"Watching the Wheels" is a single 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 ...

released posthumously in 1981, after his

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

features

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 ...

's "Yes, I'm Your Angel." It was the third and final single released from Lennon and Ono's album ''

Double Fantasy ''Double Fantasy'' is the fifth album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in November 1980 on Geffen Records. Produced by Lennon, Ono and Jack Douglas, it was the seventh and final studio album released by Lennon during his lifetime. The al ...

'', and reached No. 10 in the US on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 7 on '' Cashbox's'' Top 100. It peaked at number 30 in the UK.

Writing and recording

In "Watching the Wheels" Lennon addresses those who were confounded by his "househusband" years, 1975–1980, during which he retired from the music industry to concentrate on raising his son

Sean Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...

with Ono. The acoustic demo of "Watching the Wheels" is featured in the ending credits to the 2009 film ''

Funny People ''Funny People'' is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Judd Apatow, co-produced by Apatow Productions and Madison 23 Productions, and starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann with Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jason S ...

''. The song features a

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more trad ...

accompanying the lead piano. Though most of the musicians on the album were well-known and oft-recorded session players, the dulcimer was played by one Matthew Cunningham; producer Jack Douglas invited Cunningham to the session after having heard him playing dulcimer on the streets of New York.

Reception

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' called it "a strong statement of independence and self-assurance that never grows old."

Artwork

The photograph on the cover was taken by Paul Goresh, a fan of Lennon who also took the infamous photo of Lennon signing the copy of ''Double Fantasy'' belonging to

Mark David Chapman Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955) is an American man who murdered former Beatles member John Lennon in New York City on December 8, 1980. As Lennon walked into the archway of his apartment building at The Dakota, Chapman shot Lennon from a ...

shortly before Chapman murdered Lennon. Both photos were taken at the same place, in front of the

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, ...

building, which was the site of his 1980 shooting. Later, Chapman was recorded in police custody reciting the line "People say I'm crazy" from the song and was later sampled for use by the band EMF in the track "Lies" from their 1991 album ''

Schubert Dip ''Schubert Dip'' is the debut album by British rock band EMF, released on Parlophone Records on 7 May 1991. It features the worldwide hit single " Unbelievable" which reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The name of the album is ...

''; however, upon immediate protests by Yoko Ono the sampling was removed on subsequent pressings.

Personnel

– vocals, piano, keyboards *

Earl Slick Earl Slick (born Frank Madeloni in Brooklyn, New York, October 1, 1952) is a guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Robert Smith. He has also worked with other artists including John Waite, Tim ...

Hugh McCracken Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally ...

– lead guitar *

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 198 ...

– bass guitar * George Small – keyboards, piano,

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

Eric Troyer Eric Lee Troyer (born 10 April 1949) is an American keyboardist, singer, songwriter, and occasional guitarist, best known as a member of ELO Part II and its successor The Orchestra. Troyer was a founding member of ELO Part II, having been rec ...

–

Prophet-5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977, who used Microprocessor, m ...

Andy Newmark Andrew Newmark (born July 14, 1950)

– drums * Matthew Cunningham –

hammer dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more trad ...

* Arthur Jenkins – percussion * Michelle Simpson, Cassandra Wooten, Cheryl Mason Jacks,

– backing vocals

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

The song has been covered by

Gwen Guthrie Gwendolyn Guthrie (July 9, 1950 – February 3, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter and pianist who also sang backing vocals for Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Peter Tosh, and Madonna, among others, and who wrote songs made fa ...

(1992),

The Samples The Samples is an American rock band formed in Boulder, Colorado in 1987. The band's name came from the members' early sustenance of food samples from the local grocery store. The music has been described as "reggae influenced rock/pop" and a ...

(1997); Paraguayan rock band Deliverans released a Spanish version on the compilation album ''Lennon Vive: Un tributo del Rock paraguayo'' (2000),

Matisyahu Matthew Paul Miller (born June 30, 1979), known by his stage name Matisyahu (; ), is an American reggae singer, rapper, beatboxer Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum mac ...

for the benefit album '' Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur'' (2007), and Charly García under the name "Mirando las ruedas" for his album ''Kill Gil'' (2010).

Patrick Wolf Patrick Wolf (born Patrick Denis Apps; 30 June 1983) is an English singer-songwriter from South London. Wolf uses a wide variety of instruments in his music, most commonly the ukulele, piano, and viola. He is known for combining electronic samp ...

re-arranged the song for a performance at

's Meltdown Festival at the Southbank Centre. An acoustic demo version of the song, performed by Lennon, was featured on the soundtrack of

Judd Apatow Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his work in comedy and drama films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films '' ...

's 2009 film ''

''. In 2020, a cover of the song by

Chris Cornell Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American singer and musician best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary lyricist and songwriter for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. H ...

, a huge fan of

, was included on his posthumous album ''

No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1 ''No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1'' is the fifth studio album by Chris Cornell, released posthumously without prior announcement by his estate and Universal Music Enterprises, on December 11, 2020. It consists of ten covers sequenced and rec ...

''.''Chris Cornell’s Historic Voice and Great Ear Take Center Stage on the Covers LP, ‘No One Sings Like You Anymore’''
rollingstone.com, December 11, 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watching The Wheels John Lennon songs 1981 singles Songs written by John Lennon Song recordings produced by Jack Douglas (record producer) Song recordings produced by John Lennon Song recordings produced by Yoko Ono Songs released posthumously Geffen Records singles 1980 songs Songs about fathers