Well Well Well (John Lennon song)

1970 song by John Lennon

"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(s)| John Lennon
Producer(s)| 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]

## Lyrics and music

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

The musicians who performed on the original recording were as follows:[11]

* John Lennon – vocals, electric guitar
* Ringo Starr – drums
* Klaus Voormann – bass guitar

## Other versions

[edit]

Lennon played "Well Well Well" live in concert twice, at the two One on One benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden on 30 August 1972.[2][7] A heavily edited version of the matinee performance was included on the album and video Live in New York City.[7] Urish and Bielen note that the live version is taken at a quicker pace than the studio version, which they believe makes it one of the stronger songs on Live in New York City.[3] Music critic Johnny Rogan, though not considering "Well Well Well" to be one of the strongest songs on Plastic Ono Band, notes that the live performance "works remarkably well."[5] On the other hand, Allmusic critic Richard Ginell calls the live performance "a perfunctory run-through."[12]

An acoustic version of "Well Well Well" was released on the 2004 album Acoustic.[2] The instrumentation on this version include just Lennon playing acoustic guitar.[2] This version of the song contains the line "She looked so beautiful I could wee" instead of "She looked so beautiful I could eat her."[3] Urish and Bielen raise the possibility that since Lennon was singing in a nasal voice and dropping some consonants, he may have been actually singing "She looked so beautiful I could weep."[3] Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls the Acoustic version "lean, mean...with a heavily phased vocal."[13]

A small portion of "Well Well Well" appears within "Something More Abstract," a bonus track on the CD version of the Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band album.[7] On this version, Ringo Starr and Klaus Voormann get to briefly play drums and bass before Yoko Ono tells them play "something more abstract."[7]

## Covers

[edit]

Super 8 covered "Well Well Well" for the 1995 tribute album Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon.[3] It was included in the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's film, The Departed,[14] and also in the Showtime series, Brotherhood.

On their 2015 club tour, rock band Cold War Kids often covered this to start their encore. [15]

The Argentinian punk band Los Rusos Hijos de Puta recorded a Spanish version of the song "Bien Bien Bien" on their 2015 album titled "La Rabia Que Sentimos Es El Amor Que Nos Quitan".

The song makes its appearance in the last chapter of the second season of the series For All Mankind.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Well Well Well". The Beatles Bible. 2 August 2010. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
2. ^ a b c d e f g Blaney, J. (2007). Lennon and McCartney: together alone : a critical discography of their solo work. Jawbone Press. pp. 35, 38, 173, 266–267\. ISBN 9781906002022.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Urish, B.; Bielen, K. (2007). The Words and Music of John Lennon. Praeger. pp. 22, 96, 115. ISBN 978-0-275-99180-7.
4. ^ a b c d du Noyer, P. (1999). John Lennon: Whatever Gets You Through the Night. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 33\. ISBN 1560252103.
5. ^ a b c d e f Rogan, J. (1997). The Complete Guide to the Music of John Lennon. Omnius Press. pp. 43–44, 136. ISBN 0711955999.
6. ^ a b c d e Mellers, W. (1973). The Music of the Beatles: Twilight of the Gods. Schirmer Books. pp. 163–165. ISBN 0670735981.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Madinger, C. & Easter, M. (2000). Eight Arms to Hold You. 44.1 Productions. pp. 36, 39, 79–84\. ISBN 0-615-11724-4.
8. ^ Christgau, R. "John Lennon". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
9. ^ Holden, S. (7 December 2010). "Lennon's Music: A Range of Genius". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
10. ^ Evans, P. (2004). Brackett, N.; Hoard, C. (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 481–482. ISBN 0743201698.
11. ^ Blaney, John (2005). John Lennon: Listen To This Book. Guildford, Great Britain: Biddles Ltd. p. 60\. ISBN 0-9544528-1-X.
12. ^ Ginell, R.S. "Live in New York City". Allmusic. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
13. ^ Erlewine, S.T. "Acoustic". Allmusic. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
14. ^ "Soundtracks for The Departed". imdb. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
15. ^ "Cold War Kids Setlist at Riviera Theatre, Chicago". setlist.fm.

