John Lennon Tried to Work a Line From a Public Service Announcement Into This Song
John Lennon‘s songs drew inspiration from numerous different sources, including Ludwig van Beethoven, Elvis Presley, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, and … television. He once tried to work a line from a public service announcement into a hit song. Instead, he used the line as an album title.
A John Lennon song was originally inspired by a public service an upsetting announcement
The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon features an interview from 1974. In it, he revealed his tune “#9 Dream” was going to be called “Walls and Bridges. “I mean, some of them have had twenty titles,” he said. “I change them all the time up to the last minute.”
The “Imagine” singer revealed what he was trying to communicate with the title “Walls and Bridges.” “Four walls, bridges you go over,” he said. “I think I heard it on a public service announcement. On TV — one of those late-night things where they make you feel awful. In between the movies, you know.” Walls and Bridges ended up being the of “#9 Dream”‘s parent album.
The original title of the song might have been prophetic
John was asked if the name Walls and Bridges was prophetic. He wasn’t sure if that was the case. “I mean, I get these things that sound nice, y’know,” he explained.
“I had the song ‘#9 Dream,’ [which] was [originally] called ‘Walls and Bridges,’ and I just had the title ‘Walls and Bridges,’ and I tried to fit it in anywhere like a jigsaw,” John continued. “So it didn’t seem to fit any of the songs, and I hadn’t written anything, so I just shoved it on as the album title. It seemed to be sort of wide enough to cover everything. It’s like communication, y’know, walls.”
John Lennon said the album sounded depressed but it wasn’t bad
During a 1980 interview contained in the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the “Power to the People” singer discussed Walls and Bridges in retrospect. He said it was the sound of a depressed artist. Fighting potential deportation from the United States and other personal problems impacted John’s mental health during the production of the album.
John compared the songs from Walls and Bridges to tables made by a carpenter who didn’t put any “spirit” into his work. He didn’t think that made Walls and Bridges a bad record.
And Walls and Bridges is not a bad record. It includes two of John’s best singles: the relaxing, psychedelic ballad “#9 Dream” and the jazzy novelty track “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night.” Those songs alone make the record worthwhile.
In addition, Walls and Bridges includes the interesting tune “Bless You.” John believed “Bless You’ was the template for The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You.” While the “Give Peace a Chance” singer occasionally displayed a competitive streak, he was more than happy for The Rolling Stones to draw inspiration from his music to write “Miss You.” Any connection between the two is debatable, but “Bless You” is still an awesome album track.
Walls and Bridges is a fun album and it wouldn’t be the same if John hadn’t noticed a public service announcement while watching a movie on television.
