"Love" is a song written and performed by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

, originally released on his debut solo album ''

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band ''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'' is the debut solo album by English musician John Lennon. Backed by the Plastic Ono Band, it was released by Apple Records on 11 December 1970 in tandem with the similarly titled album by his wife, Yoko Ono. At ...

'' (1970). The song's theme is more upbeat than most of the songs on ''Plastic Ono Band''.

Song

The song first came out on Lennon's 1970 album ''

''. Lennon considered releasing it as a single, but was dropped in favour of "

Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

". However, "Love" received considerable airplay at the time from stations who hesitated at playing "Mother". "Love" later appeared on the compilation ''

The John Lennon Collection ''The John Lennon Collection'' is a 1982 posthumous compilation album of music from John Lennon's solo career. Release and selection The album was originally scheduled for release in late 1981, but was held back a year due to legalities owing to ...

'' (1982), and was released as a promotional tie-in single for the collection. The single version is a remix of the original track, which most notably differs in having the piano intro and outro (played by

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

) mixed at the same volume as the rest of the song; on the original album version, these parts begin much quieter and increase in volume. The B-side was "

Gimme Some Truth "Gimme Some Truth" (originally spelled "Give Me Some Truth") is a protest song written and performed by John Lennon. It was first released on his 1971 album ''Imagine (John Lennon album), Imagine''. "Gimme Some Truth" contains various politica ...

", but labelled as "Give Me Some Truth". ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Stephen Lewis rated it as Lennon's 5th greatest solo love song, saying that "The close-miced vocals and delicate piano/acoustic guitar instrumentation increase the intimacy of the song." An alternate take of the song appears on the ''

John Lennon Anthology ''John Lennon Anthology'' is a four-CD box set of home demos, studio outtakes and other previously unreleased material recorded by John Lennon over the course of his solo career from "Give Peace a Chance" in 1969 up until the 1980 sessions for ' ...

'' box set (1998) as well as the '' Acoustic'' album (2004). The picture on the sleeve for 1982 release of "Love" was taken by famed photographer

Annie Leibovitz Anna-Lou Leibovitz ( ; born October 2, 1949) is an American portrait photographer best known for her engaging portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. Leibovitz's Polaroid photo of Jo ...

on 8 December 1980—the day of

Lennon's murder On the evening of 8 December 1980, English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot and fatally wounded in the archway of the Dakota, his residence in New York City. The killer was Mark David Chapman, an American Beatles fan wh ...

. Like the 1982 British issue, the original version of the song was released as a single again in October 1998 for the Japanese market only with the Japanese edition of another compilation '' Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon''. This song gained great success on Japan's

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

chart and won the song of the year 1999 in Japanese gold disc prize. The song was also used as Lennon's entry on the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

exclusive 4-track

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

EP '' 4: John Paul George Ringo'', released in 2014.

Personnel

The musicians who performed on the original recording were as follows: *

– vocals,

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

– piano

The Dream Academy version

The Dream Academy The Dream Academy were a British band consisting of singer/guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes, multi-instrumentalist (chiefly oboe, cor anglais player) Kate St John, and keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. The band is most noted for their 1985 hit singles ...

covered this song on their album '' A Different Kind of Weather'' (1990), and also released as a single (CD, cassette, and vinyl formats are available). The single featured a strong

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n theme throughout (evident in the music video). The song samples the "

Funky Drummer "Funky Drummer" is a single released by James Brown in 1970. Its drum break, improvised by Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most frequently sampled music recordings. Recording and composition "Funky Drummer" was recorded on November 20, 1969 ...

" drum break. Like the album it was released on, it received mixed reviews. Many critics and fans felt that they over-stretched it. The CD single included six different mixes of the song along with "Mordechai Vanunu", which was written for

Mordechai Vanunu Mordechai Vanunu ( he, מרדכי ואנונו; born 14 October 1952), also known as John Crossman, is an Israeli former nuclear technician and peace activist who, citing his opposition to weapons of mass destruction, revealed details of Israe ...

. A second B-side, called "The Demonstration" can be found on the UK CD single version. There are also exclusive remixes issued on the cassette and 12" single. As it turned out, this was the band's penultimate single and has an accompanying video that was shot in India.

Other cover versions

The Lettermen The Lettermen are an American male pop vocal trio. The Lettermen's trademark is close-harmony pop songs with light arrangements. The group started in 1959. They have had two Top 10 singles (both No. 7), 16 Top 10 singles on the Adult Contempor ...

recorded the song in 1971. This single became a top 20 hit on the Japanese

singles chart and hit number 42 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart, becoming the only charting version of the song in the US and the last charting single of the group's career.