* v
* t
* e

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

Songs|

| Side one|

* "Mother"
* "Hold On"
* "I Found Out"
* "Working Class Hero"
* "Isolation"

|

Side two|

* "Remember"
* "Love"
* "Well Well Well"
* "Look at Me"
* "God"
* "My Mummy's Dead"

2000 reissue
bonus tracks|

* "Power to the People"
* "Do the Oz"

Related|

* John Lennon discography
* Plastic Ono Band
* Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band
* Primal therapy
* Lennon Remembers

* John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
* Imagine
* Some Time in New York City
* Mind Games
* Walls and Bridges
* Rock 'n' Roll

* v
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John Lennon

* Discography
* Instruments
* Jukebox
* Song list
* Death

Studio albums|

* John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
* Imagine
* Mind Games
* Walls and Bridges
* Rock 'n' Roll

with Yoko Ono|

* Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins
* Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions
* Wedding Album
* Some Time in New York City
* Double Fantasy
* Milk and Honey

Live albums|

* Live Peace in Toronto 1969
* Live Jam
* Live in New York City

Compilations|

| Hits|

* Shaved Fish
* The John Lennon Collection
* Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon
* Instant Karma: All-Time Greatest Hits
* Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon
* Power to the People: The Hits
* Icon

|

Themed|

* Menlove Ave.
* Wonsaponatime
* Acoustic
* Peace, Love & Truth

Box sets|

* Lennon
* John Lennon Anthology
* John Lennon Signature Box
* Gimme Some Truth
* Gimme Some Truth. The Ultimate Mixes

Video|

* The John Lennon Video Collection
* Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon

Books|

* In His Own Write
* A Spaniard in the Works
* Skywriting by Word of Mouth

Films|

* Self-Portrait (1969)
* Apotheosis (1970)
* Fly (1970)
* Erection (1971)
* Up Your Legs Forever (1971)
* Live in New York City (1972)
* Imagine (1972)

Bootlegs|

* A Toot and a Snore in '74
* S.I.R. John Winston Ono Lennon

Associates|

* The Quarrymen
* The Beatles
* Plastic Ono Band
* David Peel
* The Lower East Side Band
* The Dirty Mac
* May Pang
* Harry Nilsson
* John Sinclair
* Rosaura Lopez

Fictionalised|

* Chapter 27
* In His Life: The John Lennon Story
* John and Yoko: A Love Story
* The Killing of John Lennon
* Lennon Naked
* Birth of the Beatles
* Nowhere Boy
* Backbeat
* Two of Us
* The Lennon Report
* Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed
* Yesterday

Tributes and
memorials|

* The 30th Annual John Lennon Tribute: Live from the Beacon Theatre, NYC
* "All Those Years Ago"
* Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music
* "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)"
* "Here Today"
* Imagine Peace Tower
* "The Immigrant"
* Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur
* John Lennon Art and Design Building
* John Lennon Museum
* John Lennon Park
* John Lennon Peace Monument
* John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
* "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
* Lennon (musical)
* Lennon Bermuda
* Lennon Wall
* "Life Is Real (Song for Lennon)"
* Liverpool John Lennon Airport
* Non-Violence
* Strawberry Fields
* "Roll On John"
* Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon

Related media|

* Imagine: John Lennon
* soundtrack
* I Met the Walrus
* John (book)
* John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky
* Lennon Remembers
* LennoNYC
* The Lives of John Lennon
* The Lost Lennon Tapes
* Marx & Lennon: The Parallel Sayings
* Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon
* The Pope Smokes Dope
* Pussy Cats
* The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
* Roots: John Lennon Sings the Great Rock & Roll Hits
* "That's My Life (My Love and My Home)"
* The U.S. vs. John Lennon
* soundtrack

Other topics|

* 251 Menlove Avenue
* Kenwood
* Tittenhurst Park
* The Dakota
* Bagism
* Bed-in
* Imagine Piano Peace Project
* John Lennon Artificial Intelligence Project
* John Lennon UFO incident
* Lennon–McCartney
* LennonOno Grant for Peace
* Mark David Chapman
* "More popular than Jesus"
* Nutopia
* Toronto Rock and Roll Revival
* Sweet Toronto
* Psychedelic Rolls-Royce
* 4147 Lennon

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