on the song and on Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band were an influence on punk rock.[3] Music critic Johnny Rogan comments on the "thumping bass drum" which, along with Lennon's guitar playing, makes "Well Well Well" the "heaviest and loudest" song on Plastic Ono Band.[5] Author John Blaney describes the rhythm track as "pulsing," claiming it "echoes the beating hearts" from Lennon's earlier song "John & Yoko" from The Wedding Album.[2]
Lennon's singing on the song ranges between tender and ferocious.[2] In the middle section he screams the song's title with particular abandon.[3] Authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter call this "the most tortured-larynx singing of John's career."[7] Mellers attributes the screams of the title phrase at the end of the song to Lennon capitulating "to the infant's hysteria, traumatically howling for the maternal breast," as a result of Lennon undergoing Arthur Janov's primal therapy at the time he wrote the song.[6]
Recording
Although the song was released commercially in mono, Phil Spector produced a rough mix in stereo.[2][7] The stereo mix has appeared on bootleg albums.[7]
According to Ringo Starr, Lennon played Lee Dorsey's "Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On)" 100 times while recording "Well Well Well" in an effort to capture the feel of the song.[7]
Reception
Music critic Robert Christgau describes "Well Well Well" as an "unsung great song."[8] Rolling Stone critic Stephen Holden considers the "furious howls" on "Well Well Well," as well as two other John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band songs–"Mother" and "Isolation"– to be unprecedented in rock 'n' roll, which serves as a clear influence to later rock singers like Kurt Cobain.[9] Music critic Paul Evans claims that the Plastic Ono Band songs "Well Well Well" and "I Found Out" are "tougher rock than nearly anything released before the Sex Pistols."[10]
Personnel
The musicians who performed on the original recording were as follows:[11]
- John Lennon – vocals, electric guitar
- Ringo Starr – drums
- Klaus Voormann – bass guitar