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

covered the song in 1971 on her album '' Barbra Joan Streisand'', along with another Lennon composition "

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic William Ruhlmann described Streisand's "delicate reading" as a "gem." Another cover was by Norwegian actress/model/singer

Julie Ege Julie Ege (; 12 November 1943 – 29 April 2008) was a Norwegian actress and model, who appeared in many British films of the 1960s and 1970s. Early life Ege was born in Sandnes, the daughter of brickyard worker Marton Ege and Hjørdis Halv ...

. The song was later covered by

Vicky Leandros Vasiliki Papathanasiou ( el, Βασιλική Παπαθανασίου; born 23 August 1949), generally known as Vicky Leandros ( el, Βίκυ Λέανδρος, links=no), is a Greek singer living in Germany. She is the daughter of singer, music ...

(on her 1970 UK album ''I Am''), a guitar version in 1971 in various releases, an

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

version on her US album ''Across The Water'' and a new guitar version with Roland Gabezas in 2005 "Ich bin wie ich bin"),

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists ...

(on her 1972 album '' I Capricorn''),

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...

Asha Puthli Asha Puthli is a singer-songwriter, producer, and actress born on February 4, 1945 and raised in Bombay, India. She has recorded solo albums for EMI, CBS/Sony, and RCA. Her recordings cover blues, pop, rock, soul, funk, disco, and techno a ...

, The Mission and

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

Jimmy Nail James Michael Aloysius Bradford (born 16 March 1954), known as Jimmy Nail, is an English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer. He played the role of Leonard "Oz" Osborne in the television show ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' a ...

's version, featured on his album ''Big River'', was also released as a single on 8 December 1995 (the 15th anniversary of Lennon's death), and peaked at number 33 in the UK charts. In 1990,

Morgan Fisher Stephen Morgan Fisher (born 1 January 1950) is an English keyboard player and composer, and is most known as a member of Mott the Hoople in the early 1970s. However, his career has covered a wide range of musical activities, and he is still ac ...

, former keyboard player with

Mott the Hoople Mott the Hoople were an English rock band formed in Herefordshire. Originally known as the Doc Thomas Group, the group changed their name after signing with Island Records in 1969. The band released albums throughout the early 1970s but fail ...

, and a resident of Japan since 1985, recorded a version of "Love" for his album '' Echoes of Lennon''.

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

read the lyrics over Fisher's ambient keyboards. Italian artist

Mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

re-interpreted the song on the album ''Acchiappanuvole'' (2008). American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

's cover version was released in January 2014, and included in the 2014 compilation album '' Sweetheart 2014''.

Track listing (John Lennon single)

*All songs written and composed by John Lennon (except where noted).

1982 release

#"Love" emix#"Gimme Some Truth"

1998 Japan release

#"Love" lbum ver.#"Stand by Me" (

Ben E. King Benjamin Earl King (né Nelson; September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer. He is best known as the singer and co-composer of " Stand by Me"—a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later ...

Jerry Leiber Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such Crossover music, crossover hit songs ...

Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...

)

Track listing (The Dream Academy single)

#"Love" (Single Version) – 3:42 #"Love" (

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna may refer to: * International Society for Krishna Consciousness The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known Colloquialism, colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnav ...

Mix) – 7:01 (appears on the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

'' Somewhere in the Sun... Best of the Dream Academy'') #"Love" (Whales in Love) – 4:00 #"Love" (Dream House) – 7:34 #"Love" (Love is 12) – 6:52 #"Love" (Love is 7) – 4:18 #"Love" (Dreamstrumental) – 5:07 #"Mordechai Vanunu" – 5:39 (written for

) #"Love" (Trance mix) (an exclusive remix that only appears on the maxi-cassette single released in the U.S.)

Charts

John Lennon version

The Lettermen version

Jimmy Nail version

Certifications

Trivia

The song was used to accompany the closing credits of the Canadian 2021 film "The Guide To The Perfect Family." The song was used during episode 12 of series 2 of '' Heartbeat'', which was set in 1965.

References

External links

The Making of John Lennon's "Love"
take-by-take song analysis
The Video of the Dream Academy version
Hosted on
VH1.com
'. {{authority control John Lennon songs Song recordings produced by Phil Spector The Lettermen songs Barbra Streisand songs Jimmy Nail songs The Dream Academy songs 1970 songs 1982 singles 1990 singles 1995 singles 1998 singles Songs written by John Lennon Song recordings produced by John Lennon Song recordings produced by Yoko Ono Apple Records singles Geffen Records singles Rock ballads Plastic Ono Band songs